A few weeks ago I was on Groupon, looking to see if there was anything I couldn't live without. Both Groupon and Living Social can be very addicting, so I try not to go on either one very often. But they were having a sale that day and I couldn't resist buying a couple of restaurant vouchers... which was of course before I realized that I had a bunch of credit on restaurant.com.
I don't wake up till my eyes open on Christmas morning. But come Boxing Day (Dec. 26), I'm up and at it ridiculously early to hit the stores for all the sales. And since all the good stores are in OKC, yesterday I was awake at 4am. When it came time for lunch, I decided to use the Groupon for Inaka Sushi & Bar.
Its located in OKC, just a few miles from Memorial Road, where I end up almost every time I go shopping in the city. Its in a very non-descript strip mall, and unless you know where to turn you'll probably miss it. Its not a very big place, only about 20 total tables. Almost the entire left wall is a full bar; a good-sized sushi bar is along the back wall. The center has 10 booths, and the right wall has 10 tables. There were only 2 other couples when I arrived. Normally that's not a good sign, but the day after Christmas you can't really judge.
There was only one server, which was fine. She was efficient, but not very friendly; but as the meal progressed she got a little nicer. I had the same issue at the sushi place in College Park. Maybe in Japan that's absolutely normal. Who knows.
I couldn't decide between the salad and edamame to start. The picture of the salad in the menu looked good, so I went with the salad. Bad choice... what I got was iceberg lettuce, carrots, and cucumber. I'm pretty sure the pic in the menu is the seaweed salad. I thought about sending it back, but decided to just eat it. The salad was nice and cold, and the ginger dressing was very flavorful.
As usual I had a really hard time deciding what to get, and the really big menu didn't help. I thought about just going with hibachi, but I really wanted sushi. And besides, I had to spend $20 for the Groupon. So even if I had done hibachi I would have had to get other stuff too. So sushi it was. They have a ton of different rolls, so I asked the server for help.
I finally decided to be adventurous and try the Euphoria roll (server's suggestion) and Boston roll
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Euphoria Roll (Inside - eel, shrimp tempura; Outside - eel, avocado, mango, eel sauce & Masago)
Boston Roll (Shrimp,avocado, cucumber, lettuce, Japanese mayo)
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The Euphoria roll was outstanding! The eel was lightly seared, the mango gave it a hint of sweetness, and the avocado added a creamy texture. I was a little worried that the eel would be overpowering since it was inside and out, But it wasn't at all. With every bite I repeated to myself how good it was. A piece of the eel fell off one piece of the roll and I ate it by itself, of course dipped in soy sauce. Not a big fan...it needs other stuff to be good. The Boston roll was okay, but didn't have a whole lot of flavor. I think if the mayo had been spicy it would have helped. I alternated pieces as I ate, and I will say the Boston provided a nice contrast of texture with the lettuce.
Will I go back? No question. There's a lot of things that look really good that I'm excited to try.
