by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
Sushi Café's owner John Lin, came from New York to Jacksonville to open the restaurant and has been at the Riverside Avenue for three years. With a view to historic brick buildings and the leafy greens of Memorial Park patrons can enjoy the Riverside scene from the café's picture windows or outdoor seating area which is protected from the weather by canvassed green umbrellas.
The inside sports a scrupulously clean sushi bar in lacquered light wood. Placemats with vibrant pictures of sushi decorate the pale bar and little square bowls await soy sauce by every placemat. Above the sushi bar hang colorful light fixtures. The sushi is displayed under glass in a cooled case and is prepared, as it should be, right in front of you.
Sushi, as we recognize it, has been a popular Japanese snack food or fresh fast food since the 1800's. Sushi wasn't always served up fresh. As early as 700 AD sushi used to be fermented with rice before being served. With the advent of rice vinegar fermentation times were shortened until, eventually it began to be served up on rice. Even then, it was generally heavily marinated or salted for preservation. This version of sushi assuredly didn't need soy sauce. Refrigeration made these techniques unnecessary so that today's sushi is generally free of marinades.
Many people who haven't tried sushi assume that it's all raw fish, but many sushi rolls don't include any raw fish. A wonderful "beginner roll" at Sushi Café is the California Roll, which includes fish roe, avocado, cooked imitation crabmeat, cucumber and rice. If you're a bit skittish about the fish roe, just ask to have your roll made without it. Another of Sushi Café's cooked rolls is the Jaguar Roll, a combo of barbequed eel and avocado deep fried to delicious perfection. It sounds like a strange combo but it tastes delightful and comes highly recommended for those trying sushi for the first time. Eel can be very different from sushi bar to sushi bar. Often I find the smoked eel has been smoked too long, resulting in a dry eel that isn't very appealing. I always order it on my first visit to any sushi bar, because when eel is well prepared there is nothing like its tender sensuousness. When I try the eel here I am lost in bliss for a moment. Sushi Café most definitely passes and surpasses the eel test.
Sushi newbies also need to take their time getting used to wasabi, the green sinus-clearing condiment, served with sushi. Try a very small amount at first. You can use your hands to eat sushi but I suggest you use your chopsticks to apply the wasabi. The pickled ginger slices are meant to clear the palate between pieces of sushi but people often pile it on their sushi. When eating sushi topped with fish you should dip the sushi fish side down into the soy sauce to avoid saturating the rice. Letting the rice soak in the soy sauce causes the rice to fall apart and lose its consistency.
Those that don't want to try sushi or aren't in the mood for it can find plenty of selections on the menu. Try a tempting tempura battered appetizer or full fledged meal. Choose from shrimp, chicken or vegetable. I sampled the vegetable tempura-a mix of sweet potato, broccoli, green pepper, onion and mushroom, all fried in a light tempura batter. The chicken hibachi was remarkably tender. Hibachi items, teriyaki chicken or steak and katsu are some of the items available. Lobster, filet mingnon, steak and scallop preparations are all on the menu.
Also served at the sushi bar is sashimi, a chilled slice of raw fish available at most sushi bars but not considered sushi because it is served without rice. Generally though, sushi rice is the base around which sushi is built, so it's important to get the right consistency and stickiness. The rice at Sushi Café is sticky without being dry with the appropriate amount of vinegar.
If you are a sushi aficionado then you will enjoy the nigiri sushi at Sushi Café, which is a slice of raw fish atop a small block of sushi rice, generally with a small dab of wasabi in between. The maguro, or tuna, is a deep pink, uniform in color and tender, as it should be. In all sushi preparations here I found that the avocado was as exquisitely fresh as the white fish, salmon and tuna I enjoyed on the rainbow roll.
From the stickiness of the rice to the freshness of the ingredients Sushi Café has my endorsement as the best sushi in town.
INFORMATION:
Located in the Publix shopping center across from Memorial Park
Phone number: 384-2888
Ratings (1-5):
Atmosphere 4
Service 4
Food 5
Cost $$
Cost Guide
$ = under ten dollars for a single person
$$ = over ten to twenty for a single person
$$$ = over twenty to thirty-five for a single person
$$$$ = thirty-five and up for a single person
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