Momo Sushi and Grill Springfield — Restaurant in Springfield

About a week late to write this... Wifey had a Sushi craving and we wanted to go somewhere new. Saw a few people write commentary about this place on social media and we'd figure we'd give it a try. When we arrived, the restaurant looked quaint. Once we entered, the dining area was very comfortable and spacious. We were greeted and seated immediately. Our server was very attentive and polite and was very knowledgeable about the selections on the menu. Everything looked very good so we decided to feast for lunch! We ordered the Avocado Bombs for an appetizer, which were amazing! We followed up with an order for 4 rolls; Fire #1, Heart Attack, Red Mango, and Lobster Rolls. Every roll was delicious and had a flavor that differed from the other rolls. Two rolls in particular I want to call out - Red Mango roll which was more sweet than savory and my wife's favorite (I agreed it was tasty and delicious) and the Lobster Roll. The Lobster roll was a show in itself served with lightly fried pieces of lobster served on the upper deck of a wooden boat and below deck was an entire sushi roll with lobster! Again, all rolls were delicious, just a call out to the memorable ones for us. I can't say this enough, the SERVICE was on-point! It's been easy for us to walk away from dining out as often simple because of either food quality or service (or both) are lacking. Why spend money for aggravation or inferior food quality when we can cook (extremely well) at home? Sushi is different, Momo hit a "grand slam" and my wife and I are looking forward to our next visit there! At the end of our visit, the Chef even came out to our table to check in with our experience and offer recommendations for next time which we are already planning!

-Fresh and Great tasting food served promptly!

-"5 Star" service!

-$$ priced favorably versus trendy spots in...

I have no idea how this place is rated this well. Truly confusing.

The sushi rice... Well, it wasn't. It was just plain, dry, unseasoned, unvinegared rice. And it wasn't fresh, and had crispy bits. This is literally the first time I've had "sushi rice" be that plain, anywhere in the world. The fish was mediocre at best. Other adjectives I'd use would be "unfresh", "lowest grade possible", or "grocery store basic".

Service was helpful and very pleasant, if not extremely attentive. This was actually a good thing, because I really hate to be the person to tell someone that the food sucks, particularly when it's a basic quality issue, and not something that can just be recooked - it's definitely not the server's fault, and the poor gal has no good response available to her, in that situation. Honestly, she's the only reason I gave a second star - she was a pleasure.

I really wanted to like this place. The ratings... (?!) Some of the best sushi places I've been to have been run down-looking holes in the wall. So I gave it a chance, even though this place is extremely run down- looking, and has no ambiance whatsoever. I made a mistake. I don't suggest that you do the same.

Edit, to reply to the owner's reply:

Yes, it was the Springfield location. Hence this review, at this location...

Sesame wasn't the issue. No seasoning at all was the issue. No kombu, no rice vinegar, just plain, dry, bland, non-sticky rice. I don't think that I've ever been served sushi rice that was that bad, honestly. Even the limited grocery store sushi that I've eaten has been better, even after sitting in a refrigerated display for hours - and the fish quality was very...

We decided to give this restaurant a try because it was the highest rated sushi restaurant in Springfield. I should have known that sushi and Springfield don't really go well together. We ordered the avocado bomb appetizer to start. The avocado arrived perfectly ripe, and the tempura was well done. What would those otherwise been a good dish was ruined by the spicy mayo pool it was placed in, and the excessive drizzle on top. We ordered sushi and ramen for the main course, both of the sushi dishes we ordered for the table included multiple pieces of nigiri. When we tried to choose which nigiri we wanted we were told that they were all "chef's choice". As an adult, I'm a fairly non-picky eater as long as things are made well, but my 7-year-old is another story. I asked if he could get a couple of the tobiko for his "chef's choice", or if we could just order them separately if they couldn't do that, and the server assured me they would make it work. When the sushi came out there was no tobiko nigiri. The chef's choice was an assortment of cooked shrimp, razor-thin tuna, jack, and salmon. Unfortunately the salmon on my son's plate had brown spots on it, and that kind of killed our appetite despite our server assuring us they were just "smoke spots". The ramen was fine, but I kind of take issue to having menu options that include nigiri and all of it being "chef's choice". The two star is simply for at least one of us having an...