Shogun Lounge

As one enters Shogun Lounge, the sort of place it is becomes quite obvious. It is a high-end sushi restaurant with a good balance of class, comfort and historical Japanese culture. It is made up of two floors and a combination of both table and booth seating. We decided to go with the booth even though we were only three people, but it really was very comfortable, almost sofa grade. The place is largely made up of a lot of dark woods and deep reds with Japanese artifacts throughout. My favorite was the samurai armor and sword laid out on the stairway. Naturally, like most men, the urge I felt to grab the sword and play with it was strong, but for the sake of civility and not to be kicked out of the restaurant, I resisted.
The menu of Shogun Lounge is vast, and I was surprised to learn that they offer quite a bit more than sushi and sushi related items. There is also a substantial list of Chinese food as well as the option to sit at a teppan-yaki, a la Benihana of Tokyo. With essentially three completely different types of cuisine offered, I sometimes worry that a restaurant will spread itself too thin and not do any of it very well. This was not the case with the sushi, which leaves me thoroughly tempted to try the other two.
When our time came to order, we were lost because of all the options. We, however, were there for sushi; and when it comes to sushi, I have three staple items that I always start with: Miso soup, a spicy tuna hand roll, and a spicy scallop hand roll. The Miso soup was delicious, as it almost always is, and a great starter for the feast to come. I also had a taste of their hot and sour soup, which was quite flavorful and spicy, but also a bit on the heavy side when compared to the miso.
Both the tuna and scallop hand rolls were good. They were, however, a bit on the boring side in that they were not very spicy and I felt like they could have used something extra. What is nice is that you have two options when it comes to hand rolls; you may order the regular or the mini. I went with the minis just because I have never had one before, and it is pretty much exactly what you would expect. Still, it is a nice option to have when you feel like you don’t want a whole hand roll to yourself.
For the rest of our course we decided to go with the Chef Boat, which comes with about 30 pieces of sushi. For the most part, these came with the more typical sushi items that most of us are used to including such as: Tuna, shrimp, California roll, salmon, crab, eel and albacore. Most were good, except we all felt the crab meat was not the real stuff. We decided to order the Jamada Passion Maki roll as well to try something different. I cannot say for sure what was in it, but I am quite sure that some tempura and eel were involved.  The roll was truly delicious and made the Chef Boat seem quite boring in comparison. Upon returning to Shogun Lounge, I would be sure to try more of their specialty rolls.
For dessert, we had the Banana Tempura. Essentially, this is banana fried tempura style and served with ice cream, and what we phrased: a “Japanese Banana Split.” Jokes aside, it was a seriously delicious dessert, the sort that makes you keep eating even though you feel as though you are about to explode.
My two criticisms of Shogun Lounge are relatively minor and certainly did not detract from the good time I had. Although the staff was very friendly, we did have a difficult time communicating and often had to repeat an order several times before the waiter understood. My second complaint is about the LCD televisions. Since it is a lounge I suppose that sort of thing is acceptable, but it really detracts from the overall mood and atmosphere. Add to that much of the staff would just stand and stare at the silent television. It was actually rather funny, but certainly did not match the décor they are going for.
All in all, the sushi was delicious and that alone would keep me coming back. I am also quite tempted to give their other cuisine styles a try and see if they are just as good as the sushi. Additionally, the décor manages to be classy, yet relaxed. I would not, however, come back too often, as the prices are quite expensive. Although it will cost you at the end of the night, you will leave feeling that you got your money’s worth.