Soho Japanese Bistro

This is the best sushi place in town.  We have taken my son to the hibachi and he loved it.  The place is hip, modern, and a great date place.  Is it as good as bid city sushi places?  No, but it's pretty darn close.  We always enjoy dinner here.  The sushi selection is pretty solid.  You can find the usual.  But they need something to set it apart from other places.

Alright, so generally sushi in the area sucks. It's bofo Indiana. It's 2 days away from the ocean. I get it. It's not gonna be phenomenal, especially since I've experienced sushi from the Bay Area, Miami, and SoCal. Soho is solid, though. I've tried a variety of their rolls and some sashimi to test out the freshness of their fish (which is actually probably a horrible way to figure it out considering I might have died from parasites living in non-fresh fish; I swear this is a real thing, I saw it on Animal Planet once).

Anyway, yeah, Soho's raw fish is relatively fresh and tasty, so don't worry about all that (sorry). I like ordering rainbow rolls and tekka salmon/tekka tuna. These all have significant amounts of raw fish in them. Nice, light flavor-- as rolls featuring raw fish should taste. Poor execution though. I like my rolls not to fall apart the second I pick them up with my chopsticks. I don't know, maybe if you like a semi-deconstructed roll, you'll like Soho rolls. Also, the rice was still super warm, which was unfortunate because warm raw fish is pretty weird.

For those who are not as adventurous or just starting to get into sushi eating, definitely try the dragon roll. Those are my favorite, and Soho actually does a pretty good job with theirs, though the eel sauce needs to be eased up a bit. I'm also a fan of their caterpillar rolls. I think I just might really really like avocado, though (both have lots of avocado, mmm).

The rolls in general are average priced and on the small side. They've got a lot of creative "Americanized" options, which I suppose is fitting for the area, but their more traditional/purist options are also there. Overall, it's pretty average food. At least the intimate atmosphere is nice though!

When I was looking for a nice Japanese restaurant in South Bend area where diversity of cuisine is limited, I was happy to find Soho Bistro. (the other is Zing fusion in Mishawaka)

Situated in Heritage Square Mall, location is very accessible with plenty of parking.
I'll break it down by 3 key points (Food, Decor, Ambiance):

1. Food - We ordered ginger salad, kid's terriyaki chicken, Angry dragon roll, spicy salmon roll, and Filet Mignon steak.  Dessert: Mango mochi
-Ginger salad - (3/5) Was expecting the orangish, light ginger dressing filled with carrot shavings (that's what gives its color if it's 100% natural) but got a creamy 1000 Island looking dressing. It was def. heavier than original while tasted decent. Greens were nice and fresh, and at $3, it was nice portion.
-Kids' chicken terriyaki - (1/5) this was disappointing. too salty and sauce didn't really add anything to the chicken, and chicken was just meh. fried rice that came with it was very disappointing - tasted like they just tried to put soy sauce and call it a day.
-Angry dragon roll- (3.5/5) This was the best among what we ordered. Good portion of eel and salmon. Freshness OK. A bit too much sauce masked the flavor. (Very American... which I dislike for Japanese foods which is supposed to be overall mild in spice and seasoning)
-Spicy Salmon roll-(1/5) I always order spicy salmon roll or spicy salmon temaki when I go to sushi house because it's one of my favorite rolls and because it readily tells me how good or bad the restaurant is. This was total disappointment: they mixed in a lot of tempura flakes with minced salmon that u could hardly taste the fish. It was like tempura flake with spicy sauce. Most disappointing dish.
-Filet Mignon steak - (3/5) Generous two 6~8oz portion, cooked perfect medium, steak was juicy. Again, they overdid the seasoning so it was salty, and asparagus, onion, and peppers were strewn on the bottom which wasn't too appealing. They were tasty though. Overall, it was OK and nothing to write home about.
-They served 2 green tea with a pot when I asked for one, but server initially said "all tea pots are broken" and she happened to have found the only one intact. This puzzled me... if you're a Japanese restaurant touted in being "serious" contender, how can you NOT have ocha tea pots available? This tells me that management is perhaps too American and not aware of Japanese details and culture.

2. Decor - Overall nice and cozy. Table decors were a bit off, and massive wooden beams encasing the dining area where we sat, while it worked, space would've been utilized better with more open plan (minimalist). Teppanyaki rooms were on one side and they looked like lecture halls... bright light, big room full with diners staring at each other across the cooking show... I thought it was hilarious... I have high standards coming from NYC area where Asian restaurant competition is high... and almost always teppanyaki rooms should be dimmed in order to focus the attention on the cooking.

3. Ambiance - they were playing chill lounge music, as a fusion asian restaurant in the village would. Cozy and romantic. I saw many couples. Place was packed after 630ish with large groups waiting for teppanyaki. I'd say mostly American diners. Please understand that I'm not knocking american diners here.. just saying they do not know well about authentic japanese food, and thus would love the food here. I'm Korean-American living in the US for 20 years so that makes me more American as well, but being Asian, I'd pass Soho for something more subtle, more authentic next time. Food-wise, Zing fusion in Mishawaka overall trumped Soho.

Overall the experience was pleasant, with food being too American (over-sauced, over-seasoned). But perhaps this would work greatly since we're in Indiana where comparisons are rare. So take your pick!