Let the Good Times Roll: Staffer reviews different sushi styles

I’m by no means a picky eater. My rule is that I’ll try anything once, including adventurous fish: squid, oysters, minnow shots — which I do not recommend by the way.

I’m a big fan of sushi, but a spicy tuna roll is about as bold as my order gets when I don’t have the option to pick off my dinner-mates’ plates. 

For months I’ve been hearing about new and trendy sushi places that alter the format of the ingredients, which meshed well with my resolution of starting the year off with some healthy, adventurous eats. 

The Pokeloha storefront on the corner of State Line Rd. and W. 89th St. — which was nondescript enough that it was hard to distinguish if it was the poke restaurant or a pet shop — held a scent akin to that of the supermarket produce aisle. The entire restaurant was covered in natural light, with pale wood accents and succulent plants scattered all around.  

The ordering process was similar to Chipotle’s, where you can either order off the menu or order a custom bowl and watch them make it over the counter. 

The staff was understanding and answered all of my clueless questions while making excellent recommendations. 

I decided on the Aloha Bowl — which consisted of ahi tuna, salmon, cucumber, carrot, edamame, cilantro, spicy mayo, sweet shoyu, mango, seaweed salad, avocado, tempura flakes and sushi rice. It definitely was a major step up from my standard Monday lunch — Goldfish and perhaps a banana if I’m feeling healthy. 

After taking my bowl from the end of the counter, I headed to one of the socially-distant tables and started in on my bowl. There were luckily only five other people in the restaurant — including workers — at any given time because, as we all know, there’s nothing that can ruin a meal like pandemic anxiety.  

I shook up my bowl, which seemed to include every color on the wheel with the bright green edamame, orange mango and fish in various shades of pink. 

Despite it being 34 degrees out, the combination of ahi tuna and mango had me dreaming of the beach with its tropical flavors. 

I’d describe the poke bowl as if sushi and salad had a baby, which was a fun spin on traditional healthy food options to start the new year off right. I’d still prefer traditional rolls for the convenience of only eight pieces of sushi, but the bowl was a much more substantial meal. 

No. Just, no. I promise that I wanted to like this concept, and I went in with a completely open mind, but this sushi burrito was difficult to eat and overall missed the mark. 

Burritos and sushi are two of my favorite foods, which is why I was excited to try this new and trendy hybrid. Despite its potential, this burrito simply wasn’t my style. 

I returned to Pokeloha and ordered one of their signature sushi burritos — the Spicy Crunch burrito made with spicy salmon, crab meat, sweet onion, carrot, spicy mayo, sriracha, seaweed salad, masago, tempura flakes and wrapped in rice and seaweed. 

Even though all sushi styles are comprised of essentially the same ingredients, after my first bite it became all too clear how important the arrangement of said ingredients is.  

About halfway through the burrito, it began to fall apart in my hands and I could only get two of the nine ingredients in each bite. 

I could do with a bit more spice, but the few bites that had a variety of ingredients provided a diverse flavor with a satisfying crunch.

Since the burrito is essentially one giant sushi roll, all of the gross-out parts of sushi were supersized — I’d take one bite of almost exclusively raw fish and then the next only carrots and seaweed. 

I applaud the idea, but this was by far the worst out of the three styles. 

You can never go wrong with traditional sushi, especially at Sawa Sushi & Hibachi — my new favorite go-to. 

Squished in-between Nall Hills Liquor and Pretzel Boy’s, this tiny hole-in-the-wall sushi joint serves some top-tier authentic Asian cuisine right on Nall Ave.

Although it doesn’t look like much on the outside, the interior is decked out with plants, paintings, comfortable high-backed chairs and even a mural of two sumo wrestlers.

This is definitely more of a dinner place based on the lighting and style, but they’re open for dine-in or takeout six days a week for lunch and dinner.   

After perusing their extensive menu, which spans from sushi to soba, I couldn’t help but pick one of my favorite rolls, the California Roll — it’s basic, I know.

Similar to how the first movie of the trilogy is always the best, the original sushi roll, which inspired poke bowls and sushi burritos, is the best of three. 

First of all, this was by far the cheapest style at half the price of the bowl and burrito, which were each about $12.

The roll, chock full of crab, avocado and cucumber, made a cold and bitter January afternoon feel like a refreshing lunch on the beach during summertime. The roll was served on a sleek rectangle tray with a little soy sauce container, wasabi and ginger arranged delicately beside the sushi. 

I also prefer these rolls because it allows me to govern the severity of flavor in the amount of soy sauce or wasabi on each roll. 

Both the bowl and burrito were a bit too much food than necessary to satisfy my appetite, and  no matter what anyone says, sushi does not make for good leftovers. An order of eight rolls left me full but not stuffed — and if it had been too much, the roll’s advantage is that it’s shareable.