Open Sushi @oandcthefreshmarket zalka.

Affordable offer and not bad sushi, but lacking a good customer experience overall.

Pros:

Fish taste and freshness were good for most pieces (but could be a little better). The crab salad was fresh and rich in crab. Crunchy and fresh crispy flakes. Good enough variation (check pictures at the end, a few pieces are missing). I liked the “caterpillar” and crispy salmon pieces. Affordable open sushi offer at 25$/person daily except Saturday.

Cons:

A couple salmon pieces had a strong fish smell which shouldn’t be there in fresh well stored salmon. I usually like cheese in sushi but they put too much. The mixes overall could be better.
Service and experience: The offer is attracting a lot of people but the restaurant seems unprepared for that and customer service is not up to the normal standard. The first waiter who served us gave a careless/rude vibe. The staff and place in general seemed more oriented towards regular sea food and Lebanese cuisine type rather than sushi ambience.

Also, the place has a rule that a group of people cannot sit together on the same floor level if they aren’t all paying for open sushi. (A group of 5 next to us left as one of them was asked to sit on another table because he doesn’t want sushi). I understand the difficulty of monitoring the no sharing rule in open sushi, but this is one of the few restaurant in Lebanon which has this policy.

Conclusion: putting aside the service and atmosphere, the offer is attractive and the sushi isn’t bad; recommended to try for yourself. Average score for the overall experience.