Raws & Rolls: Plum House

Having recently developed quite the fancy for sashimi and sushi I debate with myself the best place in this city to get it. Being used to the superb freshness only found in the Hawai'ian islands I have admittedly become an ahi snob whom at the slightest fishiest, fibrousness, or rubbery texture runs for the hills. Still a novice, however, I do find solace in the sushi of a few places around here! One of my local favourites being Plum House on Monroe Avenue in the city.

This small, humble and well-serviced little corner is well-stocked with surprisingly fresh cuts of fish and is primarily responsible for my recent regular sashimi consumption. Besides having a nice selection of sashimis, they also offer a large variety of sushi rolls from the most simple to the utmost complex; I, amongst others highly recommend their Dragon Roll. For the weekday lunchers you can get a filling meal for under $9 and should you be pressed to return for work, they are pretty good on timely service not to mention surprising you with a nifty light-up LED bobble in the middle of your dish if you're lucky! In light of the large menu selection, Plum House offers some of the traditional Japanese-American dishes such as beef (and interestingly, chicken) negimaki, suki-yaki and age tofu, all of which I love, but as most things are- are not the healthiest of choices.

Despite the many good days and evenings I have had at Plum House, I have recently experienced the unpleasant. While it may be customary in Japan to eat undercooked meats, including chicken, my last order of a personal favourite- chicken negimaki was most undoubtfully raw in the center. I realized halfway through my meal and unfortunately did not feel well for the next few days. After requesting the remainder of my dish to be placed in the broiler, the waitress nicely offered an entire new order and while this round was more thoroughly cooked, there was a large chunk of plastic wrap cooked with it. We received our bill and noticed that there was a charge for the chicken. After speaking with our waitress about the second issue, she explained that we could only get 10% off of my dish for the misfortune of chef error and looked at us as if we were crazy to suggest that the entire dish be removed. Perhaps that is a cultural difference, but either way we weren't pleased. I cannot think of one restaurant that would not correct those two rather large mistakes as gracefully as possible, especially to regular and nearly daily customers.

That being said, out of the innumerous times I have dined at Plum House I have yet to have more than one bad experience. Perhaps the kitchen was having a bad day, but regardless, I won't let it discourage me from being a regular patron. Their Chiriashi bowl is a bit too convincing and well, when it comes to food I live on the Three Strike Rule!

The Plum House

686 Monroe Avenue
Rochester, NY 14607-3147
(585) 442-0778