Restaurant Review: California Sushi Roll
By Gabriel Ward
Opposite the German Bar downtown is California Sushi Roll. It’s on the second floor of the buildings lining the street and has a yellow exterior. I hadn’t eaten California rolls or anything remotely resembling Japanese food for a while. Thus I checked out said restaurant this past month for the first time.
Upon ascending the stairs I passed signs painted on the wall giving details of the menu and prices. Salmon, Eel, and Tuna California rolls all in the range of 6,000 to 10,000 won sounded pretty good to me.
I was confidently greeted by a middle aged guy, who showed me to a table. There were a few people there, which as always is a good sign. Empty restaurants don’t give the impression of having good food. I was immediately impressed by the interior of the place. It was very capacious and uncluttered. The furniture had a very modern feel to it, with wooden tables and chairs reminiscent of IKEA. The music was at a good volume; not so loud as to be intrusive or annoying, nor too quiet.
The waiter immediately provided me with water and a menu. I’d decided before I walked into the restaurant that I was going to get the salmon California rolls. I have a particular soft spot for salmon, so I almost always get it when I am eating Japanese food. Thus I called the waiter over again to place my order. I explicitly asked him to put no mayonnaise or sauce in the roll, as I like to just dress it with soy sauce mixed with wasabi. I remained apprehensive at this point, as in my experience, these kinds of places in Korea can be way too liberal with the mayonnaise and other sweet sauces. Moreover, trying to make special requests can often lead to a breakdown in communication. The waiter was very confident in talking to me, however, which I did find reassuring.
A couple of minutes later the man brought out my salmon roll along with some wasabi (there was already a bottle of soy sauce at the table). I was highly impressed to find that there was no mayonnaise in my roll, though he did bring me out more of the sickly sweet green apple sauce in a small bowl. The roll was a generous size, and there was a decent amount of salmon on each round of rice. The filling was rice and primarily lettuce, with some pickles and sashimi in there, as well. Accompanying the roll was pickled radish and garlic, a salad doused in sickly sweet sauce, and of course kimchi.
On the whole the roll was pretty good, not mind-blowing, but not bad either. The service was excellent and the atmosphere and dining experience were really enjoyable. I plan on going back there again in the future, most likely when I particularly feel like a bit of Japanese-influenced food. I might even go for their sushi instead of California Rolls. The sushi ranges from 8,500 to 25,000 won. The set menu options are from 15,000 to 38,000 won and serve two people. They also have udong noodles and rice dishes for around 6,000 won.