Vine is Fine

So when I heard about a month ago that Vine Sushi & Thai was going to be opening in Bull City Market – right around the corner from our office on Ninth Street – visions of Philly rolls began dancing in my head.

The restaurant opened behind the Ben & Jerry’s on the corner of Iredell and Main Streets yesterday. I’d been eagerly waiting for Vine to get the sushi rolling (pun intended), so I made my way down Iredell Street at the end of the workday.

Vine’s indoor seating is a bit limited, but they have plenty of outdoor patio space to work with as well. The décor is tasteful and elegant with marble tile floors and dark hardwood furniture in addition to a polished bar directly in front of the sushi chefs. And I fell in love with the little pots on every table that contained soy sauce – I don’t know why more restaurants don’t do away with the generic red and green Kikkomans.

But anyway, onto the food.

I started off with miso soup ($2), my go-to Asian appetizer. It came out at perfect consumption temperature, and I enjoyed it as much as most any other miso soup I’ve had at a restaurant. My order of Philly ($5) and tuna ($4.25) rolls (six pieces each) were succulent and incredibly fresh – a must for sushi, but a factor that sometimes gets overlooked at sushi restaurants that put out masses of rolls per day.

The only drawback, in my opinion, was the price per roll. I’ve always been a do-or-die buy-one-get-one roll kind of girl, but Vine doesn’t have that deal. It gets a pass for me, though, since it is more upscale than your typical sushi joint, and you get your money’s worth in quality ingredients. Plus, the lunch prices for both their rolls and Thai dishes look more in my price range – so I’ll definitely be back soon on take my lunch break.