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Japanese Ceviche is one of the offerings at Sumo Sushi in Downtown Albuquerque. (Pat Vasquez-Cunningham/Journal)
In land-locked states, it is often said of sushi restaurants that they have only to be good with an asterisk – that is, “good” itself is a relative term on a sliding scale. Now, it is true that Albuquerque’s best sushi does not hold a candle to Los Angeles or New York or, of course, Japan, but that doesn’t mean you should never eat sushi in Albuquerque. Sumo Sushi, the other half of Amerasia’s dining space, has been open for more than five years in the foot-traffic-heavy Downtown court district, providing exactly what folks want – a good alternative to the endless list of sandwich and sub joints nearby.
Entering the restaurant, a diner must choose between the fraternal dining rooms for dim sum and sushi before having a seat and opening a menu. The sushi area is magnitudes quieter, with solo diners, as well as groups busy managing their chopsticks, soy sauce and wasabi.
I like to sit at the counter, observing chefs prepare order after order, many destined for tidy red and black takeout boxes. A miniature train track encircles the counter for dispensing additional wasabi and ginger, but its timetable seems to have had scheduling cuts.
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Sumo Sushi LOCATION: 800 Third NW, 246-1615, www.amerasia-sumosushi.com HOURS: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5-9:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 5-10 p.m. Saturdays BEER AND WINE |
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Sampling the menu is best done over several visits or with friends: no better way to start than with Agedashi Tofu ($5.50), small planks fried to chewy outside, drizzled with a tangy sauce. They’re good all alone or plopped into a huge bowl of Vegetable Udon Soup ($8.50) with toothsome wheat noodles that are unlike most standard-issue pasta, filling up the belly before the bowl is half gone. The broth has a handful of veggies, though not the broccoli we expected from the menu photo.
Simple nigiri sushi – a piece of fish over a ball of rice – is a mainstay item at any sushi restaurant, though items like mackerel or yellowtail were unremarkable relative to other joints in town. The Japanese Ceviche ($14.50) is an artful fan of marinated raw fish over shredded daikon radish – pretty tasty but a small portion for the price.
In American sushi restaurants, the magic often happens in the chef-created sushi rolls, and Sumo Sushi is no exception. Start with the local favorite Green Chile Roll ($7.50) for a bit of heat, a bit of tempura crunch and a lot of smiles from both vegans and carnivores alike.
Another from the hit list ramps up the spice with hot sauce over spicy tuna, crab and scallop: the Firecracker ($10.50). It’s a well-executed Westernized roll – a few unconventional flavors yet nothing over the top like deep-frying the whole roll or baking it in creamy sauce.
For the record, you can have rich rolls at Sumo Sushi if you’re in that kind of mood. However, there are creative surprises buried on the menu for those who want to think outside the rice, none more interesting than the Green Salmon Roll ($10.50). A thin cucumber wrapper surrounds a tangle of bright green seaweed salad and a nubbin of salmon at the core.
Have someone in your party dubious about any seaweed? Order the fetching Sexy Roll ($11.95) for four kinds of fish and avocado wrapped in cucumber, a good closing note for this good Downtown alternative.
