Sushi

Mr Minx and I had dinner at New Han Dynasty (4130 E. Joppa Road near Belair Road) last night. We go there for Chinese every 6 weeks or so when we need to restock at the big box store nearby, but this time we were there for the sushi. They installed a sushi bar a few weeks ago and are offering various types of sushi and sashimi, as well as favorites like tempura and teriyaki chicken.

Mr Minx ordered the sushi dinner sampler, which came with six or eight (I can't remember now) pieces of assorted nigiri and a California roll, plus miso soup and a salad. We were pleasantly surprised to find a piece of tako maki on the plate with a bracing bite of wasabi (seems that most places we go to don't bother with putting the dab of wasabi between fish and rice, not to mention offering octopus with the combination dinner). The California roll had been rolled in tobiko, which I love, the soup portion was very generous, and the salad's bright-tasting carrot and ginger dressing had been recently made. Good all around.

I ordered shrimp and vegetable tempura and it was perfect - crispy and lightly browned, with a tangy vinegar-based dipping sauce. All the tempura I've had in recent years has been pale and soggy, and if not soggy when it came to the table, soggy within a brief period of time. This tempura stayed crisp until the last morsel was eaten.

We also tried two special maki rolls: the volcano roll with seared salmon topped with a broiled mayonnaise-based sauce, and the New Han Dynasty roll with eel, avocado, crab stick, and tobiko. While both had nice flavor, they were far too large in diameter, making it impossible to fit an entire piece in the mouth. And biting them was too messy. I spoke to both our waitress and the sushi chef and suggested they make pieces more bite sized.

The prices are insanely reasonable - we could barely finish all that food and it was only $31.50. Of course, they are currently offering a 20% discount on sushi, so the regular price would be more like $38. Still, that's a good $20-$30 less than what we spend on an average sushi dinner.

Although we do love their Chinese food, it will be nice to have this option.