Not to be confused with ‘Zipang Sushi’, Zipang Provisions is located on the hipster street of Main street. The restaurant is so hipster-ish that you almost would not think that this is a sushi-ya or even a Japanese restaurant. The logo is also designed in a  hipster-ish style. With the interior designed with wood, metal and vintage decor, one would think that they have mistakenly walked into the wrong restaurant.

However, the staff are Japanese, and the food is authentic as well. The prices are fair with service.

Water in big milk glass bottles were a nice touch to the hipster theme and avoided having to ask servers for more water. There didn’t seem to be any AC on a hot summer day and I was (gasp) sweating really bad. It was humid and hot, so even a fan would have been nice.

We had a table for about 14 people for lunch. On weekends at lunch, Zipang has a special menu which is pretty decent.

I ordered the Pork Cutlet Combo $9.80 which comes with salad, miso soup, agedashi tofu and a bowl of rice with 3 deep friend pork cutlets. The miso soup had sliced daikon which reminded me of my mom’s miso soup, and the miso they used were very good ones. They had two pieces of tofu and one eggplant in the ‘age’ (deep friend) dish. I am not a fan of starch used in sauce, so I didn’t like how the sauce was really jelly. But that is only my preference. Taste on the other hand was very good. The pork was a disappointment. It was very hard and dry, almost impossible to eat. Since it also wasn’t cut up, it made eating very difficult and unpleasant eating a huge chunk of meat with chopsticks.

Other people had ordered the special AAA Steak $14.80 (with miso soup, rice, agedashi tofu) and none of them got knives and forks until we asked for one. My friend who ordered the BBQ with the soup had to ask for a spoon because it becomes almost like congee. For a Japanese restaurant, I thought all of this was inconsiderate for them not to have these come with the food. It should be a no-brainer, and I would assume it would have been in Japan. Too many would have complained already – lol.

However, I did have a bite of the steak and it was really good! Sheepie though was not happy that after telling them to cook it rare, they still cooked it through too much.

Chef’s Choice Assorted Sashimi Combo $15.80 with 5 daily assorted sashimi with small green salad, agedashi tofu, miso soup and rice.

My friend and I kept complaining about the really uncomfortable metal chairs along the long table. They were definitely not good for sitting and it kept scratching my bare legs at the back.

One friend really liked the place and said he definitely wants to return.

Return Again

Back again for lunch with a large group, many of us were impressed with the presentation of the dishes. A set usually came on a tray, and everyone woo and ahh-ed while taking photos. Even the Japanese lady was impressed.

Chef’s Choice Assorted Sashimi Combo (本日のお刺身定食　5点盛) $15.80 comes with Assorted 5 kinds of Sahimi with small green salad, Agedashi Tofu, Miso soup, and Rice. Seafood Bowl Combo (海鮮丼セット) $15.8 comes with a bowl of mixed sushi rice, daily 5 kinds of Sashimi and Ikura on top. Includes small green salad, Agedashi Tofu, and Miso soup.  I had the Beef Tendon Curry Combo (牛すじカレーセット) $9.80 which came with a fairly large plate of curry with a bowl of Miso soup and Salad. It was indeed genuine Japanese curry. It was quite a bit, that I had some rice left over at the end…

Good visit. I gave another carrot for Atmosphere, up to 3, from 2. Same with service. Keep up the great work!

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