The owners of Panda House Chinese restaurant are certainly more hospitable to Japanese food than they were to Indian food.
After conquering Oh Calcutta? last winter, the popular Chinese eatery has filled the space left by the Indian restaurant with the Bamboo Garden, a spot that will bring sushi and tempura to Hanover.
Manager Dennis Lee considered serving Thai food in the new space, but opted for a Japanese menu that features sushi, sashimi, tempura, teriyaki, Japanese soup called udon and traditional rice dishes known as donburi.
All the dishes I tried were delicious and well-prepared and I was astonished at the freshness of the sushi. Sushi is raw fish, usually served with rice wrapped in seaweed.
For those willing to take the chance on a new cuisine, the payoff is simply scrumptious. Among my favorites were the unagi (eel) sushi, the negi hamachi (yellow tail with scallions) roll and the maguro (tuna) sushi.
I also sampled the shumai, or Japanese dumplings, tempura, which is a mixture of fried shrimp and vegetables and yakitori, a chicken shish kebab in a sweet sauce. All the dishes were delicious.
The food does take quite awhile to prepare and dinner from the Bamboo Garden menu may take longer than a Chinese dinner, but the wait is worth it.
I sampled a platter which included eel, yellow tail, salmon, tuna, fluke and crab and found all the fish to be flavorful, fresh and well-presented. Lee said he receives daily shipments of fresh fish by bus from Boston.
Lee hired three Chinese chefs to prepare the Japanese cuisine. Tony Chen, the head sushi chef, worked in Japanese restaurants in Tokyo and New York City prior to joining Bamboo Garden, Lee said.
His brother Vincent prepares all the Japanese dishes with the exception of sushi and sashimi. Kimwi Lam assists Tony Chen at the sushi bar.
Unlike Panda House, Bamboo Garden is not open for lunch, serving only between the hours of 4 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Lee said patrons of Panda House and the Bamboo Garden will not have to dine exclusively on one type of cuisine, as both Chinese and Japanese dishes are available in both sections of the restaurant.
