Yes :-) Stefan's review (Aug 4th 2006)

A while ago some friends and I made a trek to CDA to see Ether Hour. While on there we stopped by Syringa. Syringa has been a pretty big hit among the local food bloggers. I’ve seen several good reviews. Spokane 7 had some nice things to say about Syringa as well. Overall, very positive reviews.

My visit to Syringa was for a bento box. Bento boxes are an obsessive compulsive person’s dream come true. Everything is separate and most importantly nothing touches. Everything is very tidy and compartmentalized.

The sushi was okay, but the real star of the meal was the carrot ginger soup. I enjoyed the rest of my bento box. If you are looking for sushi I can only suggest Sushi.com. They are by far the best.

Syringa will definitely be a hot spot in the months to come. The restaurant is very hip where Sushi.com is not so much.

So what’s the dish?: Syringa is well on its way to being Coeur d’Alene’s hipster hang out.

Yes :-) Patrick's review (Aug 12th 2006)

I found myself sitting in the homey environment of Syringa Cafe, which sits in a building that some might consider cursed due to the number of occupants over the years. I have a hunch owner/chef Viljo Basso and his wife Autumn have broken the curse – the place was packed with people on a sleepy Wednesday afternoon. The atmosphere is casual, cheery and relaxing, with dark, muted greens, purples and mahogany wood, and lots of original abstract art for sale on the walls. No music was audible, which was a blessing since my friends both speak in low murmuring voices and I had to lip-read to try and understand them above the loud chit-chat of the other diners. The vibe here was lively, energetic, and full of friends, the kind of place you might want to just hang out at for awhile.

I know Japanese cuisine can be a fairly gourmet affair, but certain parts of the Syringa menu sent our jaws earthward with sticker shock. Example: the Bento is a traditional Japanese combo meal with a main item, tempura veggies, a little salad, and of course steamed rice. I’ve had Bento lunch all over the place and they typically run in the $7-$9 dollar range. Here at Syringa, they were $18. Main courses and specialties here run in the $14-$20 range, a little above my usual afternoon snack budget, and certainly enough to make the place an only – every – one – in – a – while – when – I – can – afford – it affair. Perhaps the lunch menu is a little less chi-chi, pricewise. All three of us settled on the small (6 pc + roll) Sushi assortment plate, which at $10 turned out to be a pretty good deal. (Also worth noting was that they offered the option of tomato soup as well as the traditional miso soup, something I’ve never seen before in a sushi place and a good idea for those who fear tofu.)

I have to say, our waitress seemed sweet enough but was a bit on the flighty side. Granted, she was one of only two girls in charge of taming the hungry crowd, so I can’t pick on her too much, and she did bring our miso soup right away. The miso soup was good too, tasting extra fresh and seaweedy and served in a large wooden cup, but alas miso soup is just a tease when you’re hungry. We watched in frustration as our finished sushi plates sat on that counter for nearly 15 minutes before she finally whisked them over to our table.

We noticed that all three of our actual serving platters were from completely different sets but that just added to the homespun charm of the place. Included with our chef’s choice assortments were the classics: unagi (eel), hamachi (yellowtail), sake (salmon), ebi (shrimp), maguro (tuna), and tamago (scrambled egg), along with a spicy tuna roll.

Everything was truly fresh and delicious. We bulldozed through our meals in seconds flat, with not a lot of side commentary, just nods of approval. However, I would say that for me, nothing I encountered really rose above average. Don’t get me wrong – the sushi really hit the spot, but it was exactly like sushi I’ve had many times elsewhere. To me, any sushi is good if done well, and it was. But nothing on my plate stood out and took me to a new level of sushi-love. Ok, I could’ve ordered something more exciting than the “small sushi platter” in the first place. From looking at the menu, I know they have some interesting looking specialty rolls, so I have to think that they do have some unique, fun stuff. So – my order was boring, but delicious nonetheless, certainly enough to make me return for regular visits. Next time I visit I am going to have to bring enough cash to try some of the spendier specialties. Expect a follow-up report.

Food: 8 / Ambience: 8 / Service: 7

No :-( Sidney Stone's review (Apr 30th 2007)

We went for lunch, and only two other tables had guests, so we figured it would surely be good. We had read the reviews on here and after a horrid experience at Takara, we decided to venture into Syringa. We order sushi, tempura, shrimp fried rice, and tea. The sushi was not impressive at all. I have never had tamago with green stuff in it – we still couldn’t decide if the green bits in the tamago were green onions or parsley or something else entirely. It was the weirdest tamago we have ever had. The tempura was pretty good, nothing more than average though. The fried rice was a crying shame. The shrimp were very undercooked and had a slimy mouthfeel – and the only real flavor to the rest of the dish was an overwhelming burnt-ish flavor… The server was definitely flighty… I had to ask three times for a refill on my water. Between each of my requests, she just sauntered about the tiny room laughing with the sushi chef, and seemed annoyed when I asked again for the refill. We definitely won’t go again. The prices are way too high for the food they are producing and the service was repellent. We had such high hopes because we love Japanese food – but like Takara, this was a huge disappointment. Save your money and order a pizza.

Yes :-) Bill's review (Sep 17th 2007)

We’ve eaten here three times and were pleased with the quality of the sushi and tempura. The Syringa Bento Box at lunch was a bargain at $10.00. The wait staff have always been courteous but occasionally slow during very busy periods. This small restaurant has a high energy atmosphere, excellent Japanese food as well as Sushi and we consider it one of the best restaurants in CDA.

Yes :-) Lindsey's review (May 24th 2008)

Since moving to the area in September of ‘07 I have become a Syringa regular eating there at least once a week. The staff is great, the sushi is perfect and best of all they splurge for the white ginger as opposed to the disgustingly sweet pink ginger that most sushi joints use. Viljo and Kenta are great about my weird requests and wield their sushi knives like the pros they are especially when it comes to making my cucumber wrappers. Coming from San Diego, land of 1,000 sushi restaurants, I feared I wouldn’t find anything comparable. Luckily I found something fantastic.

Yes :-) lexstuff's review (Jun 14th 2008)

Syringa is AMAZING. Nothing compares to this sushi up here in the “Eastern Pacific North West”. I just moved up here from southern California (that’s right, I’m one of THEM) but at least I have an awesome palate.

No :-( kt's review (Aug 20th 2008)

I am not a bad-review writer, and I know what negativity can do for a business. I feel bad for the owners because I am sure they have worked very hard to create a yummy successful business. Upon entering the restaurant and being shooed into a dirty dusty corner because of the lack of tables, and waiting for a good 20 minutes for a busser to swoosh the old rice off the table onto the chairs, we were off to our seats. We started off with some miso soups as well as some edamame. The miso was great, the edamame came shrived and cold. It had a stringy texture that lead me to believe it had been steamed hours (days?) earlier and had been sitting out uncovered for a while. Perhaps it was frozen for too long?

The traditional sushi we ordered was so/so, nothing negative to say about it except the fish didn’t taste as fresh as it should be. We also ordered a Philly roll and something with tempura shrimp. The Philly roll was maybe 75% cream cheese with specks of cucumber and other ingredients embedded in it with a thin layer of rice on the outside. We are talking massive amounts of cream cheese. The roll with the shrimp included not 1, not 2, but THREE fried shrimp tails. Not talking about it sticking out in an artful manner to be removed by the patron (which by the way this is a bit more acceptable but still gross), but hidden, almost embedded in the rice.

The waitress was working her butt off as the restaurant was full and she was the only one I saw to be tending all the tables aside from a lazy busser busy flirting with the kitchen staff. Bless her heart, but our waitress had too many tables and we decided to just call it a night, leave a standard tip and vow to not come back.

Yes :-) Taylor's review (Nov 14th 2008)

Great food and really great service! The tempura is divine…they frequently have fresh sweet uni…the whole fried sea bass is incredible…there’s a nice selection of sakes…hard to believe this restaurant is in Coeur d’Alene!
Only issue…the decor does need some improvement.