When we arrived around noon, the place was nearly empty. Business started to pick up about 30 minutes later but it was still nowhere near as busy as Wasabi's or some of the other popular downtown lunch locations. They offer outdoor seating as well as a dining room and sushi bar. The interior is very modern and clean looking - and I think they might become more of a lounge and club later at night.
The service was very good, which shouldn't be too difficult when there are so few people in the restaurant. Our waitress brought us hot towels as we looked over our menus and was friendly and prompt with everything during the meal. After the meal, she brought us hot towels and chocolate mints - a nice little touch.
All the extracurricular aspects of Formosa make it a nice place - but I wasn't impressed with the food or the prices. They have a nice selection of lunch dishes with different choices for sushi or cooked dishes like rice or noodles. I decided to have the Sushi Special with miso soup. The sushi special is a six-piece California roll and 4 pieces of nigiri that are selected by the chef - my four pieces were tuna, albacore tuna, flounder, and salmon. The soup that came out before the entree was good - served hot with plenty of flavor and not too salty, which can be a problem with miso soup. However, the sushi was a disappointment. The California roll lacked flavor because the crab meat in the roll tasted very pedestrian. The pieces of nigiri were very small and the rice began to crumble apart as soon as I would pick up a piece. Overall, the entire plate of food was small. The flavors were okay, but I found myself thinking, "that's it?" after I finished. Actually, the best part of the meal was the drink my dad ordered. If you haven't heard of bubble tea, you really should give it a try!
I'd compare the entire sushi experience to something similar you could get from the sushi counter at Kroger or Publix. And for $10.50 for the Sushi Special, I didn't think there was anything very special about it. I'm glad I gave Formosa a try because I'd been curious about how it compared to Wasabi's. Now, I know. Now, I appreciate Wasabi's even more.
I gave this place another try and the service was equally horrible. The food was great, but I go out to eat for the service and experience just as much. The food was slow to come out and was not brought out at the same time. The cool flaming formosa bombs were a lack-luster experience. I use to light Bacardi 151 on fire in college too, it was not a big deal. I did not get a spoon with my soup and upon asking for one the waitress said "oh, would you like a spoon for that?" Duh, its soup. Our sake bombs were also a travesty. They brought out the beer and poured it all into 2 glasses despite us telling them we would like to pour it ourselves. The sake was brought out 10 minutes later and the beer was already room temperature by then. Very disappointing. I don't understand how a place could have such great food and the service could be so dismal with only 4 other tables occupied in the whole place.
Review Source:I had high hopes for Formosa, but I was left feeling quite disappointed. Â My boyfriend and I got our rolls to go, and he said he was happy we did as the restaurant seemed quite cramped. Â The rolls were nothing special and it seemed as if the rice might not have been cooked enough. Â We will not be ordering food from here again.
Review Source:I came here for dinner a few weeks ago. There was only one other couple in the restaurant on a Thursday night. The music was extremely loud and the lighting was strange. I felt like I was in a night club but there were no people and the wait staff seemed very low energy. Also, they give you a flashlight to read your menu. Seriously. I think this was one of those ideas that could be good in theory but is actually very weird when you try it. The food was pretty good--it verged on the exotic side. And it was pretty expensive. They had some flavored saki that was OK. This might be a good place for a date if you don't really want to see the other person.
Review Source:Stopped in here for lunch a couple weeks ago... I wasn't impressed. We were the only people in the restaurant which is not really a good sign in my opinion.
We all had the chicken special which is like chicken teriyaki, salad and soup I think. Everything was fine, although the chicken was slightly rubbery. My coworker was so weirded out by the texture of hers that she didn't continue eating.
The low light is somewhat obnoxious. You shouldn't have to use a flashlight to see if your chicken is cooked. I do like to see what I'm eating.
We have been wanting to try Formosa since they opened and found our way there on a midweek night. Â We have been to just about every sushi place in Roanoke and were excited to check this place off our list!
Atmosphere: Â I guess it was a really slow night. We were one of two tables and there were 1 or 2 people at the sushi bar. Â They have done a VERY nice job capturing the "modern?" vibe in this place. Â Very low lighting (we were provided mini flashlights to read the menus), neat decor. Not really for us, but they were a wonderful job. We could easily see this place in a large city or even Japan.
Service: It took quite a while to get our food. Long enough that we mentioned concern about coming here on a busy weekend. Â Server was attentive and friendly.
Food: Â Most sushi places have a raw and cooked section on the menu. Here, It is blended with an asterisk next to the rolls that can be ordered raw or undercooked. It just seems that many of the rolls that we had were cooked, and some of those DID have an asterisk. Â Might have been partially our fault so please just make sure that you clarity what YOU would like with the server. That said, this places seems to have many options to ease the sushi-phobe into this cuisine, and that is cool.
Verdict: Not our favorite in town, but a solid option that fills a niche in downtown Roanoke. Â I look forward to trying this place for lunch and wish them the best of luck!
My previous and (admittedly) overly long review for Formosa was flagged (or filtered) and taken down. Because I eat at Formosa twice a week, have its sushi menu memorized, and am on a first name basis with its entire front-of-house staff, my review got flagged. "How could he know so much about their process, their products and their history without working there?" By doing my research. And that is Yelp's biggest problem: it has plenty of critics but very little worthwhile criticism. I was flagged for knowing what I'm talking about.
I am a New York food snob with a big mouth and a big appreciation for great sushi. I can say with authority that Formosa's sushi is the equal of anything I ever ate while in New York. And I am that guy who once dropped half-a-grand on a single uni-caviar-oyster-tuna-yellowtail-snapper-sake binge. Did I feel good in the morning? No. Would I do it again? Maybe. Am I proud of myself? Yea. And I reserve the right to speak to that experience and call Victor Peng the best sushi chef in Roanoke, Virginia. Go ahead. Filter me again, Yelp, you jerk.
I can't speak to Formosa's regular menu, despite saying that I wish it were a bit more concise. My Formosa ritual involves walking in, getting a round of "Hellos" then giving Victor the "make me whatever you think I haven't tried" hand signal. I advise everyone to do the same. Just don't gush too much when you write your own 900-word review. Yelp's filter is the Internet's biggest bully.
p.s. I've never loved the techno lounge look, but if faux Japanese decor and ten dollar factory prints of geishas and tidal waves are your thing, there's always Wasabi's around the corner. Me? I'm in it for the maki.
The place certainly has a cool vibe. Â It is nice to enter an Asian restaurant that is intent on doing it differently.
The food was ok, and the service was poor. Â I think they can work out their service issues and Ghent this will allow them to work on their food preparation and creativeness.
I hope they make it!
For some of the more adventurous choices in Japanese cuisine including jellyfish and squid salad, you have to try Formosa. Â If you are hell bent on sticking to wussy California rolls, they have those here too.
I read the Ken Z review and figured I'd roll through here. Â I couldn't convince anyone to join me, so I went solo. Â But I have to say, this is one of those places where dining alone is not a problem. Â I had the jellyfish salad, squid salad, spicy scallop, and spicy red snapper. Â Jellyfish is one of my favorite dishes and it is nice to find a place that serves it. Â I've found that most places tend to screw you on the portion size or mix it with a lot of vegetables...this wasn't the case here. Â The same goes for the squid. Â The rolls were pretty good as well...although I could have used more heat.
The owner was omnipresent the night I was there. Â He was serving as host, server, and still had time for conversations with all of his customers. Â Service was pretty good for me. Â Don't get me wrong, I still like Ben Gui for my sushi needs. Â This is a strong option though if you find yourself in the downtown area. Â I definitely hate going downtown.
Note: Â this place turns into a techno lounge after 10. Â It's is just something different to do other than 202 and Metro.
Only reason I'm not giving this a one star is because the sushi was really good. The service however was horrible. We had reservations at 730, we got our food at 915. Then it took another 20-25 minutes to settle up at the end if the night. The owner needs to fix this badly, because he really had great food in a city where everything is the same
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