Thursday, June 18To celebrate International Sushi Day, we decided to finally get downtown for a visit to Sushi Sasa. Recommended by Dave as his favorite sushi in Denver, he also warned that it is pricey and to definitely make a reservation. Easy enough...
Sushi Sasa is hidden away, across the street from another Dinnergirls favorite, My Brothers Bar. If you didn't know it was there, you would totally miss it. The restaurant is very white and very clean. In most sushi restaurants that I've been to, the sushi bar is closer to the front and you walk by as you're seated. Sushi Sasa is not this way. The sushi bar is at the back and I definitely missed walking by to greet the chef and see what looks good.
Naturally, we started our meal with sake. The sparkling sake to be exact. It was unfiltered and really interesting. It was also priced high enough that we split the two we ordered between us. I really liked it - it was a fun treat.
Next we ordered the Shrimp Dynamite to get us started with eats. I have to say... it was hands down the best dynamite I have ever had. The shrimp was tempura battered and fried and then topped with the dynamite sauce over asparagus. We all loved it and I'm sure each of us would have leveled that plate alone if there weren't other people to share with. It was excellent and I will dream of that dynamite it was so good.
I can't remember the names of all of the sushi rolls we ordered but I do remember the Diablo Roll, which also came highly recommended by Dave. Spicy tuna on the inside with seared (I think? I can't remember if it was seared but I think it was) tuna on the outside. The taste was simple and fresh - not fancy and really good. We also got the roll that had everything inside and tempura-ed. I am not sure that the other girls were as fond, but I really liked it too. You can never go wrong with a caterpillar roll and I think we got one of those (different name perhaps?) and a few other rolls as well. All of them were fresh, tasty, non-pretentious and beautifully presented.
Oh -- I almost forgot about the sashimi. We ordered the salmon that was sitting on a green tea sauce. Roland and I devoured the sashimi and the sauce was great! But I'm pretty sure the other girls prefer having their sushi with rice and that is ok too. I thought the salmon was perfect and melted on my tongue. The pieces were perhaps a little large which a couple of girls struggled with, but I'm not complaining! I thought they were tasty and I would order it again.
By the end of our dinner, we were all entirely too stuffed to order any kind of dessert, although the wasabi tiramisu sounded rather intriguing. I'm not much of a dessert eater but next time, and there will be a next time, I might try and save a little room for it -- and if not, perhaps I'll take some home.
All in all, I thought it was a great meal. Good sushi is never cheap but after the warnings of high prices at Sushi Sasa, I was surprised to find the total not too far off from what I likely would have spent anywhere else. If you like sushi and haven't tried this place, make a reservation and see what you think. We'd love to read your comments!
