Seek out stellar sushi between grocery aisles

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This article was published 19/03/2010 (6029 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Iknow, I know — the last time I mentioned sushi in this column I added the words "enough already." But that wasn’t because I don’t like sushi. Actually, I love sushi. I also feel virtuous when eating sushi, convincing myself that, not only do they make for saner eating than many of the multi-course meals I often must plow through, but also (I tell myself) they are less fattening.

No, it was a case of reviewer frustration, because I can’t keep up with all the new ones that are flooding the market at an ever increasing rate. In fact, if I were to write about a different sushi source every week, it might take the better part of a year to get through them all. Nevertheless, given the number of readers who write to suggest their own favourite candidates for review, the market is far from saturated. The problem is, how to choose among the many. But as it happened, I came across one I couldn’t resist.

First I discovered that Stewart’s Fruits and Vegetables and Deli had been replaced by the Hyundae Mart. Fruits and vegetables are still stocked, and the shelves are still lined with many standard Canadian packaged and canned foods, not to mention lingering traces of Stewart’s specialties in the matzos, kasha, jars of gefilte fish, potato pancake mix and Strub’s kosher pickles. Mostly, though, the shelves, coolers and freezers are loaded with just about every ingredient needed by home cooks who want to try their hands at Asian cuisines.

Also now, instead of Stewart’s corned beef sandwiches or other prepared Jewish dishes for takeout, there is sushi, prepared in a colourful little scarlet and black nook that is tucked into the centre of the store. There is a little sushi bar, with a mere four stools, but given its busy surroundings of grocery shelves (not to mention the passing grocery shoppers) it’s more suitable for a quick snack than for leisurely dining. For a full-size feast a takeout meal in one’s own home would probably offer a more satisfying setting.

I usually don’t review restaurants until they have been open for a while, giving them time to settle in and work out any kinks — months, sometimes, for complex operations, but usually at least several weeks for even the simplest. But when I first tried Sushi Cho I didn’t know that it had only been open for little more than a week. Happily, as it turned out, there were no kinks to work out.

There is a printed menu and everything on it is numbered, which is a good thing, since communication is at a near-absolute minimum. Which, ultimately, didn’t matter, since warm smiles and an eagerness to please substituted for words, and there was always help at hand, once from a passing customer, and more consistently from the grocery cashier — a woman of endless patience.

There are only 13 seafood toppings for the nigiri sushi, and no surprises among them, but those that were available came in remarkably generous slices — slabs, almost — at $3.75 to $5 for two pieces. Two in particular stood out: the buttery, pink-fleshed fatty salmon with an almost luminous glow, and the fatty tuna that was a close second.

Regular rolls consist of five to six pieces for $4.50 to $5.50, and the seafoods within them come in good-sized chunks as well. Apart from an unnecessary sprinkling of what tasted like puffed rice I liked the spicy tuna bakudon with tempura crumbs and spicy sauce, but be warned — spicy in this one means truly incendiary. Easier on the tongue are the Alaska roll of salmon with avocado and tempura crumbs (also with a bit of a nip, but a benign one), the barbecued eel with cucumber, and the chopped surf clam with fish eggs and mayo.

Special rolls cost $10.50 to $13 for six to seven pieces. Most notable among them was the Tiger, an elegant construction of tuna, salmon, avocado, with a spicy mayonnaise. A sprinkle of tempura crumbs adds a crunchy counterpoint, and the mayonnaise is applied with a blessedly discreet hand.

If you’re in the mood for hot food, there are a number of cooked dishes as well. Unless you’re fond of commercially prepared dumplings that come from the freezer you can probably skip the gyoza (five for $4.50). Ditto the shrimp tempura in a heavy batter that is as thick as the thin slices of shrimp they cover (seven shrimp for $8.50).

On the other hand, there are some savoury noodle dishes. I didn’t try the udon noodle soup ($5), but I liked both the yakisoba noodles, stir-fried with particularly tasty morsels of chicken as well as cabbage, onions and carrots, and the translucent chap chai potato starch (a.k.a. glass) noodles, with strips of vegetables, heaps of shiitake mushrooms and the fragrance of sesame oil. Both come in massive portions, at $8 each.

The chap chai on the menu confirmed my guess that the owners were Korean, and led me to my favourite among the hot items, the Korean seafood pancake.

It’s eggier than North American pancakes, with a lighter, almost elastic texture and is laced with tiny bits of shrimp and nicely chewy squid, as well as shreds of green onions and carrots ($8.50), and it’s absolutely addictive.

Open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday,12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Payment by cash or debit only.

marion.warhaft@freepress.mb.ca