Bonney Lake

Sushi Town

DuPont

i Sushi & Teriyaki

Fife

Sapporo Japanese & Sushi Restaurant

Lacey

Fuji Japanese Steak House

Lakewood

Koto Teriyaki

Olympia

Fujiyama

Koibito

Tacoma

Fujiya Japanese Restaurant — Downtown

Jazzbones — Sixth Avenue

Sakura Japanese Steak House — Central

Twokoi Japanese Cuisine — Downtown

FUJI JAPANESE STEAK HOUSE

It’s an exhibitionist-lovers delight, complete with flashy knives and flying food. Group dining. 7914 Martin Way, Suite 3, Lacey, 360.459.4499.

LINK: Full review May 2007

FUJIYA JAPANESE RESTAURANT

There are no giant anime robots and the sushi rollers don’t pull maki out of their ears or hide octopus in their hats. But its excellence reveals itself in small ways. The specials at the bar truly are, and for those who are still afraid of raw fish, the menu has plenty of cooked apps, soups and Japanese entrees. The udon and gyoza are particularly noteworthy. The sushi chefs are fun. 1125 Court C, downtown Tacoma, 253.627.5319.

FUJIYAMA

Drink Singapore Slings as Japanese chefs creating volcanic eruptions from a stack of onion slices over a large grill surrounded by dinner seating. They offer hibachi dinners starting with miso soup and a salad with ginger dressing, followed by a shrimp appetizer (often flicked from the grill to the plate), vegetables, steamed or fried rice and finally the main course, which we recommend the teriyaki New York steak. 2930 Capital Mall Drive, Olympia, 360.352.9888

LINK: Full review

HAPPY AT THE BAY TERIYAKI

While teriyaki is the mainstay, this restaurant devotes a fair portion of its menu to Chinese selections — more so than other teriyaki restaurants.  The Mongolian beef was surprisingly fresh, sweet and scrumptious.  Portion size was huge and the service friendly. 4040 S. Orchard, Fircrest, 253.564.4707.

I SUSHI & TERIYAKI

This Japanese Fusion restaurant’s close proximity to the military installations, easy freeway access and inexpensive pricing ensure a steady flow of hungry mouths. They serve sashimi, sushi, sushi rolls, yakisoba and teriyaki. One of our favs — the spider roll — has a plentiful amount of lightly breaded, crispy soft shell crab. High ceilings and tons of windows ensure the volume level to be high as well. In short, it’s packed, loud and tasty. 1225 Center Dr., DuPont, 253.964.8266.

LINK: Full review

JAZZBONES

This nightclub’s sushi bar combines traditional Japanese cuisine with California and Northwest influences. More than 30 specialty rolls, 20 types of sashimi and sushi, as well as octopus, albacore, and seaweed salads are available. Featured fusion rolls combine citrus, spicy seafood, creamy sauces and tempura action for a one of a kind creations. Don’t skip the baked sea scallop topped roll.  Live blues, jazz and rock mixed with sushi and sake?  Nice! 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169.

KOIBITO

The inside isn’t too memorable, but the staff is pleasant from beginning to end at Koibito in Olympia.  My server took her time to explain what certain items were, and not once did she laugh at how I pronounced gyoza.  I enjoyed the immensely flavorful nebeyaki udon: a marvelous broth flavored with miso, chock-full of fat udon noodles, shrimp tempura, fish cake, crab meat and various vegetables. The sushi is fresh. 900 Capitol Way inside the Best Western Aladdin Inn, Olympia, 360.352.5085.

 KOTO TERIYAKI

The fit-for-a-lumberjack chicken teriyaki is always on our minds: nice flavor, nice crunch, actual freshness.  A close second, the yaki soba pork is nothing short of wonderful.  Deeply onioned, thick with clear Japanese noodles, and mixed with a flotilla of thinly sliced cooked pork, the dish is absolutely exquisite — and absolutely filling.  Forget breakfast the next morning. 5700 100th St. S.W., Lakewood, 253.581.2031.

SAKURA JAPANESE STEAK HOUSE

Groups of 20 sit around a teppan-yaki grill before a chef who demonstrates masterful, high-speed chopping, pepper-mill twirling, salt shaking and meat frying.  The filet mignon is worthy.  3630 S. Cedar St., Tacoma, 253.475.1300.

SAPPORO JAPANESE & SUSHI RESTAURANT

Sapporo’s sushi menu offers what South Sounders have come to expect from the local sushi scene: a mix of the usual nigiri and sashimi suspects like tuna and yellowtail, salmon, eel, and octopus, along with special rolls, like the Rose Roll, a combination of spicy tuna, thin slices of egg and cucumber. On the teriyaki side, choose the beef short ribs. The restaurant also surprised us with an intriguing Korean touches. 4803 Pacific Highway E., Fife; 253-922-5656.



LINK: Sapporo’s Poki Salad

SUSHI REVOLUTION

Claiming to be the largest conveyor belt or Kaiten sushi restaurant in the Northwest, Sushi Revolution is an inexpensive way to sample your way through sashimi (raw slices of fish laid on top of rice), sushi rolls, and tempura (panko battered and deep fried veggies and various seafood). Considering the price, the food was exceptional. 5225 Tacoma Mall Blvd., Tacoma, 253.475.5559, www.sushi-revolution.com.

SUSHI TOWN

What makes this place crowded, line out the door, stuffed to the gills busy is their terrific sushi bar lunchtime deal. For $17.95, and only at the bar, can you scarf down all the sushi rolls you can eat in an hour. The catch is that you have to eat at least half within the hour in order to pay only $17.95. Otherwise you have to pay full price for all rolls. We’re talking about 8-inch rolls piled with sushi extras such as Tobiko, shrimp, imitation crabmeat, and tempura. They’re not on the small side of sushi rolls by any stretch of the imagination.



We ordered what appeared to be one of the few rolls that included sashimi in its ingredients: the Mountain roll. Unfortunately, in order for me to get to the thin slices of fish atop the sushi roll we had to uncover it by scraping off the gynormous mound of imitation crabmeat that covered our food. 20649 State Route 410 E., Bonney Lake, 253.891.2046.

TWOKOI JAPANESE CUISINE

This Japanese restaurant, housed in the historic Calton Building in downtown Tacoma, must have had a bamboo smart bomb explode inside as the floors, key walls and the bar back are covered in it. This open concept treat offers inventive sushi, sashimi, and tuna and salmon carpaccio, plus teriyaki, tonkatsu, yosenabe, salads and starters. Full bar with 40 sake varieties, sake cocktails, beer and wine.  It’s open until 2 a.m. Thursday-Saturday. 1552 Commerce St., Tacoma, 253.274.8999