Scoozi: They Call It Open Sushi… Preferably Not

Anthony's Restaurant Rating: 57/100 X

Welcoming:7/10 Menu Choices: 1/10 Food Presentation: 5/10

Food Temperature: 4/10 Food Taste: 11/20 Service: 6/10

Ambiance/Music: 6/10 Architecture/Interior: 9/10 Air Quality: 8/10

Total: 57/100

Scoozi: They Call it Open Sushi… Preferably Not

More about: Scoozi, BCC

I was at Cozmo just a day before I came to Scoozi. Let’s just say I had less than average sushi at their conveyer belt. I had a plane to catch to Dubai at 5pm, so my wife and I left home earlier to grab a bite somewhere. We stopped at Beirut City Centre. Let’s Sushi she said. So we did. I haven’t been to Scoozi in a while, at least three years ago, so we thought why not give it a try…

In 1992 Scoozi opened in Verdun as the first Italian restaurant to offer a comprehensive range of pizza, pasta and salad. Scoozi specializes in preparing hand-made, wood baked pizzas in an open kitchen, producing its own fresh pasta, traditional Italian dishes and superb desserts, creating a place for people to dine out while still feeling “at home”. As competition has increased and more Italian restaurants have opened, Scoozi has differentiated itself from other restaurants by creating the concept of the Scoozi Conveyor.We sat at the conveyor belt and were welcomed by a waitress who informed us that they were offering an open sushi formula. It wasn’t going to choose what I like and pay according to their color codes… Anyway, open sushi for $33 was intriguing, so we decided to play the game.

The $33 formula:

Miso soup
Crazy salad
3 appetizers (a tiny bite of each)
9 pieces of sashimi (I only received 4 pieces of salmon)
Open sushi (Let’s say a few place of rice stuffed with some fish prepared in advance)

For the price, choices and quality, lunch at Scoozi was not worth it. If you don’t care much about good sushi and just want to nibble on something then this could be a place to consider, otherwise you will be disappointed.

And here comes the best part – their “nonsense policies” to end the experience. I tried taking some images for my review just after paying; the manager then approached me to let me know that “Photos are not allowed”.

Dear management, we are in 2014 and one single photo on social media is a free advertisement for your restaurant or brands. Are you scared of us stealing the design? Or do you have something to hide? Please! Better review such unnecessary policies.

I am really intrigued to know how the same company, Boubess Group, manages to deliver so much inconsistency under one roof. Kaiten offers something; Cozmo offers another, while Scoozi offers something completely different… Maybe they can get their best sushi masters to train the rest to deliver the same taste around their different restaurants around town.

If I want to eat sushi at one of Boubess’ restaurants, I’ll stick to Kaiten in Hamra from now on.