What a beautiful place, down on Kaslik's waterfront. A high glass facade, light relaxing colors, three TVs playing music videos, a bar, and on the upper floor, sofas for more intimate dining and more importantly good food.
By now I will have tried all the Tsunami locations. Antelias, Ashrafieh and now Kaslik. Facing ATCL on the Jounieh sea road, Tsunami welcomes you for a large selection of sushi and hot Asian food. The place is interesting to look into.
Tsunami first opened in 2002 in Kfardebian, followed by 3 other locations across the Lebanese coast. The secret of the expansion lies behind a simple fact: good food quality, great taste at reasonable prices. Food offerings at Tsunami include standards sushi rolls, nigiri, sashimi, fresh Japanese tempura, and teriaki dishes, Tsunami also offers delicious Asian-inspired specials every day of the week, ranging from chicken to beef to shrimp.
Enter the large door and be welcomed by the bar where sushi rolls are prepared in front of you. The space is filled with light wooden tables covered with a full table set. White painted chairs surround the tables in this relaxing space. The color "Blue" takes over the restaurant, perfectly chosen for a Japanese diner... A soft musical background and there we were ready to enjoy dinner.
A man approached us and offered a list of drinks, simply and professionally. We chose a white wine before he helped us with the specialties. Charbel, the manager is one of those professional hospitality people facing extinction in Lebanon.
Salty and normal Kikkoman soy sauce, generously filled cups of pink ginger, Via water in glass bottles from Tannourine, paper placemats... The first impression was good.
On the menu:
- Soup
- Side Orders
- Hot Food
- Salads
- Sashimi
- Sushi
- Hoso Maki
- Futo Maki
- Gunkan
- Ura Maki
- Temaki
- Set Menus
- Drinks, Wines and Spirits
Looking up, a dozen Japanese movie posters decorated the ceiling, over the balcony. Dinner started with a complementary order from the manager for our first visit, one octopus roll served warm and another mango roll with spicy salmon, both great. Afterwards, I had my habitual starter, the crispy salmon salad, fresh and crispy despite the fact that the bowl was usually filled completely with salmon cubes in the other locations; This one had a bed of crisps beneath reducing the quantity of salmon in the bowl. The special order was salmon and tuna tataki, supposed to be a mix of "half cooked" salmon and tuna topped with a sweet sauce. Even though tasty, the mix was way over cooked. The salmon tataki has a certain finesse which should have lead to the pieces being cut thinner and laid one next to the other to expose the raw heart... that was not the case. Just change the name and this plate would be great. It's more of a cooked salmon with sauce and crushed nuts.
The rolls followed, beautiful and tasting good, fresh and generous but I would have definitely have preferred the rice to be a bit less cooked and less condensed. Anyway, for a casual sushi place, Tsunami's quality is as good as you expect it to be.
To accompany dinner, we had a good Italian wine I recommend, a wine I rated 4/5 on the Vivino app: Frascati, Secco 2012. Gotto d'oro: A subtle, fruity and smooth wine. A clear and brilliant yellow color with soft green shades. A delicate fragrance of exotic fruits and citrus. Dry and soft, with exotic fruit and a touch of ripe pear and almonds on the finish.
I enjoyed a good dinner, amazing selection of musical tunes, a good welcoming all at a reasonable price. Tsunami is a good sushi in Jounieh.
Let's have dessert: A selection of four Mochis served on a rectangular plate landed in front of us. Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of mochigome, a short-grain japonica glutinous rice. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into a spherical shape. I’ve honestly had better around town; Try Yabani's, you'll understand. With that we had honey givré, an ice cream served in a clay pot and topped with almonds. A fresh and light ice cream that was full of taste and topped with crunchy almonds.
Antelias, Ashrafieh and now Jounieh, it seems Tsunami does serve the same quality in all its branches. It was an enjoyable dinner indeed.
