Wakame Sushi & Asian Bistro - Kansas Sushi Comes To Calhoun Village

[Jeremy Iggers]

What kind of sushi do they eat in Kansas? Cream cheese sushi, of course. I stopped for lunch the other day at Wakame Sushi & Asian Bistro, the new Japanese restaurant that replaced Three Fish in Calhoun Village. I asked our very friendly and attentive server whether the proprietors also owned other restaurants locally, and was told no, but they did own another restaurant just like Wakame in Kansas.

I opted for the shrimp tempura bento box, and Carol chose the sushi roll special - two rolls of your choice. Carol tried to select rolls that did not contain cream cheese, and quickly discovered that this wasn't easy. The Alaska roll, Boston roll, Philadelphia roll - all made with cream cheese. "A lof of our rolls are made with cream cheese, our server informed us. Even my shrimp tempura bento box came with cream cheese wontons.

I don't know whether all that cream cheese is a Kansas thing, but it certainly isn't a Japanese thing. But neither are any of the other exotic rolls that have become popular in US sushi restaurants, and besides, with Mt Fuji, Tango Sushi, Fuji-ya, Tiger Sushi and the sushi counter at Lund's all within a stone's throw of Calhoun Village, it makes sense for Wakame to offer something different.

Actually, they offer a number of dishes that you won't find on most sushi restaurant menus, including Thai curries, crab cakes, "Tokyo-style" lamb, and a whole red snapper with a Thai-style sweet and sour vegetable mix ($26.950.

At any rate, the shrimp tempura in my bento box were very crispy,generously portioned, and came with miso soup, a bit of green salad, white rice, and a crispy fried spring roll with a curry-flavored filling. Carol opted for the spicy tuna roll and the shrimp tempura roll, which tasted about the same as they do everywhere else.

I would like to go back and try some of the Thai specialties, such as the red snapper or the chicken in green curry, stewed in coconut milk, green curry, Asian eggplant, bell pepper and fresh Thai basil ($10.95). If I understood our server correctly, those dishes are prepared by a chef who learned Thai cooking from a real Thai chef back in Kansas.

3070 Excelsior Blvd. #206, Minneapolis, [phone].

[Stuart Borken]

It takes a lot of guts in this economic climate to open up a restaurant. Wakame should succeed. I have been there with a party of 4 and we loved everything that came to our table. We had the table top covered with appetizers, none of which had cream cheese. Being lactose intol. I watch that closely. Three of the four entrees were wonderful. The person with the 4th does not share. The massaman curry was wonderful, everything it should be. The yellow curry was hot and wonderful as well. The pad Thai was one of the best I've had, moist and flavored with each of the 4 seasonings you want to savor, sweet, salt, hot and lime/sour. So good. One of the diners asked for Szechuan green beans. The waiter returned with the information that the last order had been served and the kitches was out of beans. I quietly (yes, I can be quiet) suggested that Whole Foods was next door. The waiter smiled and left the table. He returned in 5 minutes and said that "someone" ran next door and the beans will be served. He earned a 25% gratuity that evening.
Hot food came hot, cold food came cold. Cocktails were inventive and good. All in all, I would strongly recommend it. Don't be picky about cream cheese on your sushi, go and try it, you might like it. After all, what is lox with cream cheese, the original Yiddish sushi, am I not right?
Stu Borken