For me, the wrapped and sauced rolls were a revelation when I started dating Mrs. HowChow. Until then, I ate a standard mix of sushi and rolls like spicy tuna or California. Then Mrs. HowChow took me to Sushi King, and I began eating creations like tuna wrapped around a tempura shrimp or a thin-sliced roll dotted with hot sauce and coated with popped brown rice.
Columbia's top two sushi joints -- Sushi King and Sushi Sono -- offer these unique experiences. Large rolls often with two kinds of fish, tempura or roe, sauces and a vegetable of fruit. Personally, I love the ones with tempura shrimp like Sushi Sono's No. 12 that includes warm shrimp, cool spicy tuna and roe. From all these imaginative rolls, you get wonderful mixes of fish flavor, crunchy texture, and salty or spicy condiments.
Last night, we discovered some new options at Sushi King, where we hadn't been since last fall -- Happy Together, Nuta, Tango, and Treasure. Of the two we tried, I'm a big fan of the Happy Together, which is a variation on my favorites with a coconut shrimp and squash wrapped in rice and then topped with a mix that includes mango, lobster, cucumber and roe. The plate was drizzled with a yellow, faintly sweet sauce that seemed to be mango, but almost tasted lemony.
The King serves large rolls cut into eight generous pieces. They're $15-19 each, which is okay because three rolls feed two people. The bummer is that the same bill buys a few extra rolls -- although probably not more food because the rolls are smaller -- at Sushi Sono. I liked Sushi King's Nuta roll, but crab stick isn't a flavor that competes with the menu's mainstays like Pretty In Red, Spicy Grilled or Samuri. I would have been just as happy with six thinner slices and an option to order a fourth roll.
Next time, I have my eye on the Tango roll: tempura eel, mango, avocado and onion topped with seared pepper tuna and a salsa sauce.
Click here for all my posts about Sushi King. I need to re-post overall review because it's really one of my favorites. My major impediment to posting had been the dim lighting that kept me from getting appetizing photos. My new phone has a better camera! If you're checking out the sushi scene, click for all my posts about Sushi Sono or my August 2009 post about trying new sushi places.
4 comments:
I would run, not walk, to the order the Golden Roll – which is eel and avocado wrapped around shrimp tempura. The texture is unreal. I do like the Sono version better (or dinosaur roll at Katana), but it is still very good at King. I had the pretty in pink for the first time a few weeks ago at King. It was excellent.
A couple of weeks ago, I was having a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. "Self," I said, "you need something to pick you up. What would be good? How about finally going to try Sushi King and some of the rolls recommended on the blog?" And so, off I went. Sat at the sushi bar and enjoyed the atmosphere. Even on a Wednesday night, it was really busy. Had the Wonder Roll and the Samurai Roll. Both were excellent. I'm sure purists are aghast at the use of tempura and sauces in rolls, but it's fun! I loves me some sashimi and nigiri sushi, but sometimes you just have to go a bit wild. ;)
~kam
Great timing on the post! My family just went to Sushi King last Monday as a sort of heading-off-to-college dinner with our daughter. We tried the Smokey roll (tempura eel, salmon, etc) for the first time. It was so good!
The Tango roll is fabulous and also very popular. We have dined there later in the evening on two occasions and it has been "sold out". So we made sure to go earlier on our most recent visit and recommend it highly.
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