The Out & About team had lunch at one of Cameron Village's newest restaurants. Read on to see what we thought of SushiGami.
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By Caitlin Zanga
One of Cameron Village's newest restaurants is SushiGami. SushiGami's unique concept offers both sushi and burgers (along with some interesting combinations of the two).
The Location: SushiGami is located where Uncle Fatty's used to be, right next to Which Wich. The big windows allow natural light to flow in, and soft, relaxing music was playing when we were there.
The Food: There were so many choices, just with the sushi menu alone. We all shared an appetizer of edamame and ordered different items for our main courses to sample a wide range of food.
The Meal:
Caitlin: I'm not an avid sushi eater, so I wasn't really sure what I was doing at a sushi restaurant for lunch. I did order the California Roll, just to be adventurous, but because I don't eat sushi, I have no idea how it compares to other restaurants in the area. I focused most of my attention on my appetizer, the Spicy Bang Bang Shrimp (I might have ordered that partly because of the name). The shrimp were pretty big, lightly fried and served on a bed of crispy noodles. Oh, and smothered in a shockingly-orange spicy sauce. It wasn't overly spicy and the shrimp was cooked perfectly, so I would order it again.
Tara: I was so excited for Sushi Gami to open because it seemed like the one thing Cameron Village did not have was good sushi place – and to top it off this one also had burgers!
I went in with the intention of trying one of their burger-sushi hybrids but when I saw the Bento Box I knew that was what I was ordering. When you read what the Bento Box comes with it sounds like you are getting a buffet but it ended up being the perfect amount of food and gives you a chance to try a little bit of everything (and still take some home). For only $10.95 you get a main dish, side dish, sushi roll and rice. I went with the hibachi chicken, egg roll, spicy tuna roll and fried rice. My favorite part of the meal was the sushi roll which was delicious; however, I was underwhelmed with the hibachi chicken. The white sauce that was served with the chicken was extremely sweet along with the sauce that came on the chicken. The sauce that was served with the egg roll was also very sweet. The egg roll without the sauce was very good and so was the rice. Although I was not impressed with the hibachi chicken I will definitely go back again for sushi and to try out the burgers.
Lisa: It was much less of a hybrid concept restaurant (east meets west) that I expected based on the “sushi and burgers” awning that hangs over the front entrance. Once inside, the menu struck me as sushi and noodles, and oh, a few burgers, too. With that said, the Gami Veggie Burger was a neat take on the veggie burger, using a three-grain veggie patty (a blend of rolled oats, quinoa, bulgur and roasted vegetables), rather than a soy protein – topped with sliced tomato and green lettuce, served with mayo dressing. And I liked the sweet potato roll, but it would have been better if the menu mentioned it was tempura fried, rather than me finding out that was I was going to be falling off my “no fried foods for the rest of 2012 wagon” as it was brought out to the table. All in all, not a bad spot for sushi in the Village – the courteous and attentive service outshine the menu, in my humble opinion though. And sometimes, that alone is reason enough to go back!
The Service: Our waiter was friendly and attentive. When we walked in the door we were immediately greeted with a smile. However, we were there a bit longer than a typical business lunch should be.
The Bill: The meal was a little pricey, considering we were there for lunch and the amount of food we got. The most basic burger is $9.95 and the average sushi roll is around $10. They do have sushi lunch combos available: two sushi rolls for $8.25 or three for 11.95; however, none of us ordered one. Tara also thought the Bento Box, starting at $10.95, was a good deal.
The Verdict: While the food and service were good, it wasn't spectacular...but if we're in the area and have a craving for Asian cuisine, we would go back.
