Sushi to Go

Japanese delicacy in the comfort of your office or cafeteria. But how good does it taste?

You knew Springfield couldn’t go long before sushi became as easy to get as a hamburger. The two biggest local shopping chains, Price Cutter and Wal-Mart, have sushi available to-go in their seafood departments. On the fancier side, Ocean Zen has a drive through.

We picked up a California roll (boring, we know) from each of these three locations and got opinions from four of our sushi-savvy associates: GO art director Kari Engel, circulation director Dylan Whitaker, 417 senior editor Katie Pollock and 417 production designer Megan Johnson. Here’s how they rated the rolls.

Ocean Zen

Price: $4.54 after tax
Size: Eight pieces
Ocean Zen can’t really be compared to grocery store sushi; it was far and away the favorite, so instead we’ll let it serve as a base of how sushi should taste.

Dylan: “The rice tastes a little sweet.” “There’s not a lot of cucumber.”
Kari: “I’m gonna have fish breath. It’s great. I could eat a whole roll.”
Katie: “This roll in ’08!”
Megan: “Lots of creamy goodness underneath it. The crab breaks apart, but it’s so good.”

Wal-Mart

Price: $4.87 after tax
Size: 12 large pieces
Wally World on East Independence actually has a dedicated sushi chef—he wears the headband and everything—working its seafood counter. The counter doesn’t open until 11 a.m., though, so we had to buy a roll from the day before. The selection is basic, with staples like Cali, veggie, Philly and eel rolls.

Dylan: “This is pretty cucumber-y. I couldn’t taste the crab. Not bad, but I don’t really like California rolls. I think this is Krab, with a ‘K’.”
Kari: “It’s big! I don’t think it really tastes like anything, but I like the ginger.”
Katie: “It’s crunchy nothing. The wasabi tasted like wasabi. It does get points for the fresh ginger.”
Megan: “All I could taste was the cucumber.”

Price Cutter

Price: $5.18 after tax
Size: 12 smallish pieces
Price Cutter has actually offered sushi for a while; one former co-worker used to eat it once a week, so we know it’s addicting. What did our panel say?

Dylan: “It looks like a lot of these don’t even have crab in them… All I taste is sesame seeds.”
Kari: “It tastes like iceberg lettuce. The wasabi is VERY hot.”
Katie: “The wasabi is whippy, the rice watery. Even if you take the crab out it doesn’t taste like crab.”
Megan: “The rice is wet and sticky.”

Verdict: Naturally Ocean Zen’s roll was preferred of these three. But if you want a few more bites of cold, quality sushi per dollar, you’re not going to go wrong with Wal-Mart or Price Cutter, though Wal-Mart came out the clear winner between the two, primarily because it’s ginger was pretty amazing. Hint: Look for rolls with larger amounts of the stuff you like.