Japonais brings unique sushi to Bloomington dining scene

For people looking to satisfy their sushi cravings, Bloomington's fifth sushi restaurant, Japonais Restaurant and Sushi Bar, opened Wednesday. \nThe new restaurant, which has a decorative atmosphere and individual rooms with televisions and karaoke equipment, is located at the corner of Eighth and Walnut streets. \nWith all the other sushi restaurants in the community, owner Shan Chong wanted to stress his restaurant's uniqueness.\n"Ours is more French style and is also the only one downtown students can walk to," Chong said. \nThe restaurant features a diverse sushi menu and has several choices that Bloomington residents might not have seen around town. Dale Garfinkel, an IU student and customer, noted one particular item. \n"I loved the crazy roll," he said. \nThe crazy roll features cooked tuna and salmon, as well as avocado and cream cheese, and is one of the only rolls in town to feature cooked tuna. Japonais offers many cooked and vegetarian choices for those who don't like raw fish. The restaurant has sushi choices called the Hoosier roll, the Indiana roll, the Bloomington roll and the IU roll to incorporate a local flavor, and a "Sex and the City" roll to appeal to the college crowd. The restaurant is also the only one in the area to feature soybean paper, an alternative option to seaweed, for wrapping the sushi.\nFor those who don't like any type of sushi, other entrée options are available. \nEitan Farahan, an IU sophomore who said he doesn't like sushi, still had high praise for the restaurant. \n"I loved the atmosphere and thought they had great chicken teriyaki," he said. \nThe restaurant also offers noodle soups, tempura and a few traditional French-Japanese dishes.\nPrices for sushi range from $2.75 for a cucumber roll to $12 for a rainbow roll, which has five kinds of raw fish. Most sushi, however, costs about $4. Also, every dinner entrée comes with $1 beers.\nThe restaurant also offers a large party room upstairs for groups of 12 people or more.\nIn addition to the regular dining area, the restaurant has a traditional Japanese tatami, or tea room, seating.\nChong said he is looking forward to the experience of running a restaurant.\n"I think people are really going to enjoy this place and it is something I am really excited about doing," he said.