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Yen Sushi and Sake Bar in northwest Phoenix

Yen Sushi and Sake Bar in Phoenix

Yen Sushi and Sake Bar Review

Yen Sushi and Sake Bar is nestled in a small strip mall in north west Phoenix. It’s rather unobtrusive from the outside but once a new customer opens the tinted door they easily come to realize that the unobtrusive nature is strictly intentional. It’s is peaceful, quiet, and dim, just perfect for some perfect sushi.

The interior of the restaurant is dimly lit. Shades hang down the entire expanse of windows, keeping the restaurant cool as well. Don’t worry about the darkness though, apart from a handful of patrons the only thing it’s hiding is some of the best tasting sushi in the Phoenix area.

As usual we started with an appetizer, this time it was the Crunchy Calamari ($5). The discounted prices on the happy hour menu just made it taste even better. The calamari was served in 5-6 separate battered and deep fried pieces with a special thin sauce. They were good, but not spectacular. I guess in the future we might want to avoid deep fried… well, perhaps anything? If I felt just a little bit let down it didn’t take long to recover.

Not more than a couple of minutes after the appetizer was delivered to our table by a smiling hostess that same hostess also delivered the first roll of sushi, the Philadelphia Roll ($5). It included 8 pieces of rice wrapped avocado, asparagus and cream cheese topped with thin slices of pink, tender salmon. It was magnificent and the Crunchy Calamari was pushed out of the way and replaced by this wrapped, smooth, tasty piece of sushi accompanied by soy sauce, wasabi and sliced, light ginger.

Calamari Tempura Roll (back) and Spicy Tuna Roll ($5 each)

The Philadelphia Roll was just about ready to disappear for good when the rest of the sushi was brought out. It was a combined plate with a roll of Calamari Tempura ($5) and a roll of Spicy Tuna Tempura ($5). My clear favorite of the two was the Calamari Tempura. It was smooth and rich. The taste of calamari was clearly present but not so strong as to offset the tastes and texture of the rice and other ingredients. The fried Spicy Tuna didn’t quite ring my bell. The texture of the roll had not quite reached the point that I felt it would be best eaten at and instead of blending with the sushi the fried portions seemed to put on a taste of their own.

Philadelphia Roll with Salmon, Avocado, Asparagus and Creme Cheese ($5)

In general I would still highly recommend Yen Sushi and Saki Bar. While not everything ordered was outstanding, those sushi rolls that were more than easily picked up the slack for the rest. The Calamari and Philadelphia rolls were top notch and I don’t think it will be too long before I find myself sitting once again in it’s dark interior.

This is an unpaid review of Yen Sushi and Sake Bar at 17037 N 43rd Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85308. If you are associated with a restaurant, or know of a restaurant in the Phoenix valley that you would like us to review please contact us at Troy@Phoenix.org and we will see if we are able.