First Impression

John: I don’t know whose fault it is (I’m going to blame Copsey), but it’s been about two months since we’ve done a lunch review. Ru Sans has been on my radar for about five months now because I have this neighbor who talks about the place all the time. You know how some people talk about their kids and show you pictures of their pets; well this neighbor feels the need to tell me about every trip to Ru Sans. So naturally, after hearing 471 stories about the place, I was downright curious to see what all the fuss was about. Well, apparently everyone in North Fulton has heard about Ru Sans, because at 11:45 a.m. on the day before Thanksgiving, the place was hopping. It was absolutely packed, I thought we were going to have to stand up and eat. Ru Sans is a Japanese restaurant and if you like sushi, your mouth is going to water the second you walk in the door. Why? Once you get through the door, If you look straight ahead, there is a sushi bar where Ru Sans’ chefs are freshly putting together the Japanese food staple. Oh, and for this review, we’re going to change up our normal appetizer, entrée, dessert formula, so pay close attention.

Copsey: I actually didn’t know Ru Sans was a Japanese restaurant; I thought it was Chinese, of the typical sort – you know the kind, with the delicate Chinese music. So imagine my surprise when we walked into the restaurant to hear a club dance remix of Cher’s “Do You Believe in Love.” I almost felt like dancing. Almost. 

 
John: A
Copsey: A

Non-Cooked

John: Ru Sans offers a buffet that features three types of sushi: raw (or non-cooked), cooked and fried. Some people are afraid of raw food, if that’s you, then skip to the cooked and fried portion of the buffet table. I’ve sampled about eight different types of sushi in my life; I did that in my first five minutes at Ru Sans. The only non-cooked sushi I had was a spicy tuna roll that our server highly recommended. The tuna itself isn’t spicy, it’s topped with a spicy sauce. The sauce gives you the best of both worlds: if you’re not a big fan of tuna, the sauce kind of masks the flavor and if you don’t like spicy things, the cold tuna keeps your mouth from catching on fire.

Copsey: Raw fish isn’t normally my cup of tea. Nigiri is the type of sushi where there’s a slice of meat atop a little rice and that basically sums up the un-cooked dishes. It makes for tasty little morsels where you’re not quite sure what to expect. There are a multitude of sauces and additives that Ru Sans has throw into (or onto) the mix to spice things up. And in case you love your food spicy, there’s plenty of wasabi sauce to kick it up a notch. 

John: B+
Copsey: B

Cooked

John: I may have only tried one non-cooked sushi roll, but I upped the number to three for the cooked variety. I should note that I chose the rolls based solely on their names. Ingredients were an afterthought. I tried the Rising Sun (salmon, tuna and avocado), the King and I (chicken, cilantro and crab with a sesame seed wrap) and the three fish (tuna, salmon and yellowtail). The Rising Sun was the best of the bunch. I already knew the tuna was good. What I didn’t know is that the salmon was perfect (it wasn’t too salty) and that the avocado was going to taste like it had been picked fresh off a Guatemalan avocado tree two hours before it was served to me. It did. Finally, believe it or not, the King and I sushi roll excited me more than the Rodgers and Hammerstein play of the same name.

Copsey: Things definitely perked up with the cooked foods. Call me traditional, but I’m partial to them. On top of the varieties mentioned by John, we had a ginger beef maki (maki has rice in a roll around the meat). This was tasty and a little spicy. The beauty of sushi (and also the danger) is that you never quite know what you’re eating. So something like the salmon skin roll, which I might never try, was eaten with hardly a thought – it wasn’t until after that I found out what it was. This is a Good Thing. The skin was a little flaky and was mixed with so many different veggies and sauces that I could have said it was chicken and John wouldn’t be the wiser. 

John: A-
Copsey: A-

Fried

John: When it comes to fried food, most people live by the same motto, ‘If I’m not on a diet, I’m going to eat a lot of it and love it.’ From the fried portion of the buffet, I grabbed some calamari, a spicy tuna fried sushi roll and a salmon and crab sushi roll. Between the tuna, the salmon, the crab and the yellowtail, I didn’t find a sea creature at Ru Sans that I didn’t find tasty. The salmon and crab roll was stuffed with a generous portion of each meat and it tasted so good that I went back for two more. Keep in mind that my only goal for the meal was to eat one of everything, so I could try as many sushi rolls as possible. For the record, I completely and totally failed at this goal.

Copsey: Ru Sans has the typical Oriental fare as well as the sushi. Spring rolls, chicken teriyaki, hot wings and fried calamari were all available. This was especially good for John since two of his favorite foods – calamari and hot wings – were represented. The spring rolls were unbelievably tasty, with a healthy crunch both of the fried outside and the fresh vegetables inside. It was almost like a fried salad, something I’m sure both John and I would enjoy eating on a regular basis (it’s healthy and tasty!)

John: A-
Copsey: A-

Dessert

John: For dessert we had tempura ice cream. Now I was expecting maybe two scoops of some fried ice cream, Copsey and I would split it and then we could call it a day. What our server brought out was a slab of fried ice cream so huge that I wouldn’t be surprised if all of the dairy farmers in Milton are out of milk for the next two weeks. If you’ve never had fried ice cream, Ru Sans is a great place to start. The flavor of the light fried coating complements the taste of the vanilla ice cream well. Copsey: I inadvertently admitted to the manager that I had never tried sake. Suffice is to say, our meal ended with several empty bottles of sake on the table. We had milky sake and sparkling sake. I was not a fan of the milky one, however I was assured it was a popular variety. I took more to the sparkling kind, which tasted almost like a smooth Champaign. And the tempura ice cream is definitely a tasty treat.

John: B+
Copsey: A-

Final Impression

John: Keep in mind that Copsey and I didn’t even come close to sampling all of the sushi. If we had tried to do that, we would have gained 12 pounds and been there until Christmas. If you’re not a big fan of buffets,  let me assure you that Ru San’s has a menu that’s as diverse as Copsey’s sake palate. The menu has so many sushi options that you will get dizzy and faint if you try to comprehend it all. You’re server is a sushi encyclopedia, so make sure to ask them as many questions as possible.

Copsey: If you don’t know the first thing about sushi but are willing to find out, Ru Sans is a good place to start. Good selection and helpful servers should make this a first stop on any Oriental trip. 

Final Grade
John: A-
Copsey: B+