First look: Shinano

Back in the early '90s, a little restaurant nestled at the end of a strip mall across from the mall in Richmond Heights was quickly gaining a reputation as rolling some of the best sushi around. After nearly 17 years, the owners of Shinano decided to trade in one strip plaza for another, and moved their popular sushi bar and Japanese restaurant to Solon, hoping to retain the regulars and gain a whole new following. 

Food:  No surprise, the sushi is the star of this restaurant and is what draws people in. The sushi menu contains a heavy assortment of nigiri and maki sushi, which offers most of the usual suspects, plus 10 specialty rolls as well as a few daily specials. House specialties include Chad’s Roll (king crab, shrimp, avocado and mayo with tobiko), Rock-N-Roll (negi hamachi, tuna, smoked salmon, masago) and Volcano (inside out California with broiled scallop, octopus, mayo and tobiko). Sushi and sashimi dinners also are available, each with miso soup and salad.

For the non-sushi crowd, Shinano offers a nice selection of beef, chicken, seafood, tofu and vegetable appetizers, plus noodles, box dinners and seafood, beef, poultry and pork entrées. The lobster cutlet and steak Shinano are among the more popular entrées. All dinners come with miso soup, salad, vegetable and rice.

On our visit, we started the meal off with the Negimayaki appetizer (beef wrapped around scallions and mozzarella smothered in teriyaki sauce), miso soup and salad. For dinner, we tried the Banzai (soft shell crab, masago, mayo and green leaf), Rock-N-Roll, Hamachi and Philadelphia rolls, and an order of the Japanese curry and rice.

The beef appetizer fell short of expectations. The sauce was tasty, but the beef was chewy and the cheese did not blend well with the other flavors. The curry rice was also disappointing. The dish itself was not appealing to the eye and the rice had an unpleasant pasty texture and was a bit bland overall.

The rolls, as expected, were all exceptionally fresh and enjoyable, especially the Hamachi sashimi and Rock-N-Roll. The only complaint we found is that they aren’t rolled very tight and the portion is noticeably smaller than other sushi restaurants.

Libations: Shinano offers a handful of wines by the glass or bottle, plus a mix of hot and cold sake and popular Japanese beers.

Décor: Once inside, you wouldn’t doubt you’re in a strip plaza. The décor is minimal overall with gray walls and tile floors, a large sushi bar and a few Asian touches sprinkled in. It’s definitely not warm and cozy, but rather cold and stale. Nonetheless, the space is definitely neat and clean.

Service: Service all around is incredibly friendly but also, unfortunately, incredibly slow. From drink orders to food and check delivery, expect to have a slight wait, even on slow nights. Further, the servers aren’t quick to pick up dirty plates and don’t refill glasses unless prompted several times.  

Crowd: The faithful from the original Shinano as well as suburban newbies can all be found around the sushi bar. The restaurant also does a large take-out business.

Bottom Line: Despite a few hiccups, the new Shinano will no doubt earn its place as must-dine for sushi, just like its former self.