Sushi in Florida – Fish cocktail surprise

Last week Shabbir and I went on a family vacation to Smyrna Beach, FL, a very sleepy condo town for American vacationers who prefer American food within an hour’s drive of Daytona.

After several days, desperate for seafood not deep fried or drenched in butter, we stumbled upon Chi-Ling a multipurpose House o’Asia with three separate dining areas, each appropriately decked out. We whisked by the Japanese Steakhouse room with table top grills for flashy barbequing, and the Chinese room with an ominous “closed due to bad publicity” sign.

At the back was an very Japanese looking sushi bar, completed with Japanese sushi chefs who served very, very decent food. The only local catch was flounder, served with flair by the chef in the standard thin filet of sashimi and an unusual sauce of ponzu, black sesame seeds and red pepper flakes. We ordered what we expected to be a standard salad and were surprised with the fruit cocktail of the fish world. Large chunks of various raw fish, red snapper, tuna, yellowtail, flounder, lightly doused with soy sauce, were thrown on top of a bed of shredded daikon and carrot. Bright in color, solid in texture, we weren’t sure if the shiny red clumps in our chopsticks was tuna or watermelon until we tasted it. All around it was fantastic, except for a tiny little bone in one piece, which didn’t take away from the experience, but merely reminded me that this WAS fish.

The other orders were completely acceptable, though not superlative or unusual. He attempted to tell me that uni was not in season, I had it just three days later, and several other sushi chef white lies;the edamame were “fresh” boiled out of the frozen bag just like the ones we buy at Naniwa. The bottles of sake on the table were deceiving because there were several we had never tried and wanted, but which turned out to be show bottles only. They soley served Ozeki, which is mediocre, but at least it’s sake.

Weirdest of all, Michael, our sushi chef, is from Fairfax, VA. He claimed that DC had “no good sushi restaurants.” When he reads our site, he’ll be gnashing his teeth at all the great sushi opportunities he missed here. And if you go to the Daytona Beach area, check him out. Chi-Ling would be a good addition to any community with very decent sushi, at amazingly reasonable prices.
Last week Shabbir and I went on a family vacation to Smyrna Beach, FL, a very sleepy condo town for American vacationers who prefer American food within an hour’s drive of Daytona.

Chi-Ling
4085 South Ridgewood Ave.
Port Orange, FL 32127
904-788-8858