Restaurant Review: Usushi

Japanese and Thai Cuisine
108 Marlboro Avenue
Easton, MD 21601
410.763.8868

One of the good things about Talbot County is that amid the charm of Eastern Shore-living are a variety
of restaurants, ranging from local fare to exotic foreign cuisine. As many of us experienced, one of the
inconveniences of the COVID pandemic was the complete shutting down of restaurants for what seemed
an endless age. Some restaurants did not fully reopen right away. My friend and I had become used to
frequenting our favorite sushi restaurant, Usushi, in Easton about once a week but during the pandemic
we fell out of the habit of going there. So when I visited there with my daughter this past weekend it was
almost like discovering the place for the first time. When the restaurant first opened the owner told us that he went to Baltimore Harbor every morning at 4 am to buy the latest catch. I could tell from the freshness of the fish that his practice had not changed.

The atmosphere of the restaurant had not altered, with the black slate floors and ceilings enhancing the
serenity of the Japanese minimalist chic, with silk lanterns and silk tapestries on the walls. The wait staff
was as efficient as ever, easy to reach when the need arose and fully acquainted with the diverse menu.
There was hardly any wait between courses.

I began dinner with a hearty glass of the most delicate plum wine, which was neither too sweet nor too
tart, but complimented the repast which was to follow. My daughter enjoyed one of the Japanese sodas
which come in a variety of flavors. As an appetizer I had the Thai crispy squid, as delicious as I had
remembered. The dish looked like onion rings but tasted like calamari, accompanied by a sweet and sour
sauce. Meanwhile my daughter was served a huge bowl of the house seafood soup, really a meal in itself,
containing generous chunks of lobster and shrimp.

As an entrée I had been torn between the salmon hand roll and one of the sushi specials. For the
purposes of this review I chose both. The salmon was tasty, light and fresh with the crispy eel skin
wrapping. As for the main course, the Fuji Roll which was one of the specials of the day; I do not recall
seeing it before or having it before. I had been used to coming to Usushi for lunch when they have buy-
one-get-one-half-price but the dinner specials are exceedingly reasonable considering the quality and
quantity of food. The Fuji Roll had a slight crispness amid the rice and the variety of seafood. It was
around this time in the course of the meal when a lady at a neighboring table began to converse with me
and so I was distracted from analyzing the meal to the extent I had planned on. It was however superb,
although the crab meat was tricky to eat with chopsticks. Meanwhile my daughter was having the Osaka
Box Roll which was unlike anything I had ever had there. It had three kinds of tuna and was quite tasty.
We sampled each other’s entrées; each dish was a new experience.

For the end of the meal, I highly recommend the tea, exquisitely flowery yet strong, needing only a little
sugar. My daughter indulged in the fried green tea ice cream with the hot crunchy tempura shell. It was
the kind of meal that only an expert chef can create; the deliciousness of the cuisine surpassed the cost. We left feeling refreshed and energized rather than drowsy and glutted as is so often the case after dining out.

Usushi provides carry-out for those who prefer to eat at home, although I enjoy the ambiance of the
restaurant as part of the dining experience. After the upheavals of the pandemic, Usushi has held its own
and remains one of our all-time favorite restaurants.