Best Sushi in OKC

[Andon]

Andon, curious if you could compare the sushi in OKC with other places. I am not talking about the "best" sushi place in a city, but the quality of the average place in OKC to the average place in other cities. For instance, sushi is plentiful in San Diego. They have incredible places, yet one of the busiest, at least around my area, is one that has all-u-can for $25/person. I wonder if that would be comparable to what is offered in OKC.

One thing I have noticed is that the sushi roll offerings in OKC and Tulsa is very heavy on cream cheese! Typically don't see that many rolls in San Diego with cream cheese, except the Philly rolls with salmon. However, we have lots of rolls with eel sauce or spicy mayos and such.

Alright, sorry it took me so long to get to this; we had a busy weekend!

First and foremost, all-you-can-eat sushi is an unfortunate reality that plagues many-a-sushi restaurant. While I am sure that there are some decent/good AYCE sushi experiences... somewhere... it is a road best left untraveled. Right quick, the main problem that I have with AYCE sushi is that it completely destroys the integrity of the experience of eating quality sushi, and the same is true for ordering those awful (yes, I said awful) monstrosities that are those sushi boats that are filled with mountains of sushi that are meant to feed a small army. If you want to order a bunch of sushi, then that's totally awesome! Order away! But, don't do it all at once. Know what you want to order, and order a couple of items/rolls/nigiri/etc. at a time. Sushi is best served when the rice is still warm and the fish is still cold (unless it's fried, obviously,) and when you order a sushi boat or load up an AYCE ticket with a million rolls you are basically throwing integrity out the window, because you're going to get a boat or platter full of rolls that were just made, but also rolls that were maybe made five to ten or more minutes ago because that ticket/order was so long or took forever to fulfill.

If you want a lot of sushi, then go for it! But order it in steps, not all at once.

On that same note, with AYCE sushi options you'll likely find skimping on quality or portion size (this is not to say that you will be served sub-par product - though you might - but rather that you will be served less of a standard product via either lack of selection of actually smaller portions). When I worked at Sumo I tried so hard to get them to stop serving AYCE, it was (is?) a successful business, and they honestly didn't need it as a dining option to continue to succeed. I even tried to do so in phases; raising the price, no AYCE on weekends, etc. Bottom line, it's a weak marketing tactic to get people into your establishment who are just looking to walk in and waddle out. It's one thing to want to be satisfied or full from a meal (two different things, mind you,) - your money is worth that much at least in most situations - but it's another thing entirely to try and gorge yourself for the littlest amount spent.

With regard to comparing sushi in Oklahoma City with other metropolitan areas, it's much the same. In areas such as San Francisco, Chicago, New York, etc. you will find more restaurants focusing on the more "traditional" sushi experience, such as Edomae style sushi, or perhaps more refined, higher end eateries. Elsewhere, it seems to be largely the same, as the general population's idea of what sushi is in America is ubiquitous, and people have come to expect to find similar products in different destinations. If you want a "spicy cowboy" in another city then there's every chance in the world that they have it, but know it by another name. This is because - again - the majority of restaurants tend to use the same distributors, and unlike the bar culture where products have a universal name across the whole industry, the world of sushi has the same 25-50 rolls under an infinite number of monikers.

Cream cheese in sushi likely came about because of [middle] America's expectation for fats in their foods. There's absolutely nothing wrong with fat in your diet in reasonable amounts, and it's actually really important to consume (if you want to be concerned about anything, be concerned about refined sugars,) but you won't see much fat in traditional Japanese cooking (unless it's fried,) let alone in sushi. This is likely the same reason that avocado was first used in sushi, trying to mimic the fattiness of toro, etc. Also, with un-exceptional products you tend to lose that natural umami/savoriness that is present in truly good ingredients; it's the reason that many heirloom vegetable varieties taste better than conventional produce.