#2 - Nhinja Sushi - Oklahoma City OK

I was craving sushi for lunch, and Sushi Neko was the intended stop.  Unfortunately it's not open on Sundays.  I was disappointed because I'd heard great things about it, but I didn't let a little thing like that stop me...so option #2 was Nhinja Sushi & Wok.  We went to the Edmond location, which just opened.  It's owned by the same people that own Kang's, also in Edmond.

Before I go any further, let's go back in the history books on sushi & me. I always assumed that sushi was all raw, so I refused to try it. Then in 2007 we were at the Maui Invitational, and Brandon & Shane wanted sushi. Once they convinced me I could order "real" food at the restaurant, I agreed to go along. I did decide to be brave because I figured if I was going to try sushi anywhere, I should do it in Maui where it would be super fresh. I was not a fan, because it had raw something in it. Thank goodness I had ordered a big fat pork chop for myself!  But a couple months later I tried sushi again--cooked this time--and became a fan. Now, I have what could be considered an unhealthy obsession with it.

Nhinja is a fast-casual dining concept, where you order at the counter and they bring your food out to you.  We started with the lettuce wraps.  It was very tasty, but we got the monster lettuce pieces.  So when I wrapped it, I had to bite through about 10 layers of lettuce to get to the chicken.

All natural chicken, water chestnuts, scallions, rice sticks, garlic soy

Next came the sushi.  We got 4 rolls (L-R below):  spider, spicy tuna, samurai, and dragon).  

All natural chicken, water chestnuts, scallions, rice sticks, garlic soy

The spider is an old favorite...the only thing I hate is trying to eat the end pieces, because the tail is just kind of sticking out.  The spicy tuna was CRAZY spicy.  I ate one, and my tongue was on fire for 5 minutes.  I felt like they marinated the tuna in siracha sauce.  Even the rice was orange.  I only ate the one.  The samurai was good, but the grilled steak on top was just okay.  And then came the dragon.  Turns out that stuff on top is cooked eel.  I was expecting the worst, but I trusted Dean's suggestion, was very pleasantly suprised!  The flavor of the eel was very mild.  It was topped with eel sauce...which, interestingly, doesn't have any eel in it at all.

Will I go back?  Definitely!  The service was fast and efficient, and the prices were very fair.  The manager came and checked on us a couple times.  The lettuce wraps are huge, so I would only suggest that if there's at least 3 of you, especially if you're going to get sushi as well.  They also have rice & noodle bowls, and wok dishes.  I saw several groups order those items, and they came out just as fast, and steaming hot.  Next time I'll try either a bowl or a wok dish.