Hook, Line, and Sinker

Trapper's Sushi - Sushi (3.5 Stars)
http://www.sushitownbonneylake.com/

Following a long workout, sushi is one of those dinner options that helps you maintain at least the appearance of being "healthy". You even feel smarter just contemplating which rolls and wraps and Nigiri you're about to consume. Seafood plus rice plus sauce has got to be good for you, right? After two weeks of talking up his favorite sushi spot, and an upper body workout that'd leave me sore for three days, Joe decided it was time for me to see what Trapper's Sushi had to offer.

One look at the menu and it was easy to see the main thing Trapper's has going for it: the accessibility of its menu. Things like shrimp tempura didn't appear to show up with tails or heads and of their 45 eight-piece long rolls, nearly one-third have crab. Despite over half of their long rolls incorporating a "spicy" ingredient, for folks who are connoisseurs of spicy, you'll need to ask for more Sriracha. Again, think accessible.

By the time we'd polished off the starter bowl of edamame (which I wish had been steamed a few minutes longer), the first of our long rolls had arrived. The Trapper combined a roll of tempura Crystal shrimp wrapped with seaweed and rice that's then covered with spicy cooked scallops, green onions, and tobiko in a spicy mayo dressing like a chilled "salad". The warm, crispy shrimp paired nicely with the chilled scallops. All of the flavors were mild, despite having "spicy" as an ingredient, and the textures were crispy and creamy, with little pops from the tobiko. The scallop texture was just right. This was definitely our favorite roll of the evening.

The second roll that arrived was the Willis. The long roll featured spicy crab, green onion, and cucumber all rolled in tempura crumbs. The top also had two sauces: a sweet, red-brown sauce (tasted exactly like the bottled Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce) as well as a Sriracha mayo to help add heat. The Willis was the sweetest of the three rolls, though the cilantro and mayo helped cut through the sweetness of the crab and sauce. Unfortunately, the predominant flavor was the sweet chili sauce, though there was a cilantro burst on the pieces with extra cilantro. In keeping with the "accessibility" of the sushi, the roll would easily be one most people would enjoy given the flavors were mild.

Bonney Lake was the last roll Joe and I shared. Trapper's does an interesting job combining a regular rice roll with cold salads and the Bonney Lake long roll continued that tradition. There is a huge amount of spicy crab salad on top of the roll. So much, in fact, that the serving plate still had probably 20 percent of the salad on it after we had served ourselves. It almost goes without saying, but it was a very hearty roll. The salad is topped with a thick stripe of Sriracha that helps balance the sweet crab salad and sushi rice. The roll itself has tempura, Crystal shrimp, and cream cheese.

If you're someone who typically orders at least three rolls for just yourself, Trapper's does offer an all-you-can-eat from their long roll, wraps, and Nigiri menu sections. The lunch special is $17.95 and dinner's just $26.95. The long rolls range between $5 and $11, so it wouldn't take much for the all-you-can-eat prices to look cheap. You will have to sit at the sushi bar in order to get the special. Also, for parents with adventurous kids, children under 10 eat free on Wednesday nights which is a great deal for budget-minded families.

Overall, despite relatively mild fare, the sushi was fresh, well-prepared, and the eight-piece long rolls are a serious bargain compared with the usual six-piece higher priced sushi offered elsewhere. (For those of you who drink a lot of water with your meal like me, you'll be thrilled with the vat-sized glasses of water.) If you're off the beaten path, stop by and see why Trapper's Sushi earned 3.5 Stars.

Wasabi Wannabe

Wasabi Bistro - Japanese Fusion, Sushi (2.5 Stars)

http://www.wasabibistro.net

It's interesting to me how most cuisines have a freebie food to help whet your appetite: chips and salsa, bread and butter, edamame, breadsticks, pita and garlic vinaigrette, etc. Depending on how delicious each of those are, it's almost easy to fill up before the appetizers even arrive. During this visit, it was apparent we should have done just that.

I like Edamame; most of the time. I've yet to figure out why the preparation is so hit-and-miss at restaurants offering this hands-on finger food. The beans have a tendency to either be mushy or completely underdone and I often have a pod split without notice and launch a bean across the table. That trend of mediocre edamame continued at Wasabi Bistro as the undercooked beans were so heavily salted, what's usually a completely empty bowl for just me at, say, Miyabi Sushi, was less than half eaten by the two of us. I can appreciate flaked salt, but a finely ground salt would have served them better and wouldn't have dominated the subtly sweet beans.

One thing Dan and I both agreed on wanting to try was the Spicy King Crab Soup. At $10 per small bowl, we definitely expected to be wowed. However, we found the broth completely lacked any real crab flavor and the "leg" wasn't cracked so extricating the two tiny bites of crab meat was nigh impossible. The slice of lemon riding the crab leg raft tricked me into believing there would be brightness with a citrus note to the soup. Instead, it was apparently just there for decoration as no amount of citrus could cut through the highly salted, raw onion flavor of the soup. There was also no notable "spicy" to the soup at all. Definitely two strikes in a row for Wasabi Bistro.

At least the Maguro (raw tuna on a finger of sushi rice with a tiny amount of wasabi) looked great. The amount of tuna and the texture of the rice was great. Unfortunately, the tuna had a slight fishy scent to me, so I forced Dan to smell. He said he couldn't really smell anything odd, so we went ahead and ate it. Apparently, all of the soup's missing spice ended up here as there was so much wasabi hidden under the tuna that I barely choked it down. As tears came to my eyes, I looked at Dan and said, "Okay, your turn!" He reluctantly attempted one of the ruby red fingers and said it was good, which of course shocked me. In trying a second piece for myself, the wasabi level was back to normal though I could still taste a bit of fishiness. Of the four pieces we ordered, the one in the picture was left orphaned.

The most ubiquitous roll at any sushi establishment in the US must be the California Roll. At most places, you can expect imitation crab meat, mayo, avocado, cucumber, and sometimes tobiko (flying fish roe). At Wasabi Bistro, you can expect real crab meat given the roll's price is much higher than at many other restaurants. In its favor, the avocado was plentiful and the crab salad inside was just right: slightly sweet and very creamy. The roll was plated on top of spicy mayo and garnished with a sweet brown (teriyaki?) sauce. It was a relatively average roll though beautifully presented in its caterpillar-esque goodness.

The Volcano Roll (pictured in front) featured a center of spicy tuna and asparagus, and was topped with a mouthwatering seven ingredients: ahi tuna and avocado, spicy mayo, tobiko, toasted macadamia nuts, and unagi and sriracha sauces. Despite the hefty price tag for this roll ($14), the textures were incredible. The sauces added depth and a creamy heat, the tuna and avocado added richness, and the macadamias offered a nutty warmth as well as some crunch and pop with the tobiko. This was definitely the best roll we ordered and I'd say it was actually worth the price. Plus, I do have a fondness for macadamias, especially in sushi rolls as I feel they offer something savory and unexpected.

The hidden roll just behind the Volcano was the 2nd Avenue Roll. Ironically, it's akin to being the love child of the first two rolls we had. It had cucumber, avocado, spicy mayo, and tobiko like the California Roll, but also spicy tuna and shrimp tempura. The roll didn't do much for either of us as somehow it was lacking even the average flavor of the California Roll. The shrimp tempura was hardly noticeable because the tempura was soggy so the crunch was completely missing. The rice was good and the spicy mayo and tobiko were par for the course.

The worst roll of the evening was definitely the Wasabi Roll. Apparently we have a thing for the California Roll because this one also offered crab, mayo, avocado, tobiko, and cucumber, but did included a spicy wasabi aioli and was wrapped with seared albacore. Dan said he felt the roll had too large a piece of albacore and he was stuck chewing far longer than he wanted to, resulting in an aftertaste that was too fishy for even two mayos to adequately cover. The chewing issue was exacerbated by the fact that this was a six-piece roll, not an eight-piece roll like the others. Unfortunately, this means a much larger bite per piece.

Over the past few years, I've eaten at Wasabi Bistro several times and usually came away thinking it was great sushi and a good price. However, when a mediocre dinner for two sans dessert and alcohol (because we didn't have any of either) ended up three figures after tip, it's time to rethink another visit. Wasabi Bistro unfortunately earned its 2.5 Stars this visit and is no longer a sushi restaurant I'm willing to recommend.

Kind Of Like A Drunken Picnic!

Miyabi Sushi - Japanese, Sushi (4.5 Stars)
http://www.miyabisushi.com

Thanks to a restaurant location application on my handy-dandy G1 phone, I've been wanting to try Miyabi Sushi for several weeks. Unfortunately, every time I got the hankering it was Sunday and they weren't open. After the Oriental Spoon sushi encounter, I had mixed feelings about trying more sushi even though Yelp and CitySearch readers seemed to really dig this restaurant. Ironically, this really delicious sushi restaurant sits in the same strip as Pabla India Grill and Bai Tong. How is it possible such good eating is all in the same strip mall...in Tukwila? Really?

When I entered the restaurant, I was immediately enchanted. Even with the blue tarps on the ground (to provide a "picnic" feel to their Hanami week celebration), there were dozens of cherry tree branches in full bloom hanging from the ceiling. The restaurant felt like you were in a private outdoor garden and the hostess quickly found me an open table and introduced me to "Hanami". According to Miyabi's website: "Hanami is a tradition in Japan to celebrate the coming of Spring and the cherry blossoms in full bloom. Friends and family would gather to drink and eat under a cherry blossom – kind of like a drunken picnic. Miyabi’s Hanami Week is a week full of eating, drinking, singing, and cherry blossoms." Miyabi actually holds nine different celebrations a year including typical American holidays and more traditional "Doyou no Ushi no Hi" and "Natsu Matsuri" events.

While I was trying to decide what I was going to order, I enjoyed some of the best Edamame I've tried. Usually edamame is very salty and the beans are a bit too soft for me. These were beautifully cooked (still al dente) and only slightly salty as if they were blanched in salt water instead of being tossed in salt after steaming. The beans were sweet and delectable and I ate about a third of them before finally moving back to the menu. Decisions, decisions.

In the end, I chose to pass up the Hanami specific offerings in favor of items they have year 'round and nothing could be more appropriate than staring with Gyoza stuffed with pork and tons of green onions. The outside was crispy on the "potsticker" side and tender and almost buttery on the other. The flavor was saltier than I had expected, but really mellowed out after the second one. (And no, the plate of six didn't stand a chance with me!) I really liked the amount of green onion as it added a bit more "bite" to the internal texture and helped the Gyoza stand out as a solid appetizer selection.

Next came a beautiful plate with all of my Nigiri Sushi and Makimono selections sitting atop banana leaves. Given you "eat with your eyes" first, I couldn't wait to get started.

The first morsel I tried was the Maguro: tuna-topped finger-width rice sushi. The bright-red tuna was so unbelievably buttery it just melted in my mouth! The portion was perfectly-sized, but be warned: You will want to order a half-dozen of these at least. At $2.25 per piece, you really can afford to eat and eat.

Just because it was sitting next to the Maguro, the Veg Veg Wrap was next to be tasted. The rice paper wrapping gently houses a roll stuffed to the brim with goodness: carrot, avocado, cucumber, asparagus, a few green leaves and watercress shoots, along with a very sweet, brown something (I really should have written it down). The wrap is quite large so even the two pieces are plenty.

The Spicy California Roll not only looked incredible, but was actually spicy; the heat continued to grow as I savored every bite. The filling was a traditional crab meat salad with cucumber and avocado, but also included a yellow-orange roe and flakes and was topped with a delicious, spicy mayo and more vibrant red roe. The small pops of eggs offered an amazing texture contrast to the soft, fluffy rice. The six bite-sized pieces were simply not enough and definitely left me wanting more.

Despite how great the other tastes and sights were, the Geisha Wrap had to be my absolute favorite dinner item. The warm, baked, shredded crab meat hugged asparagus spears and roe and the entire bundle was held together by the same fluffy rice and tender sesame-seeded rice paper on the Veg Veg Wrap. The warm crab meat was unexpected and the creamy texture was addictive. My mouth couldn't have been happier.

I figured there was no way I still had room left for dessert, but one look at the Green Tea Tiramisu and I knew I had to try it. The green tea is used in powder form, so there's no bitterness. It's combined with traditional mascarpone cheese and very little sugar (if any) is added as it stays only lightly sweet. The layers of creamy filling sit between two very light and moist sponge cakes used instead of the expected ladyfingers. As I came to find out, about two-thirds of the desserts are made at an Asian bakery "up north" (I assume North Seattle), though they do make the tempura ice cream and two or three other desserts in-house. If you're looking for a rich, sweet dessert, this may not be the ideal choice for you.

In all, I was a bit shocked to have encountered such a warm, inviting, delicious restaurant. I guess lightning can strike thrice in the same strip mall location. Do yourself a favor and visit Miyabi tonight.

Shrimp Twice Not So Nice?

Oriental Spoon - Asian, Sushi (3 Stars)
http://www.orientalspoonusa.com

It was Friday and we were hungry. The usual "What do you want for lunch" conversation started between the few of us brave enough to drive into the office on an unusually sunny Friday in Bellevue. As it turns out, there's a "mainly sushi" place in Factoria I had yet to try and Rob kept saying, "It's pretty good, man. Really!" So off we went to Oriental Spoon.

The inside is like a quintessential Japanese cafe, complete with the red, black, and white decor you'd expect to find from a place trying to be "Japanese". The menus are printed on the wall with large pictures and adequate descriptions of what you'll find on each rice, noodle, salad, or sushi roll plate. Prices are actually higher than you'd expect ($8-$10 per roll), but the rolls in particular are quite large and have eight pieces each instead of the usual four or six you find elsewhere. You also receive a bowl of Miso Soup and they are currently offering a 10% off their regular menu price so you'll save a buck or two.

As we waited for our sushi rolls to arrive, we received medium-sized bowls of Miso Soup. The soup was slightly salty, a bit sweet, and actually good. In most cases, Miso soup tends to have chunks of tofu bobbing around with carrots or other veggies, but this bowl just contained the broth and some scallions. The portion is generous and I only ate about half of so I'd be sure to have room left to sample the rolls.

The first roll to arrive was the Fantasia. Inside was shredded cream cheese crab with slices of avocado and cucumber. Small shrimp top the roll along with a rather sweet sauce. Both Rob and I ordered this roll and we thought it was "okay". When I asked if he could really taste the shrimp, Rob said, "Kind of" but ultimately we decided, "Well, the sauce is sweet". The sauce is actually a bit overpowering and the sushi roll filling acts more as a change of texture than it does offer distinct flavor.

The Shrimp Twice roll used the common crab, avocado, and cucumber innards along with tempura shrimp inside and thin slices of shrimp on top of the roll. The cream cheese shredded crab inside was actually almost as strong a flavor as the "twice" shrimp, which left me thinking it would have been tough to taste the difference between this roll and a California Roll. When paying about $1 per bite of roll, I was hoping it would have melted in my mouth, but really just turned out to be about as average as expected.

Rob and I both thought the Crispy Hot roll was the best of the three. It also uses the shredded crab and cream cheese along with slices of avocado and cucumber, but includes large shrimp inside the roll. The "hot" comes from spicy, delicious tuna and the "crispy" comes from tempura flakes. This roll easily had the most flavor of the three and the spice and crispy certainly made it more interesting and flavorful than the other two rolls. Rob did mention that the spice caught up with him a bit, so if you're meek on spices you may want to pass on this roll.

Overall, Rob's takeaway comment was, "Well, it's certainly better sushi than you'd expect to find from a place like this in Factoria". The service is very quick and it is nice to be able to add some variety to the usual sandwich, Mexican, and Thai lunch cuisine.

May Want To Bring Your Valtrex

Dragonfish Asian Cafe - Pan-Asian (3.5 Stars)
http://www.dragonfishcafe.com

At 7:00 PM on a Thursday in downtown Seattle, expect to suffer a wait for a table at any decent restaurant. Unless, that is, you dine directly across from The Paramount and the current Lion King musical attendees have just evacuated the neighboring restaurants to see that evening's show. That explains how Chris, Ryan, and I ended up at Dragonfish somewhat by accident. Though we were all in the mood for something spicy and delicious, we ended up getting spicy with mixed reviews on "delicious".

As is usually the case, our threesome's hardly immune to the wonders of appetizers. Given we enjoy sampling a lot of food and get to split the costs three-ways (including using the Passport discount via Ryan to lessen the pocketbook crunch), we went all out and ordered four appetizers.

It's difficult for us to eat at any restaurant serving Asian food of any shape and size and not order potstickers. Dragonfish offers Chicken Potstickers with a sweet-hot soy sauce. The potstickers are large, well-stuffed, and offer a crispy (though Ryan was quick to point out "not too crispy) skin. The potstickers are deep-friend, not actually "stuck to a pot", so the texture's different than you'd expect from the usual pan-fried version. They did seem to be a bit on the greasy side, but well-flavored, and the soy sauce was spicy and delicious.

The California Roll includes avocado, crab, cucumber, and masago, but looked virtually identical to the Spicy Crab Roll that contained crab, spicy masago mayo, cilantro, and cucumber. Chris and I literally spent 30 seconds trying to determine which roll was which and finally figured it out when the extra "piece of green" turned out to be the avocado. The California Roll was pretty standard as the most generic sushi menu item possible and the Spicy Crab Roll felt a little underwhelming in its spiciness. For eight pieces each, the $8 each didn't seem like much of a bargain.

For the last appetizer (I actually ate it as my entree), I ordered the Thai Chicken Salad. It was probably the most deconstructed salad I'd ever had and came with two sliced chicken breasts topped with crushed peanuts, chunky slices of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, and two tiny triple-sliced tomato pieces; all of which sat on two small wedges of head lettuce and shaved Napa cabbage. The entire salad was flanked by large stalks of cilantro and came with the Thai basil dressing (which was a bit too sweet) on the side. The grilled chicken breast was surprisingly juicy, but the salad as a whole was a bit unwieldy. For $10, the portion was on the small side.

In a "which of these things is not like the others?" moment, we also ordered the Madras Curry Cauliflower and Potatoes entree under the Rice and Vegetables sections of the Dragonfish menu. The dish comes with peas, onions, brown mustard seeds, and a creamy yogurt, with plenty of cubed potatoes and florets of cauliflower. Both Ryan and Chris asked, "Can you even taste the curry?" and commented that the dish seemed flat and could have used more salt.

For his entree, Chris ordered the Korean Bulgogi Skirt Steak (one of nine house specialties). It comes char-grilled and served with kimchee and pickled cucumber salad along with a generous portion of white rice (obscured by the flash, but it's on the plate) topped with sesame seeds. He said the skirt steak was "tender and juicy, really well done" and thought the cucumber salad was excellent. However, the kimchee wasn't very spicy and Christ felt it was generally bland. Though he didn't have the same fiery response to his entree that Ryan had, he still enjoyed the dish and said he'd order it again.

The Ginger-Garlic-Chili Chicken and Shrimp entree usually comes with scallions, Napa cabbage, sprouts, and spicy sauce wok-tossed with rice noodles. However, Ryan ordered it with soba noodles as he's not a fan of rice noodles. He did say the flavors were great and that the spicy sauce "burns my lips like a herpes outbreak!" He decided it was spicy enough to share that simile with our waitress and fortunately she laughed out loud. Valtrex anyone? The plating should definitely have sought medical help as it appeared to just be thrown onto the plate and was completely off-center.

Given Chris and my recent encounter with amazing Coconut Ice Cream, both Ryan and Chris decided they couldn't say no to two scoops of the meaty, creamy, conconutty, frosty bovine goodness at Dragonfish. Chris mentioned that the overall flavor was good, but that the coconut ice cream at Zao Noodle House had more coconut flesh and was still better. I think the strength of the coconut flavor was probably a bit more significant here, but did have to agree that overall the Zao ice cream was better. Presentation was pretty limp given they added one leaf for garnish.

Not to be outdone by ice cream, I was told to order the Chocolate Heaven dessert. The "rich chocolate cake with warm truffle center and raspberry-ginger sauce" looked fantastic on the plate. The truffle was, indeed, warmed and mostly melted and the cake had ample, if not overwhelming chocolate flavor. However, even with the rather icy single scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, the cake seemed reheated and nearly lukewarm. As a result, the cake just didn't seem very moist. As for the raspberry sauce, it really didn't add much other than to the presentation.

Overall, I'm giving Dragonfish 3.5 Stars because over half of the dishes we ordered seemed to be lacking flavor in some way and yet the other half were great. Given it's so hit-or-miss with whether or not you'll love what you order, I'd say visit expecting to be pleased but not impressed.