The first time I ate sushi, I cheated: I was too scared to eat raw fish (why, though???) and ordered hamburger sushi. At a traditional sushi restaurant. In Japan.
Nearly a decade later, I'm proud to say I'm no longer afraid of raw fish. I'm also not afraid to admit that, well, I just don't really like sushi. I'll eat a few pieces of someone else's roll, sure. But I'm not trying to have an entire roll for dinner, son. No thanks. I'm totally open, though, to dining at a sushi restaurant that has a cool atmosphere and also serves things that are, um, not sushi. Harumi Sushi in downtown Phoenix fits within those parameters. Sort of.
It's a small place, a block or so away from the light rail in a convenient location downtown. On a Sunday night the place was packed and we waited a few minutes before being seated near the back. I say this place sort of fits the parameters because, uh, the atmosphere is alright. Nothing special. The food was okay, the waiters were nice, and my beer was cold. I'm just a spoiled brat, aesthetically speaking.*
I can't really say whether the sushi is good. I didn't have it. I did, however, try the udon with shrimp tempura. They don't have a lot of non-sushi items on the menu, so I didn't have much of a choice, but the udon + shrimp combo was adequate, nothing special. Their sushi presentation, though, was more impressive. That flaming aluminum foil contraption pictured below is called the "Oh My God" roll and, after making it dance around like that for a while, our waitress goes, "I may have looked calm but that's really hot so give it a minute, okay?" Also shown is the "Crunch Crab" roll, which Charlie described as "good." Overall, this isn't the first place I'd take my sushi-loving friends, but the vibe there was quite lively and, like I said: my beer was cold.
/
Harumi Sushi
114 W Adams St
Suite C101
Phoenix, AZ 85003
*I just moved to Phoenix from Chicago, where the abundance of chic/industrial/urban/minimal dining spaces is insane. Sue me?
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