Sushi Cushi

Sushi Cushi
Unit K – 1045 St. James St
Tel: 204-772-9257
Fax: 204-772-9490
sushicushi@hotmail.com
http://www.sushicushi.ca/zbxe/sushicushi/78



July, 2011

Some of the best restaurants are also some of the hardest to find. If someone doesn’t point you in the direction of Sushi Cushi, you would never know about it. I guess a lot of people have been pointing as the dark and subdued dining room is always packed over the lunch hours.

Cushi has a philosophy about serving cooked as well as raw, and healthier across the board. The result is an extensive menu for which I wish I had a bottomless stomach to sample.

In assessing sushi houses, I usually benchmark the staple California roll. If a restaurant uses pollack, you should be wary that they cut corners. Most places use canned crab meat, but on the occasion, you find a place that uses lump crab. When you find a place that uses lump crab, keep it on your radar; you know that they spare no expense to provide you the best.

Cushi uses the canned crab but they don’t skimp on the volume. The plump California roll is stuffed with tons of crab, a huge chunk of avocado and lots of rice. Consistent with their healthier theme, they’re light on the mayo. The rice is a little too rich with vinegar, which overwhelms the taste of the roll.

Unfortunately, Cushi’s over-vinegared rice pervades through their nigiris and dominates most of the samples. Rice aside, the salmon tastes rich and buttery, consistent with what you expect from top-grade sushi. The fatty tuna (toro) tastes equally buttery and unctuous. The best toro flakes apart between your chopsticks and melts in your mouth. This toro isn’t as delicate as some, but it certainly doesn’t lack in taste. I wish for the portions to be a little larger as I can’t get enough of this.

While the nigiri and the sashimi servings are a little smaller than average, there’s nothing shy about the maki serving sizes. The massive rolls take up lots of stomach space, so don’t over-order. The huge scallop roll is a little cucumber-heavy, taking away from the delicate taste of the scallop, but overall, the meat tastes deliciously rich.

The unagi (freshwater eel) tastes equally rich and sweet. Eel meat itself doesn’t have a lot of flavour so it relies on the taste of the unique barbecue sauce to provide depth. This is a delicious sauce that doesn’t disappoint.

While unagi normally tastes sweetish from the sauce, Cushi’s unagi roll tastes predominantly salty. This roll also has a spicy edge and some tempura flakes add nice texture. Again, the rice tastes a little vinegary but otherwise, this is a very successful option.

As sushi houses spring like shitakes, you find sushi on almost every street corner. Choose wisely as there are lots of inferior places. Sushi Cushi is definitely a place you should have no reservations about frequenting. Sometimes the best restaurants hide among sterile strip malls. Do your best to find Cushi, it’s worth your effort.

**** /5

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