SUSHI KUMA
ADDRESS: 414 Alvarado Street, Monterey, CA 93940
We were wrapping up our day in Monterey, and my friends Nate, Ruby, and I were all feeling in the mood to get some sushi. There was a place that they had eaten at before they wanted to take me to, but we found out that it was closed on Sundays. Enter Sushi Kuma, which was another spot that I had found on Yelp when doing a quick search for some alternate places. Nate and Ruby said that they had been to it before and it was good the last time they went, so we made our way over there.
It was definitely very quiet at the restaurant for a Sunday night dinner service, with a couple of other tables occupied when we arrived there around 6:30PM. (Granted, the NFC Championship game was also being played that night between the Lions and 49ers, so perhaps that had something to do with it.)
There is certainly no shortage of sushi roll options to choose from, with the menu topping over 30 choices. In addition to that, there were also some appetizer dishes, tempura, teriyaki, donburi, and nigiri to choose from as well. We ended up being pretty hungry for the most part, so we looked into ordering five rolls to share, coupled with some spicy garlic edamame and mix tempura appetizer plates.
Given how there weren’t as many people at the restaurant that night, it worked out better for us, since that meant more time focusing on getting our food out to us. Sure enough, our appetizers got out to us in just under 10 minutes, with our various sushi rolls making their way out another 10 minutes after that. It looked like they had three sushi chefs working the counter, so definitely more than enough to handle both the orders in the restaurant along with some to-go orders we saw getting put together.
I’d say that your edamame and mix tempura appetizers were pretty good, although neither stood out from one another. The spicy garlic flavor for the edamame came from the crispy garlic and chili flake dusting on the outside. The tempura batter did remain relatively crisp, and the vegetable assortment ranged between broccoli, sweet potato, onion, and carrot, in addition to the shrimp. I have had soggy tempura before, and that was not a good way to start off the meal. Glad that this did not fall into that trap.
I got started with the two rolls that were situated the closest to me: the Nova and the Spicy Paula. I didn’t realize it at the time that we ordered, but both of these rolls were actually kind of similar. Both rolls contained avocado, shrimp tempura, and spicy tuna on the inside, with the Spicy Paula also having cucumber inside as well. The outside was where there was a bit of variance: Nova had torched albacore, red sauce, eel sauce, scallions, and masago, while the Spicy Paula had crab, salmon, tuna, jalapeño, red sauce, eel sauce, scallions, and masago. Both rolls did have a lingering spicy aftertaste, which I did appreciate. The only downside for the Nova was that the red sauce overpowered the torched flavor, which was slightly disappointing.
Next up was the Apollo Roll, which contained asparagus tempura, avocado, cream cheese, and cucumber on the inside, topped with crab, salmon, tuna, yellowtail, eel sauce, white sauce, scallions, and masago. The white sauce definitely had a creamy consistency with a slightly savory flavor profile, and the different fish on top of each piece helped provide a slightly different flavor if you worked your way through the roll.
The last two rolls that we got were the Sun’s and the North Star, another pair of rolls that ended up looking visually similar to each other once on the plate. Both rolls contained the exact same ingredients on the inside of avocado, crab, cucumber, and shrimp tempura. The outside did have some variance, with the Sun’s having salmon and thinly sliced lemon and the North Star having albacore, shrimp, salmon, tuna, and whitefish. Toppings-wise, they were both the same with white sauce, eel sauce, scallions, and masago. The Sun’s Roll had the edge for me, with the thin slice of lemon on each piece providing that slight hint of citrus that I appreciate while eating fish.
Of all the rolls that we tried, my favorites were probably the Nova and Spicy Paula, with the Spicy Paula taking the top spot. I liked the heat from the jalapeño and how that worked with all of the other ingredients in the roll. Even though there might have been over 30 different rolls to choose from, the ingredient variations are there that you will likely find something that catches your attention. If you find yourself in the downtown Monterey area and are in the mood for some sushi rolls, take a look at what Sushi Kuma has to offer.
(Quick shoutout to Revival Ice Cream right down the street for a great dessert spot to check out after the meal.)
Let’s now take a look at the Sushi Kuma Dish Spotlight. Asterisks (*) below mark my recommended dishes.
** Spicy Garlic Edamame **
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** Mix Tempura **
Broccoli, carrots, sweet potato, onion, and shrimp tempura, battered and deep-fried.
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** Nova Roll (pictured left) **
Torched albacore on the outside, avocado, shrimp tempura, and spicy tuna on the inside. Topped with red sauce, eel sauce, scallions, and masago.
** Spicy Paula Roll (pictured right) **
Crab, salmon, tuna, and jalapeño on the outside, avocado, cucumber, shrimp tempura, and spicy tuna on the inside. Topped with red sauce, eel sauce, scallions, and masago.
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** Apollo Roll **
Crab, salmon, tuna, and yellowtail on the outside, asparagus tempura, avocado, cream cheese, and cucumber on the inside. Topped with eel sauce, white sauce, scallions, and masago.
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** North Star Roll (pictured top) **
Albacore, shrimp, salmon, tuna, and white fish on the outside, avocado, crab, cucumber, and shrimp tempura on the inside. Topped with eel sauce, white sauce, scallions, and masago.
** Sun’s Roll (pictured bottom) **
Salmon and thinly sliced lemon on the outside, avocado, crab, cucumber, and shrimp tempura on the inside. Topped with eel sauce, white sauce, scallions, and masago.
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And finally, here are my rankings for Sushi Kuma:
Food: 4.5 / 5
With 30 different sushi roll options on the menu, there’s bound to be something that peaks your interest. The flavor combinations with the rolls tasted good and had nice visual presentation as well.
Atmosphere: 4 / 5
The dining area itself was pretty spacious, contained within a large open area with a high ceiling. The sushi bar was at the back and a number of two- and four-person tables spread out on the open floor. They even had a disco ball mounted on the ceiling when the party was really getting started.
Service: 4 / 5
Our two waitresses were nice and circled back to our table throughout the meal to check in. The sushi chefs also did a good job with getting our food out to us relatively timely.
Price: 4.5 / 5
The price points for the rolls themselves ranged mostly from $15 – $20, which seemed reasonable for being in downtown Monterey. The individual pieces were also more on the large side, so they weren’t skimping on quantity of food either.
Overall:
17 / 20
(85%)
Categories: California, Restaurants
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