Longtime restaurateur opens new sushi spot in Rochester. Take a peek inside
A longtime Rochester restaurateur has taken over the old Tap & Mallet space at 381 Gregory St. and turned it into a sushi place with an unusual concept.
Mark Teng, 46, who also owns Furoshiki on Park Avenue, Revolution Chinese (formerly Revolution Karaoke) in Henrietta and used to own the Plum House on Monroe Avenue and Sakura Home in Brighton, just launched the soft-opening phase of Sushi Samba.
The business has no relationship to SUSHISAMBA, a high-end chain that offers Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian cuisine at locations in Las Vegas and overseas.
Teng’s Sushi Samba is an all-you-can-eat restaurant featuring such Japanese favorites as sushi, sashimi, tempura, teriyaki, hibachi, noodle dishes and more — but everything is made to order rather than served buffet-style.
“You want it to be something fresh, not like it’s been sitting there 30 or 40 minutes,” he said.
All-you-can-eat prices are $20.99 for lunch and $30.99 for dinner. (Certain options are only available at dinner, such as hibachi.)
Each table has a QR code. Scanning it with a smartphone brings up the menu, and food is ordered and paid for by phone. Workers are there to help, and the analog crowd can still order the old-fashioned way.
West Henrietta resident Teng has restaurant-owner friends in Washington state who have been using the digital, fixed-price model for a while. “They are really successful,” he said. “People like it.”
Soft drinks with unlimited refills are $2. Sushi Samba is still waiting for its liquor license, but when it arrives will be serving beer and wine.
The restaurant is open seven days a week, and there’s free parking behind the building. Lunch is available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday. Dinner is served from 3 to 9 p.m. Monday through Sunday.
Takeout is available but not in the all-you-can-eat format; customers pay per entrée, item or drink.
Sushi Samba’s head chef is Sky Chen, who worked as a sushi chef for Teng for many years when he owned the Plum House.
“So, he knows what he’s doing,” Teng said with a laugh.
The restaurant has a staff of eight including Chen, but Teng expects to hire a couple more people.
As for physical changes to the building, which Teng bought, the exterior has gotten Sushi Samba signage and a fresh coat of dark gray paint.
“It was pretty beat up,” he said.
Inside, new gray flooring has been installed, a sushi bar decorated with red paper lanterns operates where beer was once poured for customers of Tap & Mallet, which closed in late 2021, and large windows have been installed between the bar and seating areas.
The plan is to host a grand opening in the next few weeks, Teng said.
In December, he opened another eatery, this one at the Genesee Valley Regional Market, off Jefferson Road in Henrietta. In addition to noodle and ramen dishes, JBC Rice Noodles and Ramen serves a variety of soups, chicken wings, teas and smoothies.
It also is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday.
Food prices range from $5 for an edamame appetizer to $15 for fish maw and chicken soup.
“They are pretty busy but always have parking spaces available,” Teng said.
Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @MarciaGreenwood.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Sushi Samba restaurant opens in Rochester NY
