Quick Bite: Hiroshi's Pub

It's easy to forget where you are at this East Side spot. Look one direction, and the oversized wooden bar and 14-tap beer selection give the essence of a neighborhood pub. Glance the other way, and the raw bar will leave you swearing you're at a sushi joint. Hiroshi's Pub is actually both. Its one-size-fits-all menu features plenty of pub-style comfort food such as hot dogs, house-smoked barbecue pork and the Salisbury ($9.95) — a double steak-patty sandwich messily topped off with lumpy mashed potatoes and gravy. But turn to the next page of the menu, and you'll find dozens of sushi rolls. This could spell disaster at some places, but Hiroshi's Pub proves bar food and sushi can coexist. The thinly sliced brisket cheddar melt sandwich ($7.95) was tender, deliciously greasy and just a little sloppy from the barbecue sauce. It was also the polar opposite of the carefully plated Firecracker sushi ($12.95) — nine large pieces rolled with salmon, cream cheese and cucumber, and topped with vibrant orange Korean spicy mayo and salmon roe. Both dishes were satisfying in their own way. One was hearty, the other refreshing. No matter what choice you make, Hiroshi's split personality works.