 SUSHI
ZUSHI
Japanese Food
Takes a Texas Twist
By RON BECHTOL
Photography JANET ROGERS
When Sushi Zushi first hit town, in a small but smart space
in the Colonnade on I-10, some of us (this writer included)
were both pleased and a little perturbed. The menu was intriguing
and extensive, yes, but spicy mayonnaise? Chipotle? Cream
cheese? The owners might have been from Mexico, but where,
oh where, was the purity we had always expected of Japanese
cuisine?
Fortunately, we got over it. Spicy mayo has now taken its
place beside wasabi tobiko. Green Mussels Dynamite (spicy
mayo, eel sauce and chives) are now on the approved list.
Bring on the Tuna Tower with its killer combination of spicy
tuna, habanero tobiko, creamy wasabi and wasabi tobiko — with
enough chilled sake from the restaurant’s extensive
list of both bottles and draft, we can tackle anything.
Apparently, much of San Antonio must
agree. Sushi Zushi first expanded to downtown, then to more-elaborate
digs at Stone Oak and 1604, and most recently to Lincoln
Heights at Basse and Broadway. It was to ’09 that devoted
Dining Companion (D.C.), a veteran of some years spent near
Tokyo, and I repaired for this investigation.
It’s a cool-looking, sophisticated space — probably
better at night than it seemed by day — with many of
the budding chain’s familiar details in play. Handsome
black and white photos of the tea service, for example. Its
suave sound track (almost anything but Asian) further distances
Sushi Zushi from the traditional environment — raucous
and almost frenetic, according to doubtful D.C, whose nose
did a lot of wrinkling during our outing.
Nevertheless, we tucked right in to
a Special Sunomono featuring the usual cucumber with added
seafood in flavored rice vinegar with sesame seeds. There
was too much sweet vinegar for both of us, and the seafood
seemed to count for little — except
perhaps in aftertaste — yet it was a refreshing starter
nevertheless.
 Tiger
Eye, a fanciful creation said to be modeled on the eye
of the beast, came next. Consisting of baked squid rolled
around smoked, skin-on salmon with asparagus and slivered
carrot, it was appreciated less by the dyed-in-the-silk
traditionalist and more by the newly minted convert. Admittedly,
the smoky eel sauce and the smoked salmon did take over
the composition, leaving the squid to languish in the role
of wrapper. So this was the first dish we adulterated with
shakes of ponzu, the citrus-soy mixture you will find on
the table. It came in handy later, too.
In fact, it came in handy almost
immediately with a plate of House Special Yakisoba Noodles
stir-fried with beef, chicken, and, almost more importantly,
mushrooms. Given the serving ceremony that attends much Japanese
cuisine, this dish was rather plainly but generously presented
on a white plate. The taste was surprisingly — though
not unpleasantly — sweet. The flavors of both buckwheat
noodles and such sauce as there was played best off the mushrooms.
And sake, too. We had attempted
to order a dry and an extra-dry from the lengthy list, but
got derailed when one selection wasn’t available. Regardless,
the chilled Sumiyoshi and Shichihan Yari, served in large
shot-glass-sized vessels, were different enough to make for
an interesting comparison, the first being full-bodied and
floral (with perhaps some sandalwood), and the second having
a more discreet presence of faint white flowers.
The grades available range from
sweet to very dry (and the price ascends with the degree
of polish the rice has undergone before fermentation), so
suit your own palate. If pouring from a bottle or a flask,
by the way, ritual has it that you should pour your companion’s
drink, and he or she should return the favor. If drinking
alone … well, perhaps this is an indication that one
is not supposed to.
Ponzu was our friend once again
with the shrimp yakitori, grilled on bamboo skewers with
scallion and “a thick rich house special sauce.” Yes,
somewhat sweet again — but not to excess. These were
excellent shrimp, nicely cooked, and they went well with
the fuller-bodied sake. With the Sushi Sampler plate, however,
the more retiring brew won out.
Now it’s true that the menu promises
both nigiri- and maki-zuzhi (the former is the form in which
slices of seafood are draped over sushi rice, the latter
is rolled in dried seaweed), and what we got was none but
nigiri — plus the selected Spicy Tuna Roll. It’s
hard to complain too much, however; you do get more bang
for your buck with most nigiri. And you are better able to
judge the quality of the seafood. Verdict: superb hamachi,
very good salmon, standard shrimp, tuna and predictably chewy
(though cleanly fresh) octopus — all dipped in the
obligatory soy-wasabi mixture (careful with the wicked wasabi)
to good effect.
 The
tuna roll, like a maki but without the seaweed (a nekkidmaki?)
was reasonably punchy (we suspect chipotle mayo). Suggestion:
For a unique casual dining experience, consider sitting
at the sleek sushi bar, where you can inspect the merchandise
up close and personal (it all looked good on the basis
of a brief pass) before consumption — and get a feel
for the sushi chef’s technique as well.
Having consumed a fair amount of fish, with and without
sweet sauce, we now needed a change of pace — and an excuse
to order one more style of sake. You won’t believe this
(we almost didn’t), but Japan is now producing a sparkling
sake, and it had to be tried. So why not have it with the effectively
raw beef sashimi served with special “joy sauce”?
The thinly sliced beef was luminously
pretty, impeccably fresh in the manner of good sushi, and
went perfectly well with the joy sauce and wasabi. And, surprisingly,
with the sweet prickliness of the sake, it made for an amusing
end to a meal that had spanned the spectrum from classic
to creative. Despite dogged D.C.’s nose wrinkling (she did like
her hot sake at sumo wrestling matches in Japan, after all),
the experience was a positive one, and with a menu as large
and varied as Sushi Zushi’s, there is bound to be something
for even the fussiest palate. Just stick to cold and dry
sake, and all will be well.
Sushi Zushi
Colonnade – 9867 IH 10 W.,
(210) 691-3332
Downtown – 203 S. St. Mary’s,
(210) 472-2900
Lincoln Heights – 999 E. Basse Road,
(210) 826-8500
Stone Oak – 18720 Stone Oak Parkway,
(210) 545-6100
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