Willowcreek Grill and Raw Sushi — Restaurant in Boise

So being from San Francisco and now living in the Bay Area means I have a lot of friends and family who have very high flutting tastes regarding sushi. Yet I have taken a couple of them here when they visited me in Idaho in the past (after picking them up from the airport or while driving them to the airport in Boise), and I visited here recently again after a couple years from moving back to California. They are always very good. Extremely surprisingly so considering they are not near the ocean. Since I hadn't been here in 2 years I forgot that they're also incredibly generous with their rolls and that instead of the six pieces or less you get at sushi restaurants in California, you get 12 pieces here. So I ordered way too much and I took it back to my grandpa's in Jerome, and it still held up well. He doesn't eat sushi so I ordered from Wildfire's menu for him. He's very very picky and I should know from living with him for 4 years and cooking all his meals... He really liked it and thought it had been ordered from his country club just down the street and was surprised to learn that I had picked it up hours ago. Such a plus that if you don't like sushi you can always order from their grill menu! I love sitting on the sushi side because it's quieter and not as packed, and my servers have always been incredibly kind and phenomenal. In fact, the last time I was there I did not take my credit card back and when I realized this I was horrified because they would be closed the day I was flying out. I called them and they told me they would mail it to me in CA. Now that is crazy good...

I have driven by this place a dozen times and have never been so today was a good day to go since I was on that end of town. I honestly thought it was just a sushi joint. I didn't realize it was a duo restaurant, grill and sushi. I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be my cup of tea but I decided to give it another try anyways.

Walking in, the set up is rather strange. The bar was blocked off and the other side was the dining area. I was sat at a bar top and Kennedy came and greeted me. I got to look over the menu and decided on a Gaijin roll. It was an easy pick. Shrimp tempura, avocado and cream cheese. That all sounds fantastic in a sushi roll.

My roll was nicely plated. I was given generous amounts of wasabi and ginger. The roll looked decent. It was nice to get a whole roll. Most of these new sushi joints in town are only serving half a roll.

I hate being a sushi snob but this roll didn't do it for me. The rice had no acidity to it. It tasted like plain steamed rice. The shrimp didn't have any crunch to it since it was supposed to be tempura shrimp. And then you add avocado and cream cheese which are two soft textures on top of soft rice and soft shrimp.... it was like eating mush. It had great flavor but I couldn't get past the one noted texture to the roll.

Kennedy did great serving me today. She was fast and friendly! I'm sure they have great food at this venue. I noticed the grill portion of the menu had some fun items. Maybe next time I'll just stick to the grill menu...

I had hemmed and hawed about eating at this joint long enough so I decided to give em a go. The service was fantastic. The restaurant is very nice with indoor and outdoor seating. The menu is extensive and full of tantalizing descriptions of the fare offered. I was thinking about a burger, that Philly or the fish and chips. I decided on the fish and chips since it’s been a bit since I’ve had some. My side salad was good and larger than most restaurants give. The sweet potato fries I asked for instead of regular were decent. The coleslaw that came with my food wasn’t worth eating. The sauces, tartar and something else that I assume was some kind of fry sauce, weren’t very tasty. The fish…. I’m not sure what they did to that fish but I suspect it died of an overdose on breading. I like a nice thin breading, whereas this breading was a full 1/4” to 1/2” thick in places. A thinner coat would have yielded a better experience as under the outer flaky layer was a pancake like layer. Finally, the fish didn’t taste bad or old necessarily, but it didn’t taste super fresh like you’d expect from a place like this that also serves sushi. I’ll probably come back and try a burger or that Philly, but I definitely wouldn’t ask for fish and...