Sushi Takahashi
One of my favorite places to enjoy sushi is Sushi Takahashi (24 NW Broadway). Very low key, better sushi than some of the spendier places, and the staff is friendly if sometimes a bit distracted. There’s a little train that chugs around the bar with flat cars of plates to pick from, or you can order plates fresh from the chefs from $1 for simple things like asparagus rolls to $3 for more elaborate dishes like spider rolls. Your bill is tallied by the colors of the plates you stack as you eat your dishes. White plates are a dollar, tan plates are a dollar fifty, floral plates are two dollars, and blue plates are three.
My favorites include the Philadelphia roll, the cucumber salad, and the spider roll. There’s also a yummy dessert of strawberries with condensed milk and powdered sugar. This dish isn’t on the sushi menu, but if there isn’t one on the train a polite request of the chef will have one delivered to you in no time.
Neither of us were sure how they would serve what was listed as “quail egg” on the sheet, so we ordered one and decided to give it a shot. I’m usually pretty adventurous about what I’ll try to eat, and I’ll try most things once, but there are a few things that make me reconsider that policy. When it arrived, it had three strikes against it… the egg was raw (but tiny), the roll was too huge to get into my mouth cleanly, and it was overflowing with roe. I can handle roe in small doses, but I usually steer clear of roe-filled rolls. Gave it the evil eye for a few minutes, and decided I just needed to try it and get it over with. The first time I tried to put it into my mouth I nearly spilt the egg, so I put the roll down for a minute so I could come up with a new strategy. Had to tilt my head sideways to get the whole thing into my mouth without spilling anything, and it was a stretch at that. The nori was pretty chewy, and there was so much content in the roll I had trouble getting it down. My mouth was not impressed by the textures and has apparently not acquired the taste for egg and eggs. Think I could have handled it a lot better if the roll had been smaller, but I don’t think I’ll be trying it again anytime soon. I’m amazed I was able to get the whole thing down.
I figure if I can make it through a roll like that, nearly anything else would be a piece of cake. Went on to enjoy spicy tuna, shrimp, and calamari rolls, as well as several avocado rolls. It’s fun to order items at random off the menu, although one of these days I’m going to bring a “sushi cheat sheet” with definitions of all the different varieties.
Postscript: This restaurant is now known as Sushi Ichiban. Still tasty!
Mmmmm…. sushi! I just went to the new “Sushi Land” near Lloyd Center. It’s a conveyor belt place, much like Sushi Takahashi. I’ve never been to Takahashi though… but you’ve convinced me to try it out! I love sushi as much as I love life itself!