☆ ☆ 2/5 stars
As many of you have come to find out, good sushi is hard to come by in the Poconos. So, when given the opportunity to test the flavors of the orient nearby, my partner and I take it.
Unfortunately, the Tokyo Tea House leaves a lot to be desired. Appearance aside (as it lays in a shopping center, with a barely paved, un-lined parking lot), the Tokyo tea house is overpriced and underwhelming. Many japanese food places don't have a great atmosphere (dim lighting, awkward seating) but I try to not hold the look of the restaurant to any standard before judging the food.
We went on a Friday evening, around dinner time and as we entered the small, little restaurant we were informed that food may take longer than usual due to a large party being served. We ordered a few cocktails from the glorified basement bar (it was literally tiny and had very limited options).
As we perused the menu, we were surprised to see the prices. For a small place, in an area that could not have high leasing costs and had a small staff, the prices were kind of ridiculous. Had they offered prices on their online menu (they don't), we might have instead spent the gas money to drive to Wilkes-Barre to eat at our favorite japanese restaurant.
Since we were already committed to the "long" wait, we ordered the beef negi maki appetizer. The appetizer was pretty quick to arrive at our table, but I suppose that's because there were only 4 small peices for us to share. It was decent, a little overcooked and the serving size was pathetic.
For dinner, I ordered my favorite sushi roll, the dragon roll, and a basic roll to accompany it - I believe I had a white tuna roll. My partner was thrilled to see the variety of noodles they had to order, though our young waitress couldn't really help him in explaining the difference of the noodles. He ordered the Yaki Udon noodle dinner - which was chicken sauteed with vegetables and noodles.
His noodle meal was brought out about 15 minutes before my sushi was brought out. I aided him in eating it and it was pretty tasty though a bit over-oiled. By the time my sushi came out, I wasn't all that hungry but because I love sushi, I indulged.
The rolls were both very small and unfortunately, they maneged to ruin the dragon roll in a way that I had never tasted it - even at cheap sushi places. The eel tasted more like ginger - I suppose they managed to make some variation of it that gave it a flavor entirely like ginger.
It was disappointing. All in all, if you are absolutely desperate for sushi and can't get out to Wilkes-Barre to eat at Mirakuya, then Tokyo Tea House will do. But plan to overpay for average sushi served by inexperienced waiters in a dingy restaurant. Also, watch the potholes as you attempt to park.
