Tomodachi Sushi

  Howdy folks!  For lunch today (because I completely slept through breakfast) Julia, Jason (friend from work) and I decided to get some sushi at Tomodachi Sushi (http://www.tomosushiaustin.com/index.html).
I love sushi and I've finally started getting my sister liking it again and so I was hoping that Tomodachi wouldn't push my sister back to the dark side of the non sushi eaters.
   For an appetizer my sister ordered the Mushroom Caps; "Stuffed with shrimp, crab, Serrano and Parmesan cheese."  Jason ordered the Pumpkin Tempura.  And I ordered the Crab Cakes; "Panko mozzarella breaded crab cakes served with spicy aioli" and the Cherry Blossom; "Soft-shell crab wrapped in avocado with Unagi sauce"

 The mushroom caps were good, but they really weren't anything special.  The shrimp flavor was masked by the crab and the Parmesan cheese pretty much drowned the Serrano and any other seasoning that may have been included in the stuffing.

    The Rock Shrimp Tempura was greasy, under seasoned and basically just bland.  I want to think that because we came right when the restaurant opened the oil in the friers weren't at temperature and that's why the tempura was soggy and greasy.  However that doesn't explain why the pumpkin was bland.  If you're planning on ordering this, make sure the restaurant has been open for a least an hour and has enough time for the oil in the fries to get to temp.

   The Crab Cakes tasted pretty good.  They aren't as good as the crab cakes at Chez Zee, but they still had good flavor, excellent crunch  and the spicy aioli gave it just enough kick to cut through the mozzarella that was melted on top.  Overall a very good dish.

   When the Cherry Blossom came out I was very surprised, I wasn't expecting to be served a tennis ball sized (not to mention same color) portion.  Though this was a good dish, the soft-shelled crab in the middle tasted exactly the same as the crab from the Crab Cake, except there wasn't a spicy aioli to cut through the rich creaminess of the avocado.  The Unagi sauce added a nice sweet flavor to the plate and even though I really enjoy Unagai (probably my favorite sushi) and the sauce, I found myself wanting the spicy aioli from the crab cakes.  But again, this was a pretty good tasting dish and I would recommend it, especially for those individuals who can't really handle spice.

   For the main course we ordered the xXx, Japanese Lasagna, 2 pieces of Sea Urchin, 2 pieces of Unagi  and Tempura Roll.

   Long story short; xXx was good; the Japanese Lasagna was really rich because of the cheese on top, but flavorful; The Unagi (though only Jason ate these, I've had them before here) was good; the Tempura Roll was crispy and tasty.  Do NOT and I mean NOT, NEVER, NEVER EVER, order the sea urchin.  It tasted rotten and texturally it was slimy and grainy.  The Urchin was one dish that I would only serve to my enemies, it was that horrid.  To get the taste off of my tongue I actually drank the Wasabi soy dipping sauce that I was using for other sushi.  I'll probably have nightmares later on tonight.
 
   Okay I stopped shuttering about the urchin.  Tomodachi isn't a bad place to go for sushi, but its not a place to go for spectacular sushi.  I'd give it a grade of "B-" because most of the appetizers were decent and most of the rolls and sushi were good, again not spectacular, but good.

Until next time, I wish y'all happy eating.
-Henry