(Updated August 2019)
1763 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights, 44118
I'm no pop-it-in-the-mouth daredevil when it comes to eating raw fish, something we dress up and call sushi. I always think seriously when eating any kind of uncooked animal protein. And yet, as I lifted a piece to my lips at Pacific East in Cleveland Heights, I did not hesitate. The Japanese restaurant has always had one of the best reputations in Northeast Ohio. You can see it in the refrigerated case stacked to the gills, and in the dining room itself, fully populated on a recent Tuesday night by customers, most of them Asian.
I bit down and it didn't seem like raw fish at all. It was a plush pillow of freshness and coolness from the ocean - an ethereal bliss no other food can deliver.
Favorites from the plate of nigiri (fish pieces draped on seasoned rice ovals) that night were the fatty tuna (toro), salmon and the barbecued eel. Check a page on Pacific East's web site for the clean origins of its rice, vinegar, pickled ginger and other sushi elements.
In the past, I've found equally fresh ingredients and clever preparations among the cooked foods here. Pacific East has a dazzling number of choices between Japanese and Malaysian menus. Their soups, salads and deep frying have always been top notch. And a Malaysian curry I tried years ago opened my eyes to the sparkle and complexity of that region's foods, and how an uprising of many flavors can coexist on the same plate.
Once again, the miso soup was a hit, a tofu-studded broth more soothing than salty, and still with the layered flavor of fermented beans. The Americanized little iceberg lettuce salads with ginger dressing refreshed our palates again. Marinated and grilled skewers of chicken satay were juicy and tender, even if the spiced peanut sauce was a bit on the gentle side. I sidestepped the usual (fried) tempura choices, for one that featured maitake, more tender than of shiitake. With a shot of soy to the dipping sauce for a hint more salt, it was a pleasure.
Rather than go for comparison and order the entrees we've had on previous visits, we branched out. A beef dish of chili short ribs on the Malay menu had a lovely black pepper fragrance and flavor in the brown sauce. But it was not "sizzling" as the menu promised, nor was it an easy chew. I called owner Freeman Ng after our visit to ask him whether such a dish was meant to be chewy, and he said it was. His Asian audiences, he said, prefer it that way. One of my companions, a lover of red meat, had wished otherwise.
But I was more disappointed by the slices of pork in my ramen dish and chicken in the Mango Chicken. Both preparations were creatively done. The ramen pork broth was simmered into lusciousness, and the chicken dish was packed with fresh mango, bell peppers and asparagus. The pool of sweet and sour sauce went up to the rim of the platter, but with a handy bowl of rice to eat from, the drowning didn't need to be fatal.
Unfortunately, the slices of pork and chicken tasted overly processed, slightly mealy and short on flavor. Ng said fresh meats are always used, but I had to wonder if another technique could have provided a more fresher-tasting result.
The massive menu deserves more than a few tries for true ratings, more than most budgets allow. But in a snapshot look, this is still the place to go for sushi. Someone call all the daredevils. They'd eat it in a flash.
Contact: 216-320-2302.
Online: pacificeastcoventry.com
Hours: Lunch: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday; noon-3 p.m. Saturday. Dinner: 5-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 5-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 3-10 p.m. Sunday.
Prices: Appetizers, most $4-$10. Sushi a la carte and hand rolls, $2-$18; most kitchen entrees, $10-$20.
Reservations: Accepted.
Credit cards: All major.
Cuisine: Japanese and Malaysian, with a large, well-stocked sushi bar.
Kid friendliness: No kids menu, but plenty of small-plate and a la carte items available for smaller appetites.
Bar service: Full bar, including more than 30 sake choices.
Accessibility: Fully accessible.
Grade: * * *
