Unlike other sushi spots tucked away in strip malls and hidden from view, Sushi Ya has been a fixture on the Dimond Boulevard landscape since 2002.
The cozy restaurant provides an intimate, albeit mildly cramped, setting. Booths are packed tightly together and diners can clearly hear the conversations of neighboring tables. Each table has a button for customers to push for service. It's just one of the ways the restaurant caters to diners. The concept is brilliant, but the attentive wait staff likely won't give you the opportunity to test out its capability.
The extensive appetizer list rivals that of a full-fledged dinner menu, ranging from creations like sushi pizza ($10.95) to more traditional dishes like vegetable tempura ($8.95). The variety of rolls is equally overwhelming, but they are neatly arranged alphabetically, and divided into subsections of uncooked, deep fried, special, baked/cooked, no rice and shrimp tempura and crabmeat rolls. There's also a range of dinners, including barbecue short ribs ($12.95 lunch, $17.95 dinner) and salmon teriyaki ($10.95 lunch, $16.95 dinner).
I brought along several self-proclaimed sushi connoisseurs on my first trip. We started off with the Mandalay Bay appetizer ($6.95), a half avocado filled with chunks of crabmeat and baked with sweet glaze and spicy mayo, then sprinkled with tempura flakes. Our boisterous gossip silenced as we eagerly scooped chunks of the creamy, warm concoction, which had just a tinge of spice to it.
The smorgasbord of sushi rolls we ordered arrived shortly after, accompanied by house salads and miso soups. The rolls were moderately sized, a sushi trait I have an appreciation for. Unlike modern, oversized rolls that barely fit in your mouth, bite-size pieces allow you to take in the collective flavors and textures of the roll ingredients, rather than dividing it into several bites.
Although the golden crunch roll ($11.95) offered the simplest of ingredient combinations, it was the first devoured by the group. Inside, crispy tempura shrimp was counterbalanced with velvety cream cheese and topped with spicy mayo, sweet glaze and tempura flakes. It was pleasantly mild, but the cream cheese masked the shrimp's flavor.
The spicy Nemo roll ($13.95) is appropriately named for its combination of spicy salmon inside and regular salmon outside, all drizzled with spicy monkey sauce. The salmon flavor was rich and not cloudy. Even one of my dining partners who swears by cooked sushi only, enjoyed the roll.
The Waikiki roll ($13.95) was the spiciest of the rolls, and forced us take a water break between bites. Inside, spicy tuna is tempered by neutral cucumber and topped with crabmeat, deep-fried tuna, sweet glaze, spicy mayo and green onion.
The Kamikaze roll ($13.95) was filled with spicy tuna and cucumber and topped with regular tuna, ponzu sauce and green onion. Both tunas are tender and fresh and only served to reinforce my belief that there is no such thing as too much tuna.
For my next visit, I tested out the delivery service for lunch, which arrived in a little over an hour. I decided to investigate what exactly makes the special rolls listed on the menu so "special," since they peak at $19.95 each.
The red snow ball roll ($19.95) arrived presented as a work of art, even with delivery packaging. Each hefty piece was nearly twice the size of a standard roll. It had to be with so many ingredients packed inside. It was filled with spicy tuna, crabmeat, avocado and tobiko, deep-fried and topped with special sauce, tempura flakes and slivers of deep-fried potato, tobiko, and green onion. I'm forced to piecemeal bites, causing the overall roll to lose some of its cohesiveness.
I also try the chicken teriyaki ($9.95), which is tasty but nothing special. It's plain, and overshadowed by the quality of the rolls I've tested so far.
The restaurant may have a one-up on the competition from location alone, but the impeccable service coupled with reliable food quality are what truly make Sushi Ya a favorite among the sushi community.
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By Randi Jo Gause
Daily News correspondent