100 Things to do in Merrick

#52 – Koban

A local sushi place serves up some delicious dishes.

Koban of Merrick may be a small restaurant but it sure packs a lot of flavor. The menu is filled with sushi hand rolls, appetizers and hot dishes. Choose from teriyaki dishes, seafood or tempura.  Bento boxes filled with a plethora of samples of different kind of foods are also available. Try the noodle box or the organic chicken and shrimp. The restaurant also offers take out, online ordering and a catering menu. Kids can chose from a special menu which includes california rolls or several chicken dishes served with french fries. Information:                     Friday and Saturday: 11:45 am. to 10:30 p.m.                     Sunday: 1 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

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Bites Nearby: Kanda

Your guide to eating out locally.

The next time you feel like ordering in lunch or dinner, pick up the Kanda menu for some land and sea delights. All the classic favorite rolls grace the menu with their presence. Selections include the staple California roll, spicy tuna roll and spider roll, as well as the more exotic lobster tempura, white tuna jalapeno and fried salmon rolls. Not crazy about raw fish but still enjoy the "all rolled up" concept? Kanda has plenty of vegetable roll options to choose from too. Pickled radish, dried tomato avocado, peanut avocada and the sweet potato roll are only a couple on the list for veggie lovers. Sushi fanatics love special rolls, where different ingredients come together creating a blend of taste bud inspiring flavor. The Eternity …

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Question of the Day: Best Sushi

Sound off on the daily hot topic.

Sushi – a tasty treat that needs to be made just right to tantalize the palette. Aji 53 in Bay Shore is Merrick Patch's favorite, but what are some of the best local places? Bay Shore is a pretty far drive! Tell us in the comments.

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Happy Hour Roundup: Xaga Sushi

Mid-week drink specials are served with your sushi.

When you think “sushi,” do you think “happy hour”? Probably not. But, thanks to Xaga Sushi, you can now enjoy some fun cocktails with your favorite special sushi roll or Asian fusion speciality. Xaga Sushi hosts a “hump day” happy hour. On Wednesdays, head over to Xaga for $7 specialty martinis and $5 Mai Tais. A Mai Tai (in case you’ve never had one) is a tropical cocktail made with rum – a great choice if you feel like taking a vacation without actually traveling. If you like beer, try Xaga’s selections of Japanese beer, including Saporro, Kirin Ichiban, or Kirin Light. Small sizes of the beer go for $4 each and the large is offered at $7 a piece – a bargain even if you choose to have a beer when it is not happy hour. Xaga updates their …

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Bites Nearby: Yuki's Palette Too

Your guide to eating out locally.

Not all sushi establishments are created equally and that fact is crystal clear upon taking a glance at Yuki's "Exquisite Rolls" menu. Let's get back to the miso soup and seaweed salad later and plow full speed ahead to these tantalizing pieces of sushi. Give your palette extra blasts of flavor with the double spicy crunchy salmon, a blend of salmon and avocado with spicy salmon on the top. Go for the gold when ordering the sweet lobster roll, bursting with lobster, avocado, mango and mesculin greens. The spicy rainbow roll presents diners with spicy, crunchy tuna on the inside and a variety of sliced fish on the outside, while the dynaminte roll brings together the tastes of kani salad with spicy, crunchy tuna on the top. Not a fan of the…

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Bites Nearby: Koban

Your guide to eating out locally.

Sushi is one of the hottest trends in dining. Picky eaters and even some otherwise risqué seafood fanatics shy away from the seemingly slimy concoctions at first. However, quite frequently, upon that very first bite, these skeptics fall in love with a food that is abundantly rich in flavor, unique in form and nothing less than superior in content. Koban Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar more than exemplifies these important and scrumptious qualities in each dish that the chef’s prepare. Let’s head right to the heart of any sushi menu – the raw fish delights that diners love to dowse in soy sauce, roll up in slices of ginger and daintily dip into the tip of a ball of wasabi. Try a little bit of crisp and crunch with a spicy crunchy snow …

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Bites Nearby: Sushi and Tea

Your guide to eating out locally.

If you haven’t already heard, Sushi and Tea is the hot spot for you lovers of Japanese cuisine. Located on Merrick Avenue Sushi and Tea Offers specials throughout the day and a wide variety of Asian fair. If you want to explore Sushi and Tea before venturing to its actual location, the restaurant’s website is the place to go. The eatery has one of the best dining sites out there. Perhaps the one of the most interesting feature on the website is its internet order option. People rarely get off the internet throughout the day, so why not order your next meal online? You can scroll the menu, choose what items you want and simply click the “buy” button next to your selection. Like other internet shopping, you proceed to checkout when your …

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5 Things You Need to Know Today

Lunch Specials, Legos and an American Idol

Five things you need to know today.

1. Calhoun High School student Robbie Rosen made it through to Hollywood on American Idol, which aired Wednesday. Learn his story and keep tabs on him with Merrick Patch's Idol Watch. 2. In a rush for lunch? Sushi Bar & Tea has you covered with a variety of lunch specials, including a sushi lunch, sashimi special or a combination of the two.  Specials range from $9.95 to $13.95 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 3. In an effort to keep teens interested in the library, the Merrick Library is hosting a teen advisory group at 4:15 p.m. 4. In a continued effort to keep kids focused on forming a healthy lifestyle, a North Merrick SEPTA member will be presenting a nutritional seminar at Old Mill Road elementary school at 9 a.m. 5. If your kids like …

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Making Sushi at...the Library?

Teens gather at the Merrick Library Wednesday for the second summer cooking class hosted by chef Robert Kass.

Last time it was omelets. This time chef Robert Kass taught the teens how to make fresh veggie sushi as part of the Merrick Library summer program Wednesday evening. "I do a lot of cooking," said Matthew Cavanagh, one of the attentive teens, "and I come to these classes to learn new recipes to use at home." Prior to donning plastic gloves, Kass instructed each student to grab their paper and pen. "You'll remember the recipe better if you write it down," Kass told the class, "instead of just reading it off the page." Before long he was surrounded by the teens as he showed them how to make the night's featured dish. Once the students patted the rice on the seaweed, or nori, added a selection of vegetables and rolled everything up with the …

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