I feel overwhelmed when it comes to selecting good sushi restaurants in Anchorage. Folks certainly have their favorites, but I’d guess those faves are based on familiarity and “good enough-ness,” rather than dedicated research.
Recently, a group of colleagues and I set out to compare four popular sushi restaurants by sampling two key items — their spicy tuna roll and their most popular specialty roll — during lunch hours (which admittedly excludes some dinner-only restaurants).There were no set metrics, just gut feelings and an extreme amount of tempura flakes.
The restaurants we sampled included Sushi Motto, Arctic Sushi, Miso Sushi, and Sushi Ya, which we picked based on availability and notoriety to our group.
The Spicy Tuna roll
Straightforward, affordable and reasonably consistent: a spicy tuna roll is a crowd favorite for combining the airy lightness of seasoned rice, with the melt in your mouth texture of the tuna, and a slow-building heat.
Tasting four versions side by side revealed subtle distinctions in the sweetness of the rice, the overall spice-level, and the fishy taste — a funny yet very real thing, we learned, to say in reference to raw tuna.
- Sushi Ya ($17) stood out. The tuna was velvety and bright, the spice was assertive, and the rice was slightly sweet with perfect texture. It was the clear winner, making us pause mid-bite to nod in appreciation.
- Miso Sushi ($11) offered the budget-friendly option. The tuna lacked the depth of Sushi Ya’s and had no discernable heat. The rice erred on the soft side with a bit of a fishy flavor on its own.
- Arctic Sushi ($17.95) was spicy-mayo forward. The tuna itself was decent, but the sauce masked its flavor.
- Sushi Motto’s version ($18) had a late-hitting spice and was a simple, solid rendition of the fan-favorite.
Verdict: Sushi Ya’s balance of heat, texture, and freshness set the standard.
The most popular roll
We also asked each restaurant to serve us their most popular roll. This revealed some themes to Anchorage’s sushi palette: all four had shrimp tempura on the inside and tempura crunch on the outside. All but one had crab, and all but one had avocado. And yet, their presentations and extra ingredients made them totally distinct from one another.
Sushi Motto served us their Lion King Roll (shrimp tempura and crab meat, topped with thinly sliced crab, sweet glaze, spicy mayo and tempura flake. $19). This was sweeter, thanks to the sauce, and all elements were fully cooked. There was a noteworthy amount of crab on it, but otherwise not a ton of texture.
At Miso Sushi, we ate the Hot Night Roll (shrimp tempura and avocado, topped with crunch, and spicy tuna on top. $15). The avocado dominates here, making it creamy and mild. It was not very spicy despite the spicy tuna topper, and looked original because the crunch topper gets dyed pink by the sriracha in the spicy tuna.
Anchorage loves the Crunch Roll most at Arctic Sushi (shrimp tempura, crab meat, avocado and cucumber with tempura flake and spicy mayo on the outside. $18.95). We were not the biggest fans of this one, but maybe because we were starting to tire of tempura flakes, though this one had a particularly crunchy shrimp tempura. The rice was very sweet and there was ample mayo, but not enough to hold on the tempura flake, which fell everywhere while trying to eat it.
Just when we thought we were over shrimp tempura, we tried the Kevin Love Roll from Sushi Ya (a california roll – crab, avocado and cucumber – with shrimp tempura on the inside and spicy ozaki crab, tuna, sweet glaze, spicy mayo, tempura flake, green onion and tobiko outside. $20). This roll reminded us about the fun textures and the structure we want from our sushi rolls. The tobiko popped, the cucumber added a refreshing crunch, and the sauces accented rather than smothered.
Sushi Ya was the winner of our group, delivering both the best spicy tuna and the most satisfying specialty roll, but Sushi Motto came in second with two solid rolls that definitely warrant more menu testing.
I may still feel overwhelmed by options. But now at least I have more direction for my sushi cravings, being one of the few who has officially done some research.
Jenny Weis writes for a variety of Alaska nonprofits and causes in between keeping up on Alaska's doughnut scene, sliding on snow, and gawking at cool plants and rocks along local trails.
