CruSushiBar — Restaurant in Vila Nova de Gaia

This restaurant is really an hidden gem! I visited it with my girlfriend and spent an unplanned wonderful evening!

Everything about it hits a 5 star grade:

the food: the fish is as fresh as you can find and the rice is made in front of you with an unique flavour, subtly different from other places. In the end we were full but had to try to stunning deserts.

the staff: this place is ran by the sweetest couple, they went the extra mile to ensure we were 100% fulfilled, and we sure did! Easy to talk and super attentive on our needs and overall satisfaction.

the place: nobody would imagine from the street that inside that building there is a such a special place like this one. It was made to be intimate and has a cool and sophisticated vibe all around it.

the price: we ate 14 dishes each, prepared and presented one by one by the chef, had japanese beers, deserts and complimentary drinks and sweets on the house by 2/3 of the usual price for equivalent experiences.

takeaway: we also tried the takeaway while we were in covid isolation and the quality is exactly the same: perfect!

In summary: thank you for the 10/10 experience,...

The fuss is merited because chef Rui is simply in an omakase league of his own. He touches every one of the 16 pieces of hand-molded rice and rare imported fish that 6 lucky diners each night eagerly pay €40 to devour, and then open their wallets to buy more for add-ons. Rui has honed a style all his own over the past years that draws stunning complexity from subtly hidden layers. Paired with the more accessible Wines our best destination for traditional Japanese cooking.

Obrigado Filomena e chefe Rui.

Olga Machado e Sérgio...

Fomos conhecer o espaço, porque na verdade já conhecíamos o Chef. Por isso já sabíamos que a qualidade seria excelente!! No entanto e, apesar das expectativas serem altas, conseguiram que fôssemos bastante surpreendidos! Não só pela qualidade do que nos foi servido, mas também pela variedade, pela simpatia do atendimento e pelo quanto nos sentimos confortáveis e aconchegados no espaço! Para além de tudo, há uma grande proximidade com quem nos prepara os pratos, com o qual podemos conversar o tempo todo desta experiência, havendo o cuidado de nos ser sempre explicado o que estamos a saborear e em mostrar-nos o peixe que vamos consumir. Foi muito mais do que um simples jantar de sushi, foi toda um experiência dentro de um conceito diferente do que estamos habituados em qualquer restaurante de sushi, mas que foi pensado ao pormenor para nos agradar e satisfazer. Será, com toda a certeza, uma experiência a repetir!! Queremos, também...