Dai Sushi in Pleasantville is one of the most underrated restaurants in Westchester. It deserves to gain more attention for its fresh fish, intimate ambiance, and stellar service. This local Japanese restaurant is slightly pricey, but has a great casual vibe for dinner with friends or family!
Out of the several dishes we tried, the way that the food tasted continuously made up for the mediocre – at best – presentation. The service was satisfactory, especially considering the customer-to-server ratio; even on a random Tuesday night, Dai packs customers into its small dining quarters. Simultaneously, the chefs and servers funneled takeout orders, which caused us to wait longer than we expected for our food. This is not the restaurant to take a large party to; however, it’s the perfect spot to grab a delicious bite to eat with a friend or two! Dai is open six days a week and has long hours for all of your sushi cravings.
After we sat down, our waitress greeted us promptly. Our first appetizer — crispy rice with spicy salmon — was impeccable. However, the presentation of this dish was lacking. Nonetheless, the rice cubes had the perfect amount of crispiness on the outside accompanied by a soft inside that made up for the unappealing appearance. Contrary to most other Japanese sushi restaurants where we have tried this dish, the spice in this spicy salmon had just the right amount of kick. So if you tend to steer clear of spicy foods, you should order the Spicy salmon crispy rice over the hamachi halapeño, which was our second appetizer of the night.
The jalapeño slices perfectly complemented the thin-cut sashimi; however, don’t let the size of the jalapeño fool you – they are much hotter than expected. We also ordered the pork pan-fried gyoza, which is always a must-have (at least for us). It was the perfect dish to follow the hamachi jalapeño, as we were no longer suffering from the spice, and we were able to enjoy the flavor. As one of our favorite dishes of the night, we were happy that we went with the pork over the veggie – although we are sure they are both great. The golden fry on the thin dough, with the perfect ratio of components – we couldn’t ask for anything more.
For our entrees, we ordered vegetable fried rice and chicken pan-fried udon noodles. The thick noodles were saucy and delicious, but we would recommend ordering them with light oil. The doughy, chewy noodles were rich in flavor and contrasted perfectly with the additional vegetables and chicken in the dish. Now onto the fried rice; the ratio of rice to vegetable and egg was a bit off but was still appetizing. We found that some chunks were larger than others, and it was a struggle to fit every flavor into one bite.
Now for the star of the show: sushi! We grew skeptical of how the rest of our meal would taste after we tried the first roll we ordered, the ‘I Love Salmon Roll.’ We love salmon, but we loved nothing about this roll. The mystery sauce that accompanied the fresh fish was the true issue and could only be described as a chunky, orange substance. The flavors in this indescribable roll did not match – this roll would leave anyone contemplating their previous love for salmon. After our below-par experience with the last fish we ate, the cucumber avocado roll we consumed next was quite refreshing. The avocado was fresh and the cucumber was crisp. All in all, this simple roll helped us regain our faith in Dai Sushi. However, we were then blown away by the spicy scallop roll—our number-one dish on the menu. Some people find scallops to be slimy, but we found it perfect when paired with ginger and soy sauce. We highly recommend it if you are a sushi-lover who isn’t afraid to take risks with spicy mayo.
Overall, we would recommend Dai Sushi for its clean, personal atmosphere and fresh food. We enjoyed almost all of our food and the service was good quality. We will continue to come back and enjoy the savory food that Dai has to offer. We hope to see you all there!
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.2/5
