Chen Chow Brasserie in downtown Birmingham is a contemporary bistro famous for its sushi and sashimi. This restaurant was recommended as the best place for sushi in the Detroit area by the Townsend Hotel. We visited Chen Chow on a Monday evening to check out the sushi and sashimi.

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Chen Chow’s décor creates an intimate and modern atmosphere. The dimly lit multilevel dining room features a number of Asian-inspired decorative elements and cushy booths. Almost all the furniture is dark colored with dark laminate dark brownish black tops, dark black chairs and even dark brown carpets. The stunning onyx bar at the entrance is illuminated from underneath.

The well-stocked wine cellar at Chen Chow has bottles from New Zealand, South Africa, Michigan, California, Oregon and Australia. More than 20 selections are available by the glass. Even the dining room has a wine cellar wall of wine that separates the restaurant from the bar. Chen Chow also has an extensive martini list. This loud and busy bar is a must-see place for a drink.

Chen Chow had a great selection of sushi rolls to choose from. A few that stood out were the Rock & Roll with eel, avocado and cucumber; the Mardigian Roll with king crab, cucumber and oboro; the Zen Cucumber Wrap with tuna, crab and snapper; and the Tsunami with Lobster, carrot and spinach. My dining partner and I ordered three different rolls, the Ruby, Spider and the Dragon. The Ruby roll comes with tuna, shrimp, tempura and spicy tuna while the Spider roll has soft shell crab, teriyaki and aioli. The Dragon Roll consisted of shrimp tempura, eel and avocado.

The menu also sported a number of main course dishes such as Halibut, Miso Sea Bass, Asian Duck and Beef Tenderloin along with the regular fare of soups and salads. The hot starters that caught my eye were the “Drunken” Egg Roll Jumbo shrimp, rice, five spice; Rock Shrimp Tempura Carrot, spicy aioli, daikon; Michigan Harvested Shrimp with Baby Eggplant, Wild Mushrooms, and Mushroom Soy Broth; and the Chicken Dumplings Soy, chicken jus, ginger. The presentation of the dishes is quite creative and appealing to the eye. The tuna, red snapper and the yellow tail sashimi that we ordered were all fabulous. The chef also gave us a special gift of toro tuna sashimi which was quite tasty and very fresh.

For dessert, we opted for the green tea ice cream, but they were out of it and hence had to settle for lemon grass and ginger ice cream. Which turned out even better than some of the best green tea ice cream we’ve had in the past.

The service was very good with our waiter having a good knowledge of the menu, but as the night wore on, he became a bit pretentious and the service began to slow.

Chen Chow, with its exotic style and ambience, is definitely worth a visit. It is an ideal place for those coming with a group of friends or with that special someone. Overall, we rate Chen Chow Bombastic and a must if you are looking for sushi in the Detroit area.

What I liked: the wide variety of sushi

What I didn’t like: the somewhat slow service towards the end of our visit

Rating: Bombastic

Address and Telephone Number:
Chen Chow
260 North Old Woodward - Birmingham MI, 48009
Phone: 248.594.CHOW (2469)
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