Being a sushi lover I have tried out the local sushi wherever local may be that week. I really try to eye up the most interesting dishes I can find while still ordering my old favorite: the spicy tuna roll.

I quickly came to realize that not all spicy tuna rolls on the menu are created equal however as long as the tuna is fresh I will happily tuck in to them all. The sushi standard at most sushi bars I have been to is the diced tuna in a spicy mayo. The darker the tuna the nicer the roll in my opinion even the generously diced tuna rolls up pretty nice in my book. Like I said this is the type of spicy tuna roll you will find at most American Japanese sushi bars locally Fuji Do does nice spicy tuna and a tres amigo with this method. However if you wanted a hand roll (cone shaped roll) you would have a minced tuna roll.

That minced tuna roll method, which is not an all-time favorite but if prepared with fresh ingredients you cant go wrong. Most times out of not they add a bit of a tempura flake when mixing in the mayo giving it a bit of a crunch. My only dislike the fear comes from wondering about the quality of the fish. I mean with minced fish you can never tell if it’s the picking off the bones and I will admit that some sushi places I have been to the roll is just a squishy mess. At the same time I would have to commend Okini for making the mince spicy roll proud, it has a small crunch and the rolls are kept pretty tight.

Moving on to the last spicy tuna what I like to call: Chopped tuna hell fire. I was recently at Benihana who serves up a mean spicy tuna roll with dark fresh tuna and crushed peppers. Oh, yes you heard me right, there is no mayo in this puppy they go right for the heat. I would have to say this was pretty spicy. There was once a place in York called Zen Mitsuru that could make a spicy tuna hell fire that could make you cry.

Those are the free basic spicy tuna rolls which you can get pretty much any sushi bar in the U.S. Although the Chopped Tuna Hell Fire is one of my favorites its pretty rare when it comes to this mayo loving market. When it comes to the spicy rolls you usually can’t go wrong and when ordering a hand roll they tend to really pack it in there making them almost a meal in themselves.

Central Pa Sushi has been around five months now and we are booming. Crossing out every sushi place in the area with dinner parties hitting 12-42 people! So this is an open invite to those looking to get out this summer and have some fish!

August 17th - Fuji Do Feast in Harrisburg

August 28th - Dinner At Mikado Japanese Steak House & Sushi Bar

September 9th - Wasabi in Lancaster!

We went to Fujihana tonight off of rt. 30 in York, Pa. The look of this place on the inside is amazing. You walk in the front lobby to see a huge dining room, one for hibachi and one for sushi separating the place is a large water wall with their logo and some interesting light fixtures. They greeted us with smiles and off the bat I can say this is one of the nicest looking Japaneses restaurants in the area. We ordered about 7 items off the sushi menu, the place had about six other sushi dinner parties on a Wednesday evening. 15 or so minutes waiting for our order they offered us miso for our wait, then salad, our drinks countless times and apologizing for the wait.

Half our order came out and we enjoyed huge hand rolls, the tuna was very fresh and the spicy salmon was almost too big to eat. Two hand rolls (a salad and miso) down and I was plenty full. Our other rolls were so-so. The Christmas roll was made with minced fish topped with salmon, a bit loose but still an enjoyable roll. The crazy roll was peppered tuna and avocado topped with fish… the pepper was different but really came together.  All and all I rate the sushi average but the service was amazing , just sooo friendly.

Their menu is full of dishes, from sushi, hibachi, udon, yaki and soup bowls. Sooo many lunch specials as well that I will have to come back and try soon.. Will keep you posted.

On July 31 Central Pa Sushi will be having a get together at Sapporo East in Mechanicsburg. The dinner kicks off at 7:30pm for all sushi lovers in the area. Central Pa Sushi is a group over 160 sushi lovers in the Harrisburg, York, Lancaster and surrounding areas. We are a friendly group and open our RVSP to everyone in the area looking to enjoy a good night out.

Take notes and see you there:

Date: July 31

Time: 7:30 pm

Location:

All the information can be found at www.CentralPaSushi.com

I passed Fujihana at 935 Loucks Road in York. The sign on the door says the place opens Monday, July 28th. They seemed quite busy today with people rushing in and out setting up. Heading there next week for some Hibachi and sushi.. will keep you posted

Last night we had sushi and hibachi at Sakana on Patton street. As far as quick reviews go it did have quite a nice atmosphere for hibachi, the chef was very nice even if he did drop his cooking utensils a few times this is one of the top places for hibachi in the area. Sushi wise they do not have a huge selection, they really have nothing in the way of combos and dinner specials,  although their chef rolls were tasty, generous portions of fish and a very fair price. Some of us had a mix and match sharing hibachi and a few rolls. We had about 15 Central Pa Sushi  members out for an enjoyable Thursday evening.

more photos

Hi everyone! My name’s Dre. I haven’t been to any of the meet-ups yet (as I work evenings) but I wanted to tell you guys about how HOT sushi is in York! Seriously, I go to Masa, over in West York (1720 Loucks Rd, York) about 2x a month. They have excellent service and a great reputation as one of the best places for sushi in Central P.A, so hopefully we can organize a meet-up over there sometime soon. There’s another sushi place opening up off Route 30, also in York, called “Fujihana,” and I’ll let you guys know when they’re open for business. My friend Erica and I have checked out the sushi place inside the Farmer’s Market of York (of course I can’t remember the name of it now) and it seems like they have some exotic choices (mango sushi!). Also, I heard a rumor that the sushi place next to the Queensgate Cinema (Mitsuru?) is closing, awwww…. That’s all for now, but I’ll be at some of the next meet-ups: Crab Fest on the 23rd, and Sapporo East and Fuji Do, and I’m looking forward to meeting some of you wild and crazy sushi people!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

©2008 The Patriot-News

www.centralpasushi.com

Tonight Central Pa Sushi Meetup and I (the organizer) went to the Olive and Jasmine Asian Bistro in Lancaster. Having visited a majority of the Japanese restaurants in the area, I would have to say that Olive and Jasmine is one of (if not) the best restaurant of its kind in Central Pa. When it comes to atmosphere this place really surpasses the competition. The one thing this area lacks is the dining experience, most of the sushi places are either cafe or diner style establishments. Olive and Jasmine has nice decor throughout and a lovely private dining room for larger parties. The Dynamite Green Lips (spicy mussels appetizer) was simply delicious, best dragon roll I ever tasted and when it comes to other sushi on the menu I highly recommend this place in Lancaster to anyone that likes fresh assortment sushi platters because they offer so many varieties of them. The menu is quite extensive serving sushi, Thai, hibachi and Malaysian.

For a party of 18 they did very well service wise. We will definitely be back.