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CRANFORD n Jian Guo “Johnny” Cao wants to help the U.S. economy by stimulating spending. That’s why he created Mizu Sushi’s Spring Japanese Food Sale.
“Every day, we bring in top quality fish for our sushi and the best ingredients for our other dishes,” said Cao, owner and chef at the new Mizu Sushi restaurant, 103 North Union, Ave., Cranford (MizuSushiNJ.com). “Quality isn’t cheap. But considering what’s going on in the economy, we decided to have a sale.”
For the months of April and May, you can get $10 off a purchase of $40 or more, Sunday-Thursday for dine-in service only with a coupon. Coupons are online. This great deal cannot be combined with any other offers.
Although the restaurant just opened in mid-December, it has already attracted quite a following. And there are many regular customers.
“Once people try our food and see the difference in quality and selection, they leave satisfied and come back,” Cao said. “We want to show people they still can get a good value going out. We want to encourage them to visit restaurants more often. That gives our workers more to spend. And if that happens all over, we all benefit.”
This is the fourth Japanese restaurant Cao and partners have created. The first three are in Manhattan n a tough place for restaurants, where customers are very demanding. Those restaurants have flourished. And Cao has brought those same high standards to Cranford.
For example the restaurant offers 26 special sushi rolls. There’s the Hot Sexy Roll (yellowtail, jalapeno with seared spicy scallop and special sauce), the Valentine Roll (snow crab, spicy salmon, crunchy tempura flakes, tobiko n flying fish eggs, seaweed salad, mango, wrapped with soy bean seaweed), Out of Control Roll (spicy tuna, crunchy tempura flakes, yellowtail, scallion with tobiko and truffle oil), the Snow Mountain Roll (shrimp tempura, mango, lobster salad, caviar and special sauce), the Best Friend Roll (eel, avocado, crunchy tempura flakes, tuna and salmon) and many more.
The menu also includes other unusual offerings: Live scallop sushi and sashimi, Avocado Chicken (sliced chicken rolled with avocado and grilled in teriyaki sauce), Crispy Duck Roll (fried spring roll stuffed with roast duck and taro) and Beef Tataki (which is seared on the outside with special sauce and very rare on the inside).
Cao has been a sushi chef for 18 years. And participating in four restaurants and running Mizu Sushi in Cranford, he has little time to relax. But he seems to thrive on hard work and the customer interaction.
“I love to talk to customers,” he said. “They’re a great resource. Only they can tell us how we’re really doing and what we can do to be even better. A good restaurant is a work in progress. With the help of our customers, we’ve created a top quality Japanese restaurant. With their continued constructive comments, we’ll get even better.”

