The World-Wide Sushi Restaurant Reference - Restaurants in San Antonio
Formosa Garden

1011 NE Loop 410.
San Antonio, Texas
Voice: +1 (210) 828-9988.
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Comments about this restaurant:

• From T.R.V. (full name not available) (last visit December 2003)

  Variety of sushi: Somewhat broader than average. Freshness of sushi: Clearly freshly caught. Presentation of sushi: Exceptional attention to presentation. Generosity of sushi portions: Very large portions.

  Promptness of service: Exceptionally attentive. Courtesy of service: Exceptionally courteous. Accuracy of service: Always accurate. Cleanliness - dining and visible kitchen areas: Cleaner than usual. Cleanliness - restrooms: Cleaner than usual. Quality of nonsushi food: Exceptional.

  ``I am revising my earlier comments on Formosa Garden because of the last visit. My elderly mother and I make regular trips to whatever the best sushi restaurant seems the best at the time. Having lived a busy professional life of teaching which has been severely limited by a disability I now can visit with my very traditional Kyoto born mother in ways I haven't since we were in Japan over 30 years ago. Last time at Formosa Garden the manager recognized us and asked if we needed anything. We mentioned in Japanese that the last time our orders to the waitress/waiter seem to not quite make it - we wanted nigiri. The manager brought us the full sushi menu - normally given out in the evening - duh. He took our order and it was prepared in authentic and aesthetic. We had mostly maguro (it's an addiction), tomago, and a couple of other varieties. The servings were extra large! While I know the manager had some influence - the gesture and generosity of his personal time in a restaurant with close to 80+ tables plus banquet and bar was extraordinary. I have a severe disability with severe pain meds that makes eating really excellent cuisine much more a select pleasure. Some days the side effects of the medication, morphine, make eating an impossible act. As my mother aged and is now without my father and I have aged - the pleasure of eating well prepared sushi is a quiet pleasure - even at lunch rush at Formosa Garden. In Japanese culture it is the small gestures that mean the most - the way of tea. In talking to the manager, switching to English I found out the main manager of the restaurant will sample all of the fish-daily - in the sushi bar personally for quality. Further, Formosa Garden apparently agressively recruits sushi chef talent away from other restaurants. The manager was very aware of the competition and the special needs of Japanese native customers. So if you are limited in your hours like me and mom, ask for the sushi menu. I noticed during the last outing that our `special' order seemed to have triggered some copycat orders. ''

• From ``Dr V'' (real name not given) (last visit December 2003)

  Variety of sushi: Usual selection. Freshness of sushi: Very fresh. Presentation of sushi: Exceptional attention to presentation. Generosity of sushi portions: Average.

  Promptness of service: Exceptionally attentive. Courtesy of service: Exceptionally courteous. Accuracy of service: Always accurate. Cleanliness - dining and visible kitchen areas: Cleaner than usual. Quality of nonsushi food: Very good.

  ``Formosa Garden has become the new sushi restaurant in lieu of a better known sushi place, Koi Kawa, in San Antonio. This sushi is in stealth mode and is a surprisingly good and well priced.A good example is the litmus test of all sushi restaurant - two orders of maguro running about $7 total. It is excellent sushi very fresh in regular size. While the sushi business during the lunch rush is rarely ordered-based on about five visits. The main menu offers standard Chinese fair. The main draw is the price and speed, but the only scenary is the view of Loop 410 and other diners in close to 80 tables. Lunch starts at 11 AM and arriving after 11:30 will require a wait for a table. This kind of hybrid sushi/chinese restaurant is good - a kind of industrial production line of sushi. The other sushi order worth ordering is the bento order of sashimi. The squid salad is a great compliment. Dinner trade is quite likely very rushed as the Formosa Garden offers a dinner menu equivalent to what you might find in Taipei. Duck is prepared in a number of ways. A typical very full meal with plenty of sushi and a Chinese lunch will run about $20 for two people. This is about half the price of Koi Kawa - at the cost of scenery. The sushi menu is mainly standard issue with little creativity. The entire restaurant is excellent for a fast lunch. Formosa Garden is oddly named since many Chinese find the use of `Formosa' so named during the Japanese occupation to be offensive. The wait staff is a mixture of Chinese and local talent under the constant watchful gaze of very well trained managers, some of them products of various international hotel chains - like Hilton. I spoke with one of the managers at length with our first visit. I would recommend this restaurant; Formosa Garden is one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in San Antonio. This is an excellent place to take a large group with banquet facilities available and very family friendly.''

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