Sushi is a very popular food that many people in America enjoy. The many different types of sushi rolls and customizability of rolls make it so a larger variety of people can enjoy a meal from a different country. The real question though is, who does it the best? Master Chef located at Route 202 South Hadley is a small sushi restaurant that has earned the respect as one of the best restaurants in the area. Iya, located in the Village Commons, is a local chain with an establishment in town, and has become a community staple for people in the area as well. I decided to go out and try both, comparing their menus, dishes, and service.

My first impression walking into Iya was the atmosphere. The whole place was colorful and had many unique details that an average restaurant doesn’t have. My favorite thing was being able to see the people make the food at the sushi bar. I was then greeted by a nice lady that took me to my table and where I ordered my food. I ordered the spicy roll combo which included a spicy tuna roll, spicy salmon roll, and a spicy shrimp roll. The food was delicious, and for the price of $20 dollars, it included a lot of high quality ingredients. Overall I had a very pleasant experience at Iya.

As I walked into Master Chef, the smell of the hibachi chicken and steak on the grill hit me and I fell in love. They had the same spicy roll combo at Master Chef but it was $19 dollars instead of $20 dollars at Iya. I got the rolls and at first glance the rolls looked slightly bigger than Iyas roll and for a cheaper price. Each roll was crafted perfectly together and tasted great. The only difference in taste was the shrimp roll. The shrimp roll at Iya was crunchy and me personally I don’t like crunchy things on sushi rolls so I didn’t like the shrimp rolls at Iya as much as the Master Chef roll. The food was delicious and overall I believe the quality and quantity of food given at Master chef is better than Iya.

Both restaurants are great and I would recommend both of them but overall I believe that Master Chef is slightly better than Iya. However, I like Iya’s atmosphere more than Master Chefs because of the large windows that allow you to see the beautiful setting of the commons. While Master Chef is located on a busy road with cars passing every second. 

Paw Scale for Master Chef: 5 out of 5

Paw Scale for Iya: 4 out of 5