Sushiism

This past Friday I went to Sushiism with a few of my friends. I had bought a groupon when they first opened a few months ago and it's time to use it! Looking at the menu, they have a pretty extensive list of options. Especially their specialty rolls...some of them sounded quite interesting!

Sushiism Restaurant & Social Lounge
1628 W Hebron Pkwy. Ste 120
Carrollton, TX 75010
(972) 395-7800
http://www.sushiism.com
Price: $$

The main downside to this place is that it's out in the middle of nowhere. It's really not that far from Plano if you map it out, but just seems like it's farther away. It's a big place with pretty good decor, very family friendly. As we walked in, we were immediately greeted by the hostess and another waitress. The place was pretty empty at 6:45PM on a Friday night. We opted to sit in the bar area because it was brighter and they happily accommodated.

We wanted to get there before 7PM so we could do happy hour, but unfortunately, if you have the groupon, the food specials do not apply. However, you can still take part in the happy hour drink specials.

We were pretty hungry so we got started!!

Seaweed Salad $3.99~ Pretty standard.

Broiled Cod Fish with Miso $8.99~

This was even smaller than I expected. :( But it was delicious. Cooked perfectly and so buttery it melted in my mouth. I would need like 6 of these to even fill me up though...

We ordered a bunch of Specialty Rolls:

Sushiism (tuna, scallop, shrimp tempura, cucumber, soy sheet, eel sauce, spicy mayo) $13.99~

I liked the large pieces of fish in here and they were pretty fresh. My friend thought it was a bit bland. But that's where the soy sauce and wasabi comes in! haha. I liked the concept of the soy paper, it changes things up a bit, but it was overall too soft. The roll as a whole needed a bit more texture. Not bad though.

Jade (yellowtail, avocado, wasabi flying fish roe, green onion outside) $11.99~

This was my favorite of the night. The fish was fresh and all the elements complimented each other. The avocado provided the right amount of creaminess and the roe added that "pop" of texture and a hint of wasabi flavor. If you like wasabi, try this roll. I would definitely order this again.

Spicy Tuna Tempura (spicy tuna, spicy mayo, deep fry whole roll, green onion, eel sauce, spicy mayo) $10.99~

My friend ordered this since he only eats fried spicy tuna rolls. haha. The presentation was nice with all the contrasting colors. The flavor was good but pretty normal as far as deep fried rolls go. It had a nice tempura crunch but the batter was a bit too thick. Good but not memorable.

Fire Snapper (shrimp tempura, wrapped with sliced snapper, baked with garlic olive oil, eel sauce, ponzu, spicy sauce, scallion) $11.99~

I ordered this by accident. I actually meant to order the Firecracker (see next item). And it was a mistake to order this. First of all, I think they forgot the snapper on top, which I didn't realize until I went back and looked at the pictures. It had a lot of different flavors and sauces on it and all got muddled. Plus the shrimp was small and too much batter. There was one piece that was all batter and no shrimp. :( Boooo.

Firecracker (salmon, cucumber, wrapped with sliced tuna, tempura crunch, spicy mayo, chili powder, eel sauce) $13.99~

Since we ordered the wrong thing, I decided to order this again. I really liked it. Again, it was very pretty to look at with all the colors. The tempura crunch on top definitely made it. The crunch was almost buttery tasting and added a textural contrast. Yum!

Caterpillar (spicy tuna, cucumber, wrapped with avocado, spicy mayo, sriracha sauce) $10.99~

The presentation was super cute. The eyes were made of cream cheese so unless you like to eat a scoop of cream cheese, you can set that aside. It's just for decoration. haha. It's not your usual caterpilla roll since normally they are made with eel. They seem to really like their spicy tuna here. It's in the majority of the specialty rolls. It was a good roll. The avocado was fresh and creamy and paired with the spicy tuna well.

This place is owned by a couple. The wife was out in the dining area while the husband is the chef. She came to talk to us several times. Very nice lady and gave us some interesting background on them and the restaurant. Her husband is Japanese and comes up with all the different ideas on interesting menu items. She told us that their ramen broth is made from scratch and takes over 8 hours to make so they get all the flavors developed. Sounds yum, I'll have to go back and try it!

I wanted some dessert (of course) and saw that they make their own ice cream in the restaurant and had some super exotic flavors!

Homemade Ice Cream $3.99~ each:
I got the Wasabi and Squid Ink ice cream. I've always wanted to try wasabi ice cream, but squid ink??? I've never even heard of that as an ice cream flavor.

The squid ink ice cream was uber black. A little scary yet I'm so excited to try it. I totally loved it! It was sweet and creamy but had an undertone of the sea. That's the best way I could put it without making people scared to try it. haha. There IS a hint of fishiness so none of my friends liked it. But I really enjoyed the sweet and savory nature of the ice cream. The term "umami" is often used in Japanese cuisine and it represents the "fifth taste" which is a combination of all the other 4 tastes together. It's something extra and not always achieved in foods. I experienced umami with this ice cream. I would totally have it again. And I urge all the adventurous foodies out there to try it as well. (Just FYI, it turns your entire mouth black, so keep in mind if you decide to take a date there! haha)

The wasabi ice cream was good as well.

The owner told us that you don't really taste much of the wasabi at first, but as you eat more, it'll definitely clear up your sinuses. It won't be like actual wasabi and bring tears to your eyes because the sweetness kind of cuts that. But it gets pretty close. It even had tiny bits of grated fresh wasabi in it. I liked it a lot too but I couldn't eat the whole thing. About 1/4th into the ice cream the wasabi impact was pretty strong! Worth trying out too just for the experience.

I liked the meal overall. The majority of the rolls were fresh and good and the ice creams were an experience. The rolls do get a little pricey though. Even with my groupon we still paid quite a bit. They gave us the ice cream on the house though! :) The service was good and the owner (wife) was really friendly. I hope their business picks up, they seem like good people. hehe. So next time you want sushi or something out of the ordinary, go check them out. I'll be back for their ramen and the squid ink ice cream again!!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~