That's a big piece of fish...

When you say sushi, Western Connecticut isn't exactly the region of the country that first comes to mind. In fact, it's probably somewhere in the bottom tier. Yet, a couple weeks ago, heading back from visiting Jill in Massachusetts, and acting on a tip from her past travels, I ventured into Danbury, CT for a quick lunch at the Panda House.

At first glance Panda House is your run of the mill Japanese/Chinese strip mall restaurant. A large general dining area with tables dwarfs the tiny sushi bar by comparison, but for a small sushi bar it's got a lot to offer.

Just as I sat down (one of the first customers in at 11:30am) the sushi chef was taking out a massive piece of tuna, at least three feet long, that he had received that morning. Before he could reach for his knife, I ordered the "Sushi Regular", which consisted of six pieces of sushi (comprised of tuna, salmon and a few other fresh varieties of fish) and a tuna roll.

The fish was tremendously fresh, and the tuna (certainly the star of the show) simply melted in my mouth. The roll was beautifully crafted, and large enough to fill me up.

Washed down with a couple diet cokes (they charged me for refills - so watch out if you like to gulp down the soda), the final price came out to $16.38, with tax - somewhat pricey considering it was lunch, but it's Connecticut and everything is expensive.

It's not exactly convenient, not exactly a bargain, but it was pretty good - and definitely worth a second trip.

Panda House
93 Mill Plain Rd.
Danbury, CT 06810
Phone: 203.743.6080
Fax: 203.743.0291
(Panda House doesn't have a website)