KANPAI IN THE SKY: Sushi Land East, 9.18.09
By Rob DeWalt | The New Mexican
Sushi Land East
60 E. San Francisco St., 102-A, Santa Fe Arcade (entrance on Water Street), 820-1178
Lunch 11:30-3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon-3:30 p.m. Saturday; dinner 5-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday; closed Sunday
Takeout available
Beer & wine (mostly sake)
Noise level: moderate, piped-in jazz some weekend evenings
Handicapped-accessible for takeout, some seating may be difficult
Credit cards, no checks
The Short Order
Hunting for sushi in landlocked Santa Fe isn't nearly the struggle it was 20 years ago, but the quest for great sushi here never ends. Relative new kid on the block Sushi Land East fulfills a long-standing craving for local raw-fish fetishists who work and play downtown. Don't let the small space near more expensive eateries fool you: chef Masa delivers some of the finest sushi in Santa Fe, and much of it is easy on the wallet. Unfortunately, the noodles are a letdown. Recommended: the softshell-crab-tempura spider roll and the toro nigiri sushi.
REVIEW
When I moved back to Santa Fe from the Pacific Northwest almost 20 years ago, I never imagined this town would eventually become home to so many sushi restaurants. At the time, naive as I was about how fresh and fresh-frozen fish travel across the country -- and operating under a Seattle seafood snob's assumption that any sushi found in the landlocked regions of the Southwest was better off being called "bait" and sold in tackle shops -- I steered clear of pretty much all sushi in Santa Fe for nearly a decade.
Fishing for compliments
It was only fitting, then, that my very first freelance assignment as a restaurant reviewer for Pasatiempo was (oh goody) a strip-mall sushi joint -- Masa Sushi, to be precise. The experience immediately shattered my misconceptions about eating raw fish here. I found myself falling in love with sushi all over again in the unlikeliest of places. But like all relationships, the one I have with sushi in Santa Fe has seen its fair share of ups and downs. For every earth-shattering spicy tuna roll, a sad piece of tasteless masago nigiri with poorly prepared rice is usually never far behind. A recent addition to the downtown dining scene, however, has become a tempting and affordable mistress, luring locals and visitors away from the area's typical overpriced and/or chile-laden charms.
Tucked inside a tiny building (formerly a Cold Stone Creamery franchise) on the Water Street side of the Santa Fe Arcade, Sushi Land East makes great use of its limited street-level real estate.
The atmosphere is simple, contemporary, and clean: dark wooden furnishings, bright orange wall accents, and Japanese art. During peak lunch hours, the counter/cash register area can become bottlenecked with ravenous local patrons seeking quick, tasty takeout.
Chef Masa (not of Masa Sushi fame, but a longtime sushi chef at Santa Fe's Shohko Café) commands an ultra-compact sushi station that includes four counter seats. Four or five tables are also available, and most allow a view of Masa while he creates predominantly drop-dead gorgeous, near-flawless rolls and nigiri-zushi. The owners also provide a few stools for waiting customers and curious wanderers who just want a peek at the menu, which boasts more than 20 seafood and vegetarian rolls; 26 nigiri sushi (raw fish layered with or wrapped around rice) offerings; soups; hot and cold appetizers; rice and noodle bowls; weekday sit-down bento-box lunches; and combination plates. The menu is usually complemented by up to nine special rolls listed in English on a blackboard, which usually rests on the floor -- below eye level for most people -- or outside on a small table. I also discovered the hard way that phoning ahead to find out what special rolls are available can be fairly time-consuming, if not impossible. A language barrier and a skeleton-crew floor staff make the case for ordering your takeout in person, but folks dining at tables certainly won't be as enthusiastic as the owners will be to see and hear the lunch-rush overflow. During the day at least, Sushi Land East probably isn't the best setting for a job interview, a romantic rendezvous, a wedding proposal, or a breakup.
Noodling the soba
A takeout order of three sushi rolls and a bowl of vegetable udon-noodle (made with wheat flour) soup made its way safely to my nearby office
(I was on foot), and despite its being served in foam containers, sushi-roll presentation was top-notch. The expected accompaniments -- packets of soy sauce, pickled ginger, wasabi, and chopsticks -- are provided, but on my pickup visit, the wasabi was bland, cakey, and dried out. The Santa Fe roll was the least impressive of the bunch: cooked-shrimp and green-chile tempura with cold avocado, cucumber, and spicy mayonnaise didn't blend well, the cold ingredients softening and melting into a nondescript blob with soggy, warm tempura. A spider roll of soft-shell crab tempura, paired with avocado and cucumber, presented the ingredients with a pleasantly cool temperature throughout, and the crab retained its signature briny crunch.
The breakaway roll was the Tokyo, a transcendent combination of slightly oily yellowtail (traditionally considered out of season until the wintertime, but here, it's a fish out of water anyway) and slivers of green onion topped with firm, ruby-red tuna, ripe avocado, and crisp slivers of bright-yellow takuan (daikon radish) pickle. Complemented by perfectly cooked and seasoned pearls of rice, the Tokyo roll is a meditation in Santa Fe-sushi excellence. The vegetable udon-noodle soup was ho-hum: slightly overcooked noodles and a few chunks of textureless bok choy and seaweed in an overly brackish broth that -- beware, vegetarians -- smacked of heavy-handed bonito seasoning (dried tuna flakes).
On a weekend night in early August, a pre-sunset dinner for two at Sushi Land East completely redefined for me what a great sushi-restaurant meal in Santa Fe can be. It took a while for our server to reach our table (that takeout phone never stopped ringing, and the restaurant's tables were all occupied by 6:30 p.m., with only two people to man the floor and register and take phone orders), but once she had us in her sights, we were well on our way to a memorable meal.
We ordered two small decanters of sake to start, and while the list was short and one of our desired choices was unavailable, our server promptly supplied us with a descriptive sake pamphlet to help guide us through alternate choices. We shared the cold decanters: one of Mu Junmai Daiginjou and one of Kanchiku Junmai Daiginjou -- both dry, filtered, slightly toasty, fruity selections that stood up well to the sweet flesh of the marvelous sushi.
I ordered the spider roll again, and it was just as brilliantly cool, crisp, and comforting as it was when I ordered it for takeout. A heat-seeking tuna roll with ripe avocado and crisp cucumber floored us with its slowly evolving, throat-tickling spice, lean and delicate flesh, and perfectly cooked rice. A piece of picture-perfect toro nigiri (that prized, fatty tuna belly nestled atop a hand-packed oval of rice) had us both in awe. I've not had a toro this good in Santa Fe -- ever. A generous pile of wasabi -- this time slightly wet and properly aggressive toward the sinuses -- was used sparingly.
A cup of white miso soup with tofu, scallions, and seaweed was flavorful, but it arrived a bit tepid. A bowl of equally cool, square-shaped soba noodles (made with buckwheat and wheat flour) with crisp vegetables in broth was texturally pleasing but offered little else. Mochi ice cream (sweetened, glutinous rice dough wrapped around traditional ice cream) was the only dessert option, and while it sounded more wholesome than anything Cold Stone Creamery might have offered, we weren't quite ready to let go of that spicy tuna's tastebud-tantalizing effect.
If I were dining at a place called Noodle Land East, I might quibble more about the quality of the food. Instead, especially given this restaurant's location on the globe, I thank my lucky stars that Masa's main focus is the safe and superior preparation of raw fish. I wonder if noodles, especially lukewarm forgettable ones, are even necessary here. Surrounded by upscale galleries, Sushi Land East could also be considered a purveyor of fine art, albeit the ephemeral kind that requires chopsticks -- not to mention a willingness to cast snobbishness aside. <
Check, please
Takeout lunch for two at Sushi Land East:
Santa Fe roll $ 5.00
Spider roll $ 7.00
Tokyo roll $ 9.00
Bowl, vegetable udon-noodle soup $ 7.95
TOTAL $ 28.95
(before tax and tip)
Dinner for two at Sushi Land East:
Personal decanter, Mu Junmai
Daiginjou sake $ 14.00
Personal decanter, Kanchiku
Junmai Daiginjou sake $ 13.00
Spider roll $ 7.00
Spicy tuna roll $ 5.50
1 piece, toro nigiri sushi $ 4.50
Cup, white miso soup $ 2.00
Soba noodle soup $ 7.25
TOTAL $ 53.25
(before tax and tip)
Sushi Land East
60 E. San Francisco St., 102-A, Santa Fe Arcade (entrance on Water Street), 820-1178
Lunch 11:30-3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon-3:30 p.m. Saturday; dinner 5-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday; closed Sunday
Takeout available
Beer & wine (mostly sake)
Noise level: moderate, piped-in jazz some weekend evenings
Handicapped-accessible for takeout, some seating may be difficult
Credit cards, no checks
The Short Order
Hunting for sushi in landlocked Santa Fe isn't nearly the struggle it was 20 years ago, but the quest for great sushi here never ends. Relative new kid on the block Sushi Land East fulfills a long-standing craving for local raw-fish fetishists who work and play downtown. Don't let the small space near more expensive eateries fool you: chef Masa delivers some of the finest sushi in Santa Fe, and much of it is easy on the wallet. Unfortunately, the noodles are a letdown. Recommended: the softshell-crab-tempura spider roll and the toro nigiri sushi.
REVIEW
When I moved back to Santa Fe from the Pacific Northwest almost 20 years ago, I never imagined this town would eventually become home to so many sushi restaurants. At the time, naive as I was about how fresh and fresh-frozen fish travel across the country -- and operating under a Seattle seafood snob's assumption that any sushi found in the landlocked regions of the Southwest was better off being called "bait" and sold in tackle shops -- I steered clear of pretty much all sushi in Santa Fe for nearly a decade.
Fishing for compliments
It was only fitting, then, that my very first freelance assignment as a restaurant reviewer for Pasatiempo was (oh goody) a strip-mall sushi joint -- Masa Sushi, to be precise. The experience immediately shattered my misconceptions about eating raw fish here. I found myself falling in love with sushi all over again in the unlikeliest of places. But like all relationships, the one I have with sushi in Santa Fe has seen its fair share of ups and downs. For every earth-shattering spicy tuna roll, a sad piece of tasteless masago nigiri with poorly prepared rice is usually never far behind. A recent addition to the downtown dining scene, however, has become a tempting and affordable mistress, luring locals and visitors away from the area's typical overpriced and/or chile-laden charms.
Tucked inside a tiny building (formerly a Cold Stone Creamery franchise) on the Water Street side of the Santa Fe Arcade, Sushi Land East makes great use of its limited street-level real estate.
The atmosphere is simple, contemporary, and clean: dark wooden furnishings, bright orange wall accents, and Japanese art. During peak lunch hours, the counter/cash register area can become bottlenecked with ravenous local patrons seeking quick, tasty takeout.
Chef Masa (not of Masa Sushi fame, but a longtime sushi chef at Santa Fe's Shohko Café) commands an ultra-compact sushi station that includes four counter seats. Four or five tables are also available, and most allow a view of Masa while he creates predominantly drop-dead gorgeous, near-flawless rolls and nigiri-zushi. The owners also provide a few stools for waiting customers and curious wanderers who just want a peek at the menu, which boasts more than 20 seafood and vegetarian rolls; 26 nigiri sushi (raw fish layered with or wrapped around rice) offerings; soups; hot and cold appetizers; rice and noodle bowls; weekday sit-down bento-box lunches; and combination plates. The menu is usually complemented by up to nine special rolls listed in English on a blackboard, which usually rests on the floor -- below eye level for most people -- or outside on a small table. I also discovered the hard way that phoning ahead to find out what special rolls are available can be fairly time-consuming, if not impossible. A language barrier and a skeleton-crew floor staff make the case for ordering your takeout in person, but folks dining at tables certainly won't be as enthusiastic as the owners will be to see and hear the lunch-rush overflow. During the day at least, Sushi Land East probably isn't the best setting for a job interview, a romantic rendezvous, a wedding proposal, or a breakup.
Noodling the soba
A takeout order of three sushi rolls and a bowl of vegetable udon-noodle (made with wheat flour) soup made its way safely to my nearby office
(I was on foot), and despite its being served in foam containers, sushi-roll presentation was top-notch. The expected accompaniments -- packets of soy sauce, pickled ginger, wasabi, and chopsticks -- are provided, but on my pickup visit, the wasabi was bland, cakey, and dried out. The Santa Fe roll was the least impressive of the bunch: cooked-shrimp and green-chile tempura with cold avocado, cucumber, and spicy mayonnaise didn't blend well, the cold ingredients softening and melting into a nondescript blob with soggy, warm tempura. A spider roll of soft-shell crab tempura, paired with avocado and cucumber, presented the ingredients with a pleasantly cool temperature throughout, and the crab retained its signature briny crunch.
The breakaway roll was the Tokyo, a transcendent combination of slightly oily yellowtail (traditionally considered out of season until the wintertime, but here, it's a fish out of water anyway) and slivers of green onion topped with firm, ruby-red tuna, ripe avocado, and crisp slivers of bright-yellow takuan (daikon radish) pickle. Complemented by perfectly cooked and seasoned pearls of rice, the Tokyo roll is a meditation in Santa Fe-sushi excellence. The vegetable udon-noodle soup was ho-hum: slightly overcooked noodles and a few chunks of textureless bok choy and seaweed in an overly brackish broth that -- beware, vegetarians -- smacked of heavy-handed bonito seasoning (dried tuna flakes).
On a weekend night in early August, a pre-sunset dinner for two at Sushi Land East completely redefined for me what a great sushi-restaurant meal in Santa Fe can be. It took a while for our server to reach our table (that takeout phone never stopped ringing, and the restaurant's tables were all occupied by 6:30 p.m., with only two people to man the floor and register and take phone orders), but once she had us in her sights, we were well on our way to a memorable meal.
We ordered two small decanters of sake to start, and while the list was short and one of our desired choices was unavailable, our server promptly supplied us with a descriptive sake pamphlet to help guide us through alternate choices. We shared the cold decanters: one of Mu Junmai Daiginjou and one of Kanchiku Junmai Daiginjou -- both dry, filtered, slightly toasty, fruity selections that stood up well to the sweet flesh of the marvelous sushi.
I ordered the spider roll again, and it was just as brilliantly cool, crisp, and comforting as it was when I ordered it for takeout. A heat-seeking tuna roll with ripe avocado and crisp cucumber floored us with its slowly evolving, throat-tickling spice, lean and delicate flesh, and perfectly cooked rice. A piece of picture-perfect toro nigiri (that prized, fatty tuna belly nestled atop a hand-packed oval of rice) had us both in awe. I've not had a toro this good in Santa Fe -- ever. A generous pile of wasabi -- this time slightly wet and properly aggressive toward the sinuses -- was used sparingly.
A cup of white miso soup with tofu, scallions, and seaweed was flavorful, but it arrived a bit tepid. A bowl of equally cool, square-shaped soba noodles (made with buckwheat and wheat flour) with crisp vegetables in broth was texturally pleasing but offered little else. Mochi ice cream (sweetened, glutinous rice dough wrapped around traditional ice cream) was the only dessert option, and while it sounded more wholesome than anything Cold Stone Creamery might have offered, we weren't quite ready to let go of that spicy tuna's tastebud-tantalizing effect.
If I were dining at a place called Noodle Land East, I might quibble more about the quality of the food. Instead, especially given this restaurant's location on the globe, I thank my lucky stars that Masa's main focus is the safe and superior preparation of raw fish. I wonder if noodles, especially lukewarm forgettable ones, are even necessary here. Surrounded by upscale galleries, Sushi Land East could also be considered a purveyor of fine art, albeit the ephemeral kind that requires chopsticks -- not to mention a willingness to cast snobbishness aside. <
Check, please
Takeout lunch for two at Sushi Land East:
Santa Fe roll $ 5.00
Spider roll $ 7.00
Tokyo roll $ 9.00
Bowl, vegetable udon-noodle soup $ 7.95
TOTAL $ 28.95
(before tax and tip)
Dinner for two at Sushi Land East:
Personal decanter, Mu Junmai
Daiginjou sake $ 14.00
Personal decanter, Kanchiku
Junmai Daiginjou sake $ 13.00
Spider roll $ 7.00
Spicy tuna roll $ 5.50
1 piece, toro nigiri sushi $ 4.50
Cup, white miso soup $ 2.00
Soba noodle soup $ 7.25
TOTAL $ 53.25
(before tax and tip)
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