Food: Ebisu

Fusion cuisine has long been synonymous with high prices, in part because the dining public tends to stick to the tried and true - it's hard to keep prices low when you only attract people with eclectic tastes. One awesome exception is Ebisu, a Japanese restaurant in Palm Beach Gardens.



Ebisu offers "happy hour" dinner till 7 PM. It's a reduced price a la carte menu that allows you to order up a completely satisfying Japanese fusion meal for about $10 a head. Old favorites like agedashi tofu and spicy tuna rolls are joined by some pretty unique stuff - tempura shrimp tacos, sashimi tuna quesadillas, and Italian-style(!) shiitake mushroom noodles.

My personal choice is the sashimi platter: it looks really expensive (combining big pieces of sashimi with novel, Western-style sauces), tastes really good, and only costs $5.50. For those seeking more conventional sushi and sashimi, they have that, too:



The restaurant keeps prices low by hanging out near the end of a strip mall shopping center and keeping the interior simple (it looks like every other Japanese place you've ever been, in other words). The service is good, too, as long as you don't mind a couple of heavy Japanese accents.

3/4 stars