Just when we thought spring was in full swing and it was time to pull out the flip-flops, old man winter has come tromping back into town with heavy rain, cold winds and cloud cover. Sadly, it’s not park weather yet, but there are still delicious restaurants and indoor activities to try out around the parks just in case a spot of sunshine comes through.
Located right outside of Coolidge Park in a shack-like building across from all the backside shops of Frazier Avenue, Sushi Nabe of Kyoto is one of these eateries. Although small-looking from the outside, once inside, the restaurant is roomy enough for parties of one to slide up to the bar or parties of 10 or more to make use of the long tables the restaurant offers.
The décor of the restaurant has been carefully considered and includes items like a kimono, a samurai suit, and art pieces on the wall. Homemade signs describing specialty rolls that the restaurant offers are on the walls, and one sign noted that if you buy a pair of chopsticks from Sushi Nabe for $10, you will get 10 percent off your dining there for life and help the environment in the process.
Sushi Nabe fits the sushi bar category quite nicely, as its calming atmosphere of low lights and quiet atmosphere make for a good place to wind down after a long day or even longer week. Watching the chefs prepare your sushi only feet away from your table or looking out the back windows of the restaurant which showcases views of the park will take your head away from the game and allow a pleasant
dining experience.
We started our meal off with an appetizer of beef stuffed dumplings that came boiled, although fried was also an option. These chewy, softly wrapped dumplings were perfect with a little soy sauce, and the beef inside was seasoned to go down smoothly. Other appetizers offered were the squid salad, a tuna martini or Edamame, sweet bean pods that are quite a delicious treat.
For the main course, Sushi Nabe offers traditional entrees that include soup, salad and rice for those who want to try sushi but don’t know where to start. Those a little more seasoned in sushi can start by picking the different Maki, or rolls, combine these with Nigiri sushi (raw fish over rice), or can go for vegetarian sushi.
We tried the Rainbow Roll, which included yellowtail, cucumber, tuna, shrimp, crab and avocado rolls made with rice, Japanese mayonnaise and seaweed wrappers. This colorful roll was a good combination of a little bit of everything, but it was also a good way for me to find out that I am not a fan of yellowtail and should stick to tuna rolls instead. In consideration of this new finding, we ordered a tuna roll, one of the most simple but tasty rolls there is. This roll was made of the seaweed wrapper covered in sticky rice and had tuna stuffed inside. Combining this with soy sauce and a little wasabi is a great idea for beginners.
We also ordered a Spider roll and a Philadelphia roll. The Spider roll is stuffed with crab, cucumber and avocado and still retains that “fishy” taste that you will either love or hate depending on your preferences of seafood. The Philadelphia roll lacks the fishy taste because it includes cream cheese inside the roll with crab or tuna surrounding it. It probably tops the list as one of my favorite rolls out there.
What we didn’t try, but should have, was the hot crunchy roll that takes the traditional California roll (a cucumber, crab and avocado creation that is the most popular one out there) and deep fries it. A variation on this same roll was the curry crunchy roll that includes the seasoning on this dish, and is one we are looking forward to trying.
The Chattanooga Roll, Mu-sic City Roll, Vols Roll, and Bull Dog Roll are all Sushi Nabe specialty rolls that include a variety of different sea creatures and make for customizing your meal with them quite easy depending on what kind of filling you are looking for. The Nigiri sushi also will fill this need if you’ve ever wanted to try octopus, smelt eggs, eel, or squid.
Sushi Nabe also offers desserts like deep fried ice cream and red bean ice cream, but we went with the Inari sushi creation of a sweet wrapper filled with sweet rice which has a light taste and finishes off a meal nicely. For a meal in the park of authentic Japanese sushi, visit Sushi Nabe.
Sushi Nabe has coupons online and in the Local Fare magazine each month. To find out more about their hours, menu, and the owners, visit www.sushinabechattanooga.com.