Last night we went to try a new sushi place with one of Calvin's co-workers who has eaten there a couple of times already. Zuma is down in a funky area of Highland Avenue, in a building that houses some swanky looking apartments above the retail spaces. I loved the area, there are some really cool cottage style houses around there that could use alot of TLC... maybe we'll check into that area if we sell the loft (which is going on the market soon). ANYway, we showed up and took some seats at the bar. The atmosphere was cool- it was dark and felt very private. There was a plasma screen behind each table and a large one behind the bar. It was showing a movie, but there wasn't any captioning and there was funky music coming over the speakers, so we were trying to follow along by just watching. Funny thing is I think we actually got most of it. The bar was interesting- the chairs were way comfy and the table part was just the right height for eating, but the reason I like sitting at the bar is so I can watch the chef in action... here the chef was at a higher elevation than we were and we couldn't see anything he did until he put it on the plate. We ordered some hot tea that was yummy bitter the way I like it to be when I eat sushi. The guys shared a Volcano Roll right off the bat that looked like a mountain of sauce- Calvin declared it to be the best Volcano Roll he'd ever had and scooped up every little bit of sauce he could with his chopsticks. I thought he was gonna lick the plate for a minute there. Then my Dragon Roll was placed in front of me. Wonderfully artsy presentation, and it tasted even better than it looked. It was huge- each piece made me look like a chipmunk while I was eating, and the whole plate was drizzled with the eel sauce and wasabi mayo. I think I could eat the wasabi mayo with every meal- it was that good. Soooooo much better than the spicy mayo I've had elsewhere. I also ordered a roll with eel and avocada but it was a little too sweet after the Dragon Roll. The kani nigiri was made with real crab meat, served with some radish sprouts which completely overpowered what little flavor the meat had. I could have made a meal out of just the one large roll, and maybe added a small appetizer, which might be what I do next time. Calvin had an assortment of nigiri that consisted of the regular sized rice underneath and about a mile long slice of fish on top. I have got to start taking my camera with us when we try a new spot because sometimes a picture can do so much more justice to a dish. The chef gave the guys a dish of yellowtail cheek which was sweet and just how I remembered from when we had it at our old regular spot. I think its safe to say that we'll be going back- I just wish it was closer to home.
Price: $$$$$
Service: *****
Quality:*****
Atmosphere: *****
