I’d be lying if I said this was the first time I’ve eaten at Bonsai II restaurant. Actually it’s a restaurant that we go to quite frequently. The reason we go there so often is because the food is good. Not only is the food good but the service is excellent and relatively inexpensive to boot!.

Since I use this blog  to document my traipsing around both near and far, this is considered a near adventure.

My First Bonsai Dining Experience

Back when it opened, we decided to give it a try for dinner. As we were entering a family of diners were leaving. We had to ask, “How was it?” The response, “It was great! You’ll love it!” They were right. We enjoyed our meals and have been going back ever since. That was a few years ago.

My Recent Bonsai Dining Experience

Things have changed a bit since we first dined there. They have expanded their Japanese/Thai menu. Also, the service changed. Our favorite waitress, Bin Bin, is no longer there, but the newer waitresses are beginning to recognize us so all is good.

The decor is nothing to write home to mom about but it is clean and comfortable. The Bonsai magic happens in at the preparation station located on the left in the back of the restaurant (in back of the flat screen TV). There are dining booths towards the left/front, a long bench with table and chairs on the right and stand alone tables in the middle aisle.

Meal Ordering at Bonsai

If it’s your first time, you’ll have to take it slow. There are many options.  Bonsai’s menu offers cooked and raw rolls, bento boxes, sashimi, Thai dishes, delicious salads and soups. Oh, and of course, there are desserts (I choose not to indulge in those).

This go ‘round I ordered the seafood soup and the broiled salmon skin salad.

The soup is almost a meal in itself. With the vegetables, shrimp and crab meat, it is rather filling. Although, not too filling to prevent me from downing my salmon skin salad.

The salmon skin salad consists of crispy broiled salmon skin on a bed of cucumbers and seaweed topped with red caviar and their special sauce.  Delish.

My hubby, on the other hand, began with a spicy tuna roll.

After the roll came the beef negimaki bento box.

My daughter started off with the black pepper tuna salad. It’s a wonderful dish (used to be my favorite, but I’m now a salmon skin salad gal). The black pepper tuna salad is large, and filling with cucumber, seaweed, crunchy lettuce, avocado and tuna. It’s topped with their signature sauce and crunchy things (don’t quite know what the crunchy stuff is, but it’s tasty).

After the salad she had 2 California rolls.  As if the salad and California rolls weren’t enough, she followed it up with…get this…cheesecake tempura!

Only the young can get away with eating so much and not gain a pound!

Oh and how could I forget…to accompany the meal, hubby and I had hot saki. What’s sushi without hot saki?

It is as I said before the food was good and it’s well worth a visit. Fortunately, I don’t have to traipse around too far to find this gem.