6118 Farrington Road
Falconbridge
Chapel Hill, NC
Website
Entrees: $10.95–$18.95
Sushi Rolls: $3.25–$5.95
Specialty Rolls: $5.95–$11.95
Tsunami Sushi is a small Japanese restaurant that offers all the standard menu choices, including sushi, bento boxes, tempura, and teriyaki. The atmosphere was fine, if a bit plain, with elevator music playing, green walls, and red paneling. Service was a tad slow for a completely empty restaurant.
Luckily, the food was a lot more interesting than the décor. We started with their appetizer sampler platter; my husband and I were starving that evening. It included shumai, a spring roll, croquettes, and goyza, served up in a sushi boat.
I thought all of these were fantastic, in large part because they were fried perfectly. They weren't greasy at all, but had crunch and golden-brown deliciousness. The shrimp shumai popped with flavor, the ground beef gyoza had a delicate texture, and the spring roll was stuffed with bright, tasty vegetables. The croquettes were phenomenal. Their creamy inside, a potato and curry combination, was delightful and I enjoyed the drizzled sauce on top greatly, even with a hint of mustard to it. I'm not usually a mustard fan but this wasn't pungent and had great spice .
For the main course, my husband ordered a sashimi bento box, with which he was quite happy.
I opted for two sushi rolls, a spider roll and the Ocean II.
The Ocean II was very good, and I thought the thinly sliced cucumber wrap gave it a nice freshness and crunch. Contained inside were crab, whitefish, shrimp, roe, and avocado.
The spider roll was also good, and with it, I noticed how great Tsunami's rice is: moist, tender, and tossed in a light rice vinegar. The spicy mayo wasn't spicy at all, but it was a good roll regardless, especially the fried softshell crab.
I enjoyed my meal at Tsunami a lot. Generally, I prefer fancier sushi rolls-I make no claims to be a sushi purist-but these were very good, and the appetizers great. Tsunami's offerings are simple, crisp, and good.
Reviewed 2.27.10
