Creating art: Sakua Sushi draws inspiration from Southeast Asia, Japan cuisine

On the surface, Albuquerque doesn’t seem like the kind of place to have a thriving sushi scene. It is firmly landlocked in the high desert, hundreds of miles from the ocean, and to my knowledge nobody is making sashimi from the minnows and shiners of the Rio Grande.

But despite the lack of native product, Albuquerque is awash in sushi restaurants. There are dozens of places around town where you can watch chefs turn watermelon-pink blocks of yellowfin tuna and sparkling orange salmon into bite-sized pieces of art.

The scene is robust enough that debates over the best place in town are sure to evoke a lot of names. Favorites are roughly divided between long-established spots like Shogun in Nob Hill and newer arrivals like Diaz Kitchen & Sushi Bar in Downtown.

Sakura Sushi in the Northeast Heights is in the long-established camp, and when a trusted friend vouched for it, I decided I had to check it out.

The restaurant sits in a strip mall on the east side of Wyoming Boulevard, just south of the intersection with Montgomery Boulevard. There is plenty of parking on all sides of the building.

The small dining room holds a dozen tables or so, along with three seats at the sushi bar in the back. A recent lunch hour visit found sushi chef Vong Soumphonphakdy, who runs the place with his wife Pialo, holding court at the bar behind a display case of fish in plastic wrap. A customer sitting opposite him was recounting his recent trip to Europe. Listening to him and others around the room, I sensed that the place has a lot of devoted regulars.

The menu draws inspiration from the cuisine of Southeast Asia and Japan.

The appetizer selection has the usual assortment of spring rolls, egg rolls and dumplings, all for under $10. Salads cost at few bucks more.

We started the meal with a couple of Japanese dishes: a complimentary, umami-rich bowl of Miso Soup with tofu and seaweed and Yakitori ($5.95), chicken thighs grilled on skewers. Served on a bed of lettuce, the two skewers held six pieces of chicken each. The chicken thighs, marinated to a deep brown, were rich with soy sauce flavor tempered with hints of sugar and smoke.

Sushi choices are listed both on the main menu and on a separate sheet of paper, where you can check off your choices with the provided pencil. The impressive roll call includes many of the usual suspects plus some oddities like a Crazy Roll ($12.95) that, per the menu, varies according to the chef’s mood.

Creating art: Sakua Sushi draws inspiration from Southeast Asia, Japan cuisine

We started off with Kampyo Roll ($5.95), one of several Veggie Rolls on the menu, and the Albuquerque Roll ($8.95), so named because of the presence of green chile tempura. Both were served on a grooved, lime-green plate.

Kampyo is made from strips of gourd that, in their dried state, look a bit like a bundle of white shoelaces. When rehydrated with soy sauce and other ingredients, the strips darken to the color of root beer. The four pieces were presented uramaki-style — the name means “inside-out” — with the sesame seed-flecked rice packed on the outside around the seaweed wrapper. The kampyo’s chewiness and slight sweetness nicely balanced the rice and seaweed.

The Albuquerque Roll presented a colorful contrast to the kampyo. It was made in the traditional maki style, with the seaweed wrap on the outside. The generous serving consisted of six pieces, thinner and a bigger in circumference than the kampyo, plus two end pieces with the crunchy tempura green chile sticking out like tail fins. Stuffed with rice, cucumber and avocado and topped with spicy mayo, it was a rich, decadent treat.

The menu’s four Sushi Combos offer a convenient way to sample from the menu without breaking the bank. The Combo D ($15.95) came with four pieces of California Roll, four pieces of Spicy Tuna and eight pieces of Crunchy Roll. It’s a lot of food for one person — certainly enough for lunch and dinner. The sushi was served with pickled ginger and wasabi on an exquisitely decorated plate.

The uramaki-style California Roll brought together bright green avocado with matchsticks of cucumber and imitation crab. The ubiquity of this roll is easy to understand, as it provides a safe introduction for diners who may be squeamish about eating raw fish. Sakura’s version was crunchy and creamy, the imitation crab a discreet presence.

Spicy tuna, also served uramaki-style, was a bit livelier, leaving behind a tingle on the tongue.

The crunchy roll was the most filling of the sushi rolls we tried and had the most textural contrast thanks to the layer of crisp, flaky tempura crumbs packed around the rice. The shrimp tempura inside the roll brought even more crackle to the bite, and a sauce laced across the top added a sweet finish.

Outside of sushi, Sakura offers a sampling of Laotian, Japanese and Thai dishes, including Curries, Bento Boxes and Pad Thai. Almost all the dishes from this part of the menu are $13.95.

Laotian cuisine has a reputation of being like Thai cuisine, without the sweetness. A good example of this flavor profile is found in pork larb, a meat salad that is Laos’ national dish. Sakura’s version ($13.95) presented as a mound of minced pork and sliced onions in a thin sauce fragrant with lemongrass and punched up with lime juice. Toasted sticky rice powder added a nutty crunch. The accompanying side of sticky rice was handy for sopping up the delicious sauce.

Our server was brisk and attentive and knew the menu well. She was well-versed in the gluten-free options, of which there are many.

Sakura Sushi is a reminder that while Albuquerque may not be anywhere near the ocean, it has plenty of places where you can taste the fruits of it.