Blue Sushi Sake Grill: A Fun and Fresh Way to Experience Sushi
Do images of salty soy sauce, finely-chopped fish, and mushy vegetables come to mind when you think of sushi? If you’re ready for a new kind of experience in Japanese cuisine, we recommend Blue Sushi Sake Grill. We’ll teach you how to eat and order like a pro while providing the usual information on what constitutes good sushi.
Hawaiian-born chef and restaurateur Katsuya Fukushima’s mission is to make sushi approachable, engaging, and fun. According to its website, Blue Sushi was created as a dining alternative for those who didn’t want to be ‘intimidated’ by a traditional Japanese restaurant. It works hard to deliver a unique experience that provides an ideal atmosphere for good food, good times, and good company.
The Blue Sushi Sake Grill has created a simple two-step process for ordering:
1) Choosing your sushi roll.
2) Choosing your snack/drink/sides.
Blue Sushi’s menu is make around these two simple steps. The rolls are either $3 or $5, and they are ‘regional’ themed. For instance, the San Francisco Roll includes:
- Deep-fried crab cakes.
- Mango and cucumber.
- Salmon and avocado.
- Fried banana with togarashi salt.
The best part about these rolls is that they are create to allow diners to get a taste of everything.
The snack/drink/sides menu is divide into three categories, with each item list under a category’s name. However, for instance, under Snacks, you will find edamame and chicken yakitori skewers, while Drinks offers sake, beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages. Appetizers include items like Bluefin Tuna Tartar, Salmon Carpaccio, and Blue Crab Cakes. The last category, Sides, has your choice of steamed rice and Miso Soup.
Blue Sushi’s ‘samurai sword’ system functions as its cash register. After ordering your food at the counter, you’ll receive a number from one to fifty – but don’t worry if you’re not feeling particularly lucky. The number is use to retrieve your order when it’s ready for you to pick up at the counter.
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The Blue Sushi Sake Grill Experience
Blue Sushi is unlike most sushi restaurants because the sushi bar is not open. Instead, you enter through the kitchen and have your food brought to you directly. This approach can be intimidating, especially if you are a newcomer to sushi or have had bad experiences with it. Here we teach you how to order like a pro.
Sushi rolls, nigiri, and sashimi can contain various ingredients. The most important thing to know about ordering these items is to be specific but not picky. At first, it can be difficult to remember the names of all the different ingredients, but the key is to know what kinds of things you like.
First, you’ll need to know that there are two main types of sushi: maki and nigiri. Maki sushi is rolled in rice and seaweed, while nigiri is served on a small ‘boat’ of rice. In some places, you’ll also come across things called ‘hosomaki’ or ‘temaki,’ essentially smaller versions of your typical maki.
For the sake of choosing ingredients, let’s use ‘sashimi.’ Sashimi is pretty much raw fish with nothing else added to it. To order sashimi, you’ll just need to know a few different words:
1) Maguro – Tuna
2) Sake – Salmon (canned is also acceptable)
3) Hamachi – Yellowtail
4) Tai – Snapper or red snapper (not tuna!)
5) Hirame – Flounder
6) Tako – Octopus.
7) Ikura – Smelt roe
8) Tako-sushi – Octopus sashimi layered with ikura and mayonnaise
9) Hotate – Scallops
10) Ika – Squid or octopus.
11: Unagi – Freshwater eel
12: Shima-Ebi – Squid julienned with ginger and soy sauce (Salt is optional for the miso soup)
13: Mitarashi dashi – Fish stock. It’s essentially a small fish boiled into a sweet, salty broth.
14: Maguro-yaki – Grilled tuna with ponzu sauce (served in the shell)
15: Taki-saba – Thinly sliced mackerel in ponzu sauce (served in the shell)
Now we move on to sushi rolls. Sushi rolls are made by layering different ingredients, so what you’re looking for is more about creating a well-balanced roll. Of course, you can be as specific or vague as you like.
First, you have the ‘wrapping’ ingredients:
1) Nori – Seaweed sheets that roll the sushi in. (Not all rolls are wrapped in nori, however.)
2) Sushi rice – The famous sticky white rice is used for most of your rolls. Remember that some rolls come with plain white rice instead of sushi rice. This is important because it allows you to see the color of the roll underneath.
2) Salmon – This versatile ingredient can be used in just about any type of sushi. I think of salmon as the ‘default’ ingredient for sushi rolls. Try adding other ingredients like cucumber and crab meat to add more complexity to your rolls.
3) Tuna – This is the most common ingredient for sushi and provides the ‘meat’ for most rolls. The tuna is usually serve slice, which means it’s easy to customize your roll by mixing the tuna in with other ingredients. A few of my favorite combinations are:
Crab meat and cucumber (This combination is a classic.)
Salmon, crab meat, and avocado
Tuna mixed with sesame seeds, ginger, and garlic (Make sure to use raw tuna and not cooked!)
Now you know how to order at Blue Sushi Sake Grill! But don’t forget to have fun. It’s a great experience, and there are plenty of ways to make it interesting. However, if you’d like to find out some creative ways to order, check out these Bloggers’ recipes, which might be just what you’re looking for.
Blue Sushi is the most popular sushi restaurant in the Northwest, and for a good reason: it reminds us all that sushi is more than just a meal. It is a cross-cultural encounter. An act of piety. It is a voyage fill with learning, eagerness, and wonder.
Conclusion:
Blue Sushi Sake Grill is much more than your typical sushi restaurant. It is a cultural experience that takes you on a journey into the art of sushi. From beginning to end, you’ll be surprise by the innovative approach to ordering and the artful way your food is prepare and present. Blue Sushi Artisan Sushi Bar is not for everyone, but for those who appreciate excellence in sushi dining, it’s a must!
