Sushi Ai, O'Fallon, MO

Post number 100!! Woohoo!!

Alrighty, enough of that.

Next up is Sushi Ai. Sushi Ai has several locations in the area, but the only one I've been to is the one on Hwy K in O'Fallon, MO (so I can't attest to the quality of the others). More specifically, it's located next to Dierbergs at 2981 Hwy K, O'Fallon, MO 63368. Their website offers the menu, ordering online for pick-up or a quick dine-in, and the ability to make reservations.

In addition to a full menu of Japanese food, they offer an all-you-eat sushi special for lunch and dinner. The all-you-can-eat lunch special is just $12.99 while the dinner version is $17.99. Also, it's available 7 days a week. Now, you may be thinking that your selections are fairly limited and it's not very good, but that isn't the case here. You're given a pretty robust sheet to fill out with how many of an item you want. The options include some appetizer items, like miso soup and vegetable tempura, a selection of 7 or 8 sushi items, and a wide variety of rolls to choose from (I'm partial to the California roll and avocado roll).

The all-you-can-eat menu
Here are some shots of some of the food that either I or my dining mates have ordered.

Greg's selection. I don't remember what he ordered, but that's a Missouri roll on the end closest to the camera.

Matt's selection. I don't remember what he ordered, either.

My noms: a cucumber roll, California roll, avocado roll, and avocado sushi.
After we received our order, we put in another for our second round. It took forever and a day to get our second order, so if you're going during the week on lunch break from work, put in everything on your first order. Now, I'll warn you that on the menu they say that if you don't eat all of what you order, they will charge you extra for what you didn't eat. I'm not sure of the truthfulness of this, but we finished all of our orders so it wasn't an issue. Now, I don't eat a lot of rolls or sushi since I don't eat fish, but what I ordered was really good. So good in fact that I made my brother, Wes, and Doug go back with me on the following Saturday so I could gorge myself on sushi-goodness again. The guys ordered off of the menu and I ordered a buttload of sushi.

Why yes, that is seven rolls of deliciousness. And I ate them ALL, bwahaha!

Doug ordered the chicken yaki soba, I think.

Wes ordered the teriyaki chicken.

My brother watching the teriyaki chicken sizzle.
My brother had ordered the Missouri roll and gyoza (dumplings), but I didn't take a picture of them. I think I was too busy eyeing my plate of rolls. Anyway, everyone said their food was really good so I didn't feel as bad for railroading them into going here with me so I could fulfill my avocado roll fantasies. As for my grub, the avocado has always tasted really fresh and creamy, the seaweed doesn't taste fishy, and the rice is, well, sticky :)

The servers here are friendly enough, but I'd watch the floor. The floor is very slippery for some reason. It feels like they've polished it too much or maybe they have too much soap in their mop buckets and it dries with a soapy film. It may also be from humidity, I don't know, but just watch your step when you're walking.

So, if you're looking for some good Japanese food at a reasonable price, definitely check out Sushi Ai. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the selection, quality, and price.

Bonus pic from today's lunch (7/16/2013):

Avocado sushi, avocado rolls, California rolls, and a honey roll.

Lambert's Cafe II

So, I was back in the U.S. for a couple of months for family reasons, so I haven’t tried any places in Yeongtong for a while. However, there is a restaurant in Ozark, Missouri that is a great place to visit for good, down-home, Southern cooking: Lambert’s. There are 3 Lambert’s located in the U.S. with the 1st one being in Sikeston, Missouri (in the southeastern part of the state – a.k.a. the bootheel), and the 3rd one is in Alabama. This one in Ozark is Lambert’s Café II and is located between Springfield, MO and Branson, MO on highway 65. If you’re passing through Missouri on I-44 or US-60, it’s not much off your path to pay this place a visit – it’s well worth it!

Their website (http://www.throwedrolls.com) gives directions and offers a view of their menu. They don’t take debit/credit cards or reservations, so make sure you have cash on hand and time to wait (usually no less than half an hour).

The best thing, in my opinion, is the “pass arounds.” Servers walk around the restaurant with bowls of fried okra, fried potatoes, macaroni and tomatoes, black-eyed peas, and rolls and sorghum. One of most distinguishing features about Lambert’s, though, is the rolls aren’t just “passed around” but chucked at you across the restaurant by a server. Do people ever miss? Sure. Do people ever get whomped upside the head with a hot roll? You betcha. It just adds to
the experience.


This is the fried okra:

And this is the fried potatoes:

The other interesting thing is that the whole menu is pretty much all-you-can-eat. If you’ve finished your plate and want more, you just ask – that is if you’re able to squeeze anything else in after stuffing yourself full of delicious rolls with butter melted over the warm, yummy goodness…mmmm… warm, buttered rolls…

Ahem, anyway, the food is quite good and you definitely get your money’s worth: most all of the meals are only $11.99, plus all the “pass arounds.” At this outing, I had the meatloaf for some reason despite not being a big meatloaf fan – it just sounded good, and meatloaf is always a good comfort food. And it was. Just the right amount of seasoning and ketchup crust (top).

My meatloaf dinner:

My brother had the charbroiled chicken breast and seemed to like it despite thinking it was a little bit dry.

Ken had the chicken fried round steak (hen’s portion) and demolished it pretty well.

On the way out of the store there’s a gift shop if you feel the need to have a reminder of your visit other than the stretched waistband of your pants. You can also purchase rolls by the dozen for take out…mmm…rolls…