Review: Downtown Sushi Spots

Submitted By: Issel
Department/Affiliation: Radiology / FM Kirby Center

Baltimore has a surprisingly good selection of sushi places. Here are a few of our particular favorites:

Nanami Cafe: Crispy Roll,
Spider Roll, Crunch Roll (Yum!)

• Nanami Cafè: This place has a great selection of sushi, with indoor cushions/tables and outdoor seating, located on the end of S. Ann Street in Fells Point next to the Urban Pirate Cruise. Our favorite is the Crispy Roll, which features smoked eel tempura and avocado on the inside, with a mountain of crunchy fried shrimp on top. The Crunch Roll, a fried tempura roll with smoked salmon, avocado, and eel is also quite delicious. (See photo.)


• Sticky Rice: With a website URL of "bmoresticky.com," this quirky Fells Point fixture features Asian fusion, with plenty of vegan and vegetarian options. (Vegan sushi?? Yes, indeed.) That said, our <3s belong to the "Drawn and Buttered" roll, which contains shrimp tempura, cucumber, and lump crab meat -- instead of the typical soy sauce, you can dip your sushi into melted butter. It's like a mini crab feast. The tater tots are totally yummy, too. LivingSocial often has discounts (i.e., buy $15 and get $30 to spend at Sticky Rice), which we totally recommend perusing.


• Chiu's Sushi: Next to Whole Foods in the Inner Harbor, with good specials and bento boxes. Note that if you buy something at Whole Foods, you can park for two hours for free in the parking garage connected to the building.


• Minato: Located in Mt. Vernon, this restaurant has a pretty good Happy Hour from Monday to Friday from 5p - 7pm (dine-in only), where the special maki rolls are $7.00 each.


• Ra Sushi: This place is pretty expensive, so we only go for the happy hour, which is Monday through Saturday from 3pm to 7pm, which features heavily discounted sushi (salmon nigiri, Viva Las Vegas Roll), appetizers (grilled short ribs), and tapas (garlic citrus yellowtail).

More suggestions? We'd love to hear them! Feel free to submit a blog post with your own recommendations! :)