Mizumi Hibachi & Sushi

Located at 309 State Street in Greensboro, Mizumi Hibachi and Sushi offers Japanese fare seven days a week for lunch and dinner. Wine, beer, and sake are available, and there are daily drink specials. The establishment also offers an all-you-can-eat sushi dine-in special.

Subpar Chinese buffets have made me an avowed skeptic of all-you-can-eat anything, but some fonder memories of AYCE sushi in New Jersey (and the availability of a discounted Groupon) made me willing to give Mizumi’s rendition a go. Though nothing about the experience blew me away, it was by no means a leave-Matt-Harvey-in-the-game-level blunder.

Nestled in the State Street-Golden Gate area of shops, Mizumi has an odd ambiance. There are a few tables near the front door and a separate dining area behind and up a short flight of stairs. The front area is lacking in décor (you can see a surge protector awkwardly taped to a wall), but the rear/upper area is classier and better appointed.

These sorts of contradictions pepper the rest of the dining experience here. For instance, if you should partake of the AYCE sushi option, be prepared to finish within two hours and pay for any leftovers. While these aren’t unreasonable measures, they do create an expectation of uptight fastidiousness that was belied by our generally friendly and helpful servers. Just when we thought we could expect that to be a constant, however, a few larger groups walked in, and the service slowed accordingly. Again, this wasn’t unreasonable, but it made it hard to get a read on what to expect from this place.

The food here is similarly uneven. Since the AYCE special grants you access to certain apps as well as sushi, my fiancée and I got to try quite a bit. The tempura dishes (heavily battered but decidedly not greasy) and the teriyaki snapper were delicious while the edamame were served hot and well-salted. The gyoza and shumai, on the other hand, were so-so, not unappealing, but lacking in depth of flavor. Among the sushi, anything with crunch and spicy sauce delivered on texture (especially when balanced by creamy avocado) and taste, but rolls with pink seaweed (a strange sight) and fish on the outside (slippery) were not the best choices.

Mizumi does not rate among the best sushi or overall Japanese cuisine in town. If I’m craving a great roll or rice bowl, I’ll set my bearings for Tate rather than State. However, the AYCE option is absolutely worth it. You don’t need to be ravenous or gluttonous to get your money’s worth, and there is enough culinary competence to elevate this above the level of mere fill-up food.

7.5/10