Out & About #84 | Sushi Tei + Trying Desserts at Green Grotto

I don't think I've stepped foot into Sushi Tei since my grandparents moved to B.C., so I guess it was purely out of convenience when I decided to dine here to catch up with a friend after work.

The restaurant changed owners a few years back - the boss used to be a kinda, smiley old man, but I believe it's now run by a few Korean youngsters.

We received a few complimentary appetizers after ordering, which is pretty typical of a Korean restaurant. The number of side dishes we received had been greatly decreased compared to the previous owner though; we used to also receive a few pieces of grilled mackerel during the meal.

< Pictured above: Philadelphia Roll and Rainbow Roll >


We ordered two different types of rolls, and while they were unmistakably  fresh, the rice to filling ratio was quite extreme. Approximately half of each roll was comprised of rice, making them very filling, but not quite worth what they were being charged for. The service was decent, however I did wonder why some other tables received green tea ice cream for dessert while we received a few measly orange slices.

To finish off the night with something sweet, we headed over to Green Grotto for dessert.
The premises was packed when we arrived, so the waitress sat us down on a couch and promised that she would transfer us over as soon as one of the tables cleared. A tin of sodium-heavy popcorn was set down in front of us after we ordered.

A party of five soon got up, and the tables were split such that we could be moved to a table...in the middle of the cafe. I'm not sure why the waitresses thought we would be okay with this, but I demanded that we be transferred to an actual table as soon as it cleared up.

We ordered an Oolong Milk Tea, Chocolate Truffle Cake, and Super Caramel Crunch pastry.

Perhaps it was just busy, but the food that we received this time around definitely showed a exacerbation in quality. Their drinks are normally much better than the other local bubble tea joints, but the Oolong Milk Tea was just "alright" in my opinion. The Super Caramel Crunch, which was described to contain just a hint of sweetness was beyond sugary in reality. The best decision proved to be the Chocolate Truffle cake, which was light and smooth, every bite exuding chocolatey elegance. The only thing we could not seem to understand was why it took a good fifteen minutes to plate up our desserts when they were already made and sitting in the refrigerated display case at the takeout area.

Before we decided to leave, I suddenly experienced this sudden urge for a watermelon tea, so I ordered a small Watermelon Black Tea to go. This was a horrible decision - almost as bad as purchasing an Oprah Chai Milk Tea from Starbucks before understanding the ingredients contained within it. Again, it might just be because the environment was extremely chaotic, but this tea tasted nothing more than chemicals and water. I was flabbergasted at the abhorrent, non-watermelon-like taste in my mouth, and ended up leaving half of the drink for tossing.


This was quite saddening as Green Grotto had generally been good to me since they opened in Mississauga.
I guess the only thing I can say is that: Green Grotto seriously needs to step up their customer service game for the evening hours - it seems as if all the competent girls (or those with a decent memory) get off work around 7 pm.

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