Peg and I were on our way to the Tacoma Little Theatre to see the final dress rehearsal of A Chorus Line. On the road we started discussing where to have dinner. We had already decided on Joeseppi’s, but we were running a little late. I reminded Peg that this was Thursday night, Prime Rib Special Night, and Joe Stortini would probably be busy. He was. We drove past a large number of cars parked outside Joe’s door and continued on through the Westgate South Mall. We figured we could get hamburgers or sandwiches to go if we had to. El Toro at the other end of the mall also had a full parking lot. I glanced to my left and saw a golden glow emitting from the Sake Sushi and Grill. It looked like there were no diners there at all. We pulled into their shared parking lot and drove right up to the sidewalk outside their door. We walked in. The golden glow was a space heater.
Our friend Denny Flannigan had stopped over for lunch a few days earlier. He mentioned Seattle Chinese restaurants were virtually empty. We hadn’t been to a Chinese restaurant lately, but we had been to Souper Pho, a Thai and Chinese food restaurant on a Friday evening and had to look elsewhere. There were no empty seats. Since then, however the Seattle Times wrote a story about the virus worries keeping customers away from Chinese restaurants. I’m guessing Sake Sushi Grill is suffering from the same problem, although it is a Japanese restaurant. Too bad.
We love eel (unagi) so we ordered the Caterpillar Roll (sushi) – with eel.cucumber T/avocado.sauce. Although we really enjoyed the roll, we would have loved more eel. The next time we go, we’ll have to ask what they offer that gives us more eel. If you don’t like eel, don’t worry there are many other possibilities.
The surprise of the day was the Orange Chicken. Many Americanized restaurants sell Orange Chicken with an unreal orangy, super sweet sauce. Not so here. Sake Sushi makes a great dinner item – “Hand breaded fried chicken, stir-fried in our homemade sweet, orange sauce.” Served with two lumps of rice we would have liked more sauce, but we loved the lightness, flavor, and crunchiness of the stir-fry.
I had tried their lunch earlier with my lunch buddy Jim. My only complaint then was that behind the beautiful images and rice paper sliding divider is the kitchen. There is no sound proofing between the dining tables and the chopping and prepping going on in the kitchen. We were spared that since there were no other customers at their tables while we dined.
We enjoyed our dinner and Peg is ready to go back. Yes, the eel and chicken are calling me, also. We made it to The Tacoma Little Theatre in plenty of time and thoroughly enjoyed the musical production. We barely had room for a cookie or two in their lobby.
Visit the Sake Sushi Grill online – sakesushigrilltacoma.com/
