SUSURU — Restaurant in Dr. Phillips

PLEASE COME TO MIAMI! I came here to celebrate my anniversary with my girlfriend and we truly loved our experience. It's something that we don't have down in Miami (as we are in Orlando on Vacation) which truly makes it more enjoyable and memorable. The retro theme is a great aesthetic and gives such an original classic feel to the restaurant. The staff are incredibly friendly and super caring. It was almost impossible to have a waiter/waitress come up to us without a smile and a respectful attitude and tone.

The food? Completely authentic and traditional. They put their own flair into their dishes and it was definitely to die for. The Mi-So-Hot Ramen was such a great dish as it felt light but satisfying. I felt as if I could've had another bowl if I had wanted to BUT at the same time I felt fulfilled with having such a warm dish in my stomach. It was extremely savory and honestly, not too salty! The seasonings and the flavor were phenomenal and was one of the BEST ramens I've ever had in my entire life. Definitely TOP 3. I asked for some Shittake Mushrooms to put into my ramen and it added an extra kick of taste to the bowl. Such a great idea as it took it to the next level.

The Yuzu Street Corn and Okonomiyaki were such great dishes that served as appetizers and the portion was perfect enough between my girlfriend and I.

The Matcha-Tiramisu at the very end was such a delightful finisher for the both of us. My girlfriend, who dislikes Matcha, enjoyed the heck out of this thing to the point where she ordered another and wanted to take it back to our hotel. Currently, it's sitting in the fridge just teasing us by its soft and sweet flavor. We'll definitely eat it up by tomorrow! I DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THIS TREAT! It's super light and definitely not too sweet. It's amazing.

They ended things off with 4 free cups of Green Tea to help us digest and process our dinner and to help calm the soul. It was definitely delicious and smelled beautifully. I am thankful for them providing us with these free teas as they were such a great way to end our experience at their beautiful and humble restaurant. I wish for nothing else but success, and fortune for these folks. They have quite a lot of folks coming in to enjoy their cuisine. We, being hispanic who appreciate the Asian cultures, truly are thankful for giving us an experience of Japan. We plan on visiting Japan in the future together and this was a great introduction to the types of cuisines we can expect. We've had japanese food before but their food was done in an entirely different manner. We definitely will hope to come back in the future whenever we come back to Orlando. You've definitely won us over (You won me over as soon as I saw the ramen land at my table. It looked appealing and had me salivating instantly!). Definitely worth every single cent!

To the employees and to the...

This is one of my new favorite places to eat in Orlando! And best of all, it is very budget friendly - and if you go during happy hour, it's even cheaper!

We happened upon this place by accident, but we had no idea how lucky we were. The decor is a bit eclectic, and seating is available at a counter by the kitchen, or in tables, half booth/tables, and longer tables. The staff was very friendly, and since it was our first time there, they were very patient explaining different foods to us. Our server explained it as a "Tapas style restaurant, but with Japanese street food" - which turned out to be a perfect explanation!

You'll find that whenever someone enters the building, the staff yells something to them in Japanese - kind of like "Welcome to Moe's". I asked and it was a welcome to the new guests.

We tried several dishes, and only wish we had room to try even more! After seeing what some neighboring tables ordered, we have ideas of what we want to try the next time. I love this type of restaurant because it lets you try a variety of foods without having to commit to a full meal. You can try a small sample to see if you like it - which is great when it is a new cuisine!

We ordered: Chicken Karaage (Japanese fried chicken, lemon, salt w/side yuzu mayo) – very tasty, cooked perfectly

Gyoza with wings (chicken gyoza, crisp skirt, ponzu soy sauce) – when it arrived we weren’t sure what it was and didn’t realize that the “skirt” would look like that. It wasn’t what I was expecting when ordering gyoza, but was good – just be sure you know what you’re ordering

Kushiyaki (mini-kebabs) – we tried pork belly, skirt steak & chicken. The skirt steak was my favorite & next time I would order a few of those – tender and flavorful.

Yuzu street corn (grilled corn, cotija cheese, yozu mayo) – technically we didn’t order this, the pic is from a nearby table. We saw their order arrive as our check was coming – so we’re definitely ordering this on our next visit!

Matcha ice cream (green tea ice cream, pocky) – I had never tried this before, and was surprised by how much I liked it. The mini wooden spoons were adorable too!

We visited during happy hour, arriving when happy hour began - it was pretty empty & we were seated quickly - I'd recommend trying to do that if you visit because it filled up later & people were waiting for tables.

This ended up being one of our cheapest meals in Orlando, mainly because we were there during happy hour (lucky coincidence). If you're budget is tight in Orlando, try stopping in here for a happy...

As Ramen fans, we were recommended this spot and were not disappointed.

The hour wait for dinner on a Tuesday was worth it - it was our first time and we were willing to wait, so we played a few rounds at an arcade nearby in the same plaza.

The Astro Boy Mule was great, and since they were out of a seasonal beer I was recommended the Hitachino Nest White Rice Ale, which was light and pleasant.

I'm a fan of Okonomiyaki, which is difficult to come by (although few authentic spots might make it for you off-menu if you ask nicely). Here, it's offered as an appetizer so it's smaller than expected but was delicious.

Speaking of off-menu - if you're vegetarian like me, you can ask for a vegetarian brothed ramen. It came with Brussel sprouts, corn, mushrooms, and fried tofu. Very yummy! Partner had the Mi-So-Hot (not pictured) - he says it wasn't spicy to his crazy standard but it was tasty.

We had to try the takoyaki because it's another favorite, so we got an order of two to try. So small! But very yummy.

We also love onigiri, so we had to try the Yaki Onigiri Chazuke. It does have chicken broth (along with tea broth), but wow this was so good. It's a riceball that your waiter will pour the soup onto at your table - it was so pleasant, by then I was not surprised by how great it tasted.

For desert (even though we were stuffed at this point), I was curious about the Matcha Tiramisu. It comes with warm tea for the end of your meal (maybe jasmine green tea?). Ok, honestly, it was delicious, I love matcha, but it was more like a cheesecake to me than a tiramisu. I only recognized the "lady fingers" texture in one corner of the dish, but the rest (taste and texture-wise) was moist-cheesecake style. I didn't mind it because I like cheesecake too. I would order it again.

The ambiance was great - open floorplan, great decorations, and Japanese jams. I recognized a few anime favorites playing. Also, the hosts have a 'call and response' with the staff whenever someone new is being seated - perhaps someone has or will shed light on what is said but it was fun. Hosts and waitress were friendly and attentive. We will definitely come here again before we leave town, and any other time we're in the...