Phin Sushi Green Bay, WI

Restaurant Review of Phin Sushi in Green Bay, WI

By Patricia Summerfield
April 8, 2011
I went to dine on some Japanese cuisine at the recently newly opened restaurant Phin, which is located in the Bellevue area on the far east side of Green Bay. It is a small open concept restaurant designed and decorated with a contemporary clean and simple style. The wall colors are painted a dark red orange, dark olive green, and a light green grey. As you walk in towards the front of the room is the hostess stand with a white orchid and bamboo plant displayed. To the left is a very small bar area with a long row of wine bottles featured on a lit shelf serving as the bar's backdrop. Directly behind the hostess stand for dining is a sushi counter bar with enough seating for twelve people and where you can also observe the chef skillfully preparing all the food orders. To the right side of the room and along one side of the wall is a very long wooden bench and placed in front are small table tops for two people. For more than two diners there are larger tables situated in the center of the room.

As I entered I was greeted warmly by the sushi chef and hostess. I was then offered a choice of seating at the sushi bar or in the dining area. I chose the dining area and was then given a cocktail and dinner menu. The server came quickly to take my order and brought out ice water. I asked a few questions about different entrees and she was well informed about the menu. I started out with an appetizer, a spring salmon roll for $7.00 and for the sushi rolls I ordered the Dragon roll for $11.00 and one of their specialty Maki rolls the Kani Kaze for $10.00. For background music there was upbeat electronic dance music playing at a comfortable volume level.

The appetizer was brought out first and was attractively served in an earthen pottery bowl accompanied with a pot of soy sauce and a small side dish of Thai sweet chili sauce. The salmon spring roll came out hot and consisted of fresh salmon placed next to a layer of cream cheese wrapped in a thin wrapper and deep fried. The spring roll was pleasant to taste, the cream cheese was semi-melted, the fresh salmon warm, and the thin pastry was light and crispy. I especially enjoyed the pairing with the sweet chili sauce. Unfortunately, while I still only half way through with my appetizer a different server brought out my Kani Kaze roll, not only was I not finished with my appetizer it also overcrowded the small table. The main server then came to bring out my dragon roll and then finally cleared away the empty appetizer dishes. The Kani Kaze roll consisted of five medium sized pieces with Albacore Tuna inside and crab with sesame on top. The whole roll is tempura fried and drizzled with eel sauce. I really loved the chemistry of this roll, the crunch of the tempura and the sweet eel sauce with the fresh crab tasted sensational. The Dragon roll was creatively made to look like a dragon head and tail, how fun. The Dragon was cut into eight pieces and had tempura shrimp and cucumber inside and was topped with fresh water eel, smelt egg, sesame seeds, and eel sauce. This roll had a milder flavor, but was heavy on the rice and lean with the seafood. As I was leaving the hostess and sushi chef asked if everything was okay and wished me a good evening. Phin Sushi has a contemporary atmosphere with friendly service and a selection of appetizers, entrees, sushi, and maki rolls.

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Bar Review of Phin Sushi in Green Bay, WI

By END
March 17, 2011
It was the night before St. Patrick's Day, and all through the house, nothing was stirring, not even a mouse. So what does a girl do? Grab her partner in crime and go to Phin! Phin is the somewhat new Sushi joint in town. They opened in the beginning of the year. Phin is located in the Bellevue part of Green Bay and is in the former Koko's building. They completely remodeled it for a more open and zen-ful atmosphere. When you walk in the bar part is on the left side and the restaurant part is on the right. You also have the Sushi bar right in the middle. We headed for the bar and sat at a couple of the bar chairs available. It's not a huge bar and seating is limited, but there are also two hi top tables in that area as well for extra seating or a larger group.

Phin is very modern looking and has lots of clean lines with the bar, tables, and chairs. The actual bar doesn't look like your ordinary bar with the liquor bottles decorating the shelves. Instead the liquor bottles are below the counter. It's the selection of wine bottles that line the top shelf that are on display, plus the background behind the wine shelf is a light show. The light can change colors throughout the night. Cool huh? This is where you nod your head and say yes.

Since the wines are on showcase instead of liquor one would assume they have a decent wine selection. And one would assume correctly. They have a wine menu for you to peruse and they carry, let's just say, waaaay more than a few reds and whites. On tap they offer Blue Moon, Hinterland's Pale Ale, Leinie's Seasonal and Bud. Of the bottled variety you have more of the Miller, Bud and Coors Light products that I have come to love. I tapped the Rockies with a Coors Light and my friend ordered a short Barcardi Seltzer. A domestic bottled beer will run you $3.75 and the short Bacardi Seltzer $5.50. Phin is on the fancy side and most of the people there were wearing dress casual to nicer attire. The music was on the club-ish side, but it was set at such a low volume that it seemed not too bumpin'. I hope that makes sense because it totally does in my head. And Phin's service was friendly but a little on the slow side, so just take that time to look around and enjoy the new remodeled view :)

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