Japanese food is great. The freshness, the delicacy, the artful presentation, the immediacy and clarity of the flavors: It all adds up to one of the world's finest culinary traditions. I'm not saying it's my favorite; I'm partial to the kind of Mexican and/or Tex-Mex food you find at La Hacienda, 515 S. Park St. (I find the atmosphere there more satisfying than the bolo ties and overpriced tequila found at a certain FoodFight Inc.-owned restaurant another student paper jocked this week.)
What I am saying is that Japanese food satisfies the eyes and the tongue with more clean lines, textures and flavors than you can shake one of those funny chef hats at. The French may rival the Japanese in presentation and quantity of exotic ingredients, but the French didn't invent \Iron Chef,"" now did they?
Another thing the purveyors of French cuisine did not do is open up a carryout restaurant. I realized this and decided that since I don't have enough money to go to L'Etoile, 25 N. Pinckney I should go to the two carry-out sushi places that I know of: Tokyo Express and Sushi Box.
Tokyo Express just opened up again after some fire repairs, and it's a good thing for State Street. As I stood at the former sub counter watching the act of sushi preparation the owner or manager asked me what I wanted, to which I responded, ""I'm looking."" Some confusion ensued over whether I wanted a job and could cook Japanese food. Turns out he needs cooks but has no time for training, an insider tip for my readers. Just then about 10 people came in a big group and the kitchen exploded into a din of yelling and frenzied cooking.
I ordered the shrimp tempura ($4.49) and the sushi deluxe ($6.99) and sat down to wait while all the orders and yelling were sorted out. These dishes are a tremendous deal. The shrimp tempura is served on top of large twin piles of noodles and fried rice, with smaller piles of corn (odd, no?) and stir-fried cabbage on the side. This is a whole lot of food and a balanced meal for only $4.49. Nevermind that the tempura batter seems reminiscent of Long John Silver's, or that the fried rice is bland and doesn't appear to be fried, or that the teriyaki sauce on the shrimp gets into your corn. I can't think of a better deal if you want something different, and it's still pretty good stuff.
The sushi deluxe turned out to be a value also. You get three California rolls and six pieces of sushi. The California rolls were large, the avocado was ripe and the zucchini fresh. On the raw fish side of things, the tuna and salmon were a bit softer than I am used to, but still good, while the shrimp was so-so. The main drawback to this sushi is the rice: It is far too sticky, and I think a little too sweet. It does not help that the ""seafood sushi"" is served on overwhelmingly large balls of rice. I prefer to be able to plop the whole thing in my mouth at once. I wish they offered more types of sushi or other Japanese dishes besides teriyaki, but the fact is that Tokyo Express offers values on par with Amy's Cafe, 414 W. Gilman or the Radical Rye, 231 State St. and is faster and nearer to campus than either.
Sushi Box offers a more traditional Japanese menu and is also a sit-down or take-out restaurant. This place is unassumingly classy, greeting you with a nice little fish logo running around the large windowpane and hanging red metal beams suggesting a Shinto temple inside. You can sit down or take anything to go in a nifty package: I don't know another place with a takeout bento box. Here they offer 22 varieties of Maki rolls (seaweed-wrapped rolls) and 18 varieties of Ngiri-Zushi (fish on rice). The Maki rolls are pretty inexpensive, ranging from $3.50 to $6.50 for six pieces. These pieces are not nearly as large as those at Tokyo Express, but they are better. Single pieces of Nigiri-Zushi hover in the $2 range and are quite good. These prices aren't much cheaper than you would find at other sushi restaurants downtown, but as far as I know this is the only sushi place in District 5.
The entrees are where Sushi Box's prices are lower than a sit-down restaurant's. The shrimp tempura there is $7.45 and comes with such extras as two little logs of rice served with shreds of pickled cabbage and red ginger and lightly stir-fried vegetables (squash, carrots, onions and peppers). The tempura batter is fairly light and very crispy, but it retained a little too much oil. The two pieces of shrimp are gigantic and quite sweet and fresh. Tempura and teriyaki dishes make for a really great lunch at a reasonable price. The Unagi Donburi (broiled freshwater eel with Donburi sauce) there is fantastic, but priced at $9.95. My favorite feature of the Sushi Box is that if you want your sushi really fast, there are boxes of rolls in the cooler to pick from. You can grab a box of the American Dream rolls and a can of oolong tea and be gone in a flash.
So basically, this column is just here to remind you that you don't have to spend a lot of time or money to eat Japanese food. If you are on the west side, there's no reason you shouldn't eat Unagi Donburi in the comfort of your own bed. If you're between classes and hungry for something different, go forth and eat fish and rice.
