http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/rd0dA9Z61FGmalk6qZm7JQ?select=cycFnqg0lfeBdfVv1ayaDw#cycFnqg0lfeBdfVv1ayaDw
Not until the past 2 years or so have I ever enjoyed sushi. The concept of raw fish made me uneasy, and I would have rather had a burger or steak any day ,instead; however, after eating at Sushi Garden, located in Tucson, Arizona, my whole perception changed. I found it fascinating that one restaurant could transform me into a person who loves sushi. If I had never eaten there, I am pretty certain that I would currently hate it! I have gone back to the restaurant since then, but I just wanted to recount my first-time experience.
The first thing I noticed upon entering the restaurant was the amount of people everywhere. It was crowded in part because it was the weekend. Then again, I realized why so many people wanted to eat there after I finished my meal! There was plenty of seating, just a high demand of sushi that night!
Once we were seated, I noticed that there were numerous ways in which the restaurant served the sushi. You could order off the ‘normal’ menu, or get the “all-you-can-eat” special. Furthermore, I chose the all-you-can-eat” sushi special that they serve every day. It is $20, which may seem expensive for one person, but it was so worth it! In essence, the “all-you-can-eat” permits you to eat as much of anything and everything on the menu. This list ranges from soups and salads, to fried calamari, to the sushi rolls themselves. It is the perfect excuse to eat as much as you want! Better yet, the servers provided us with a sushi picture menu, just so we would know exactly what we would be eating. They also had alternatives to sushi, but being a sushi restaurant, they heavily marketed their forte.
On to the meal itself, I barely had to wait for my food, which was another positive aspect to the service! Before my sushi came out, I received a salad, which had amazing dressing. It was so sweet and was perfect on top of the leafy greens. I believe I ordered 5 or so rolls with the “all-you-can-eat” special. My favorite sushi I can recall was the shrimp tempura. It was phenomenal. The tempura consisted of crunchy-like flakes that surrounded the seaweed wrapping of the roll. This provided a wonderful mix of crunchy (tempura flakes), sweet (the sauce on the tempura), and salty (the sea weed wrapping). I cannot remember the other rolls I got, but I know that I am now fan of shrimp, salmon, and eel because of how they were served. A lot of them came with special sauces as well, which is why the rolls have such an exquisite flavor. I was exposed to flavors that blended so well together, which I would have otherwise never tried.
It is worth mentioning that the presentation for all the sushi rolls was excellent as well. The only down side was that I could not take a to-go box for health purposes. It makes sense, but raw fish is not very sanitary when kept in a refrigerator to eat the next day. Also, my server was very generous in asking if I would like more rolls, since I could have ordered as much as I would have liked. Unfortunately, the restaurant does not allow customers to share the “all-you-can-eat,” and if they catch you sharing, will charge an extra $20 for the consumption. (I have never seen this happen, but I prefer to keep it that way). Also, they will charge you extra if you cannot eat all the rolls, but they are fine with you sharing what you cannot finish with whoever is at your table. This did not apply to me because I was able to successfully eat all my rolls without any assistance!
Overall, my first-time experience at Sushi Garden was very surprising! I was not expecting to eat there and leave as sushi-lover. I hope other people have the same experience that I did. And as you can see, it was definitely worth writing about!