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Sushi-Mon

By: The Lady of The Night Out

Why should you eat at Sushi-Mon?

LVNV is a late night town. You get hungry after dancin’ all night. Traditionally, the nocturnal feeders craved breakfast.

Today, breakfast is so passé. You can’t maintain your X-ray figure staring down greasy eggs and hash browns, even if they only cost 99 cents. The au courante alternative is: sushi.

Want to dine with Lance Burton? Drop by Hamada’s at 2 a.m. If you want to dine with me, drop by Sushi-Mon at that hour. You won’t have trouble finding the place – it’s the eatery with the crowds lined out the door at any time of morning or night.

Who should eat at Sushi-Mon?

Sushi aficionados. Sushi-Mon serves some of the freshest fish in town. The constant crowds inhale the goods, guaranteeing lots of turnover.
The adventurous. There are lots of items I haven’t seen since I visited Okinawa like fermented soy beans.
The lonely. You’re never lonely at a sushi bar; it’s a great place to meet people. This is especially true at Sushi-Mon, because the chefs have concocted special rolls large enough to feed friends. Soon, you’re sharing your experiments with your neighbors. The restaurant welcomes singles.
Late night diners. The last call for sushi is 2:30 a.m.
Folks watching their pennies. All you can eat lunch is just $18.95; all you can eat dinner is $23.95. What a bargain! The most popular menu item is the sushi lunch: five pieces of sushi, eight California rolls, miso soup and a salad for just $8.25.
Spectators. The only thing that matches the excitement of trying to figure out the locations on CSI is watching a sushi chef ply his craft. The knives glint. The fingers move in a blur. The result looks like jewelry.
People in a hurry. Sushi is the world’s fastest fast food.
Diners demanding the authentic. Every day Sushi-Mon imports a special fish from the homeland. I’ve seen amberjack and sayori as daily fish specials.

Who shouldn’t eat at Sushi-Mon?

The queasy. The menu at Sushi-Mon includes dozens of cooked items, including the traditional fried pork cutlets, shrimp tempura, and chicken teriyaki. You don’t have to eat raw fish. But you do have to watch everyone else eating the slimy stuff.
Folks who hate fish. There are some vegetarian and chicken items. But most of the items focus on denizens of the deep.
People who earn their living with their fingers. The green tea at Sushi-Mon is superb – but it’s served in a traditional Japanese cup with no handles. How do you pick up the mug that’s scorching hot and not damage the digits?

Ok, so what’s the food like? Sushi is sushi. The distinguishing factor between good and great is the freshness of the fish. I tried the yellowfish, shrimp, red snapper, and salmon. All were buttery yet pliable. Each one was densely fishy with subtle subtitles.

The fun is to sample the special rolls with your neighbors. My favorite was the Mingus roll, which, true to its name, had deep bass undertones. Raw spicy tuna, avocado, and cream cheese are assembled in a roll, then deep fried. Sushi-Mon believes in truth in advertising. This tuna was so spicy I thought my ears would smoke.

A more fanciful offering was the caterpillar roll. Eel and cucumber are rolled together and then covered with avocado. The chef uses two sprigs of watercress to look like antennae.

The volcano roll erupts with flavor. It’s a traditional California roll baked with scallops and yum yum sauce, which is still bubbling when the plate arrives. The yum yum sauce, a spicy, mayonnaise-like mixture, is orange, giving it a lava look as it drips down the roll.

Sushi max is also bathed in yum yum sauce. It’s a spicy tuna-cucumber roll topped with fresh shrimp.

Anyone who loves New Orleans will appreciate the flavors of the Orion roll. First, the kitchen sears albacore tuna in Cajun spices. Then the chefs make a roll mixing the Albacore with its cousin, spicy tuna, and cooking cucumbers as a counterpoint. It’s served with a garlic sauce guaranteed to keep the vampires at bay.

If you have an asbestos palate or just too much testosterone, try the 911 roll. The waiter must have told me three times it could dangerous if you can’t handle heat. (It’s obvious their lawyers made them do this.) It’s spicy tuna to the max. I was too chicken to attempt it; I’m going to suggest it to the Fear Factor folks.

The fried calamari here were far superior to the offerings in most Italian restaurants. The circles of chewy, crispy, tasty squid were dipped in tempura batter and flash fried. The best part: a brazen soy based sauce that will awaken your taste buds.

If you are a mussel man, try the meaty mollusks at Sushi-Mon. The green mussels are baked with a sweet, creamy coverlet.

Dessert in the desert: You must try the mochi ice cream. Chewy, jelly bean-like rice flour surrounds nougats of ice cream – the Japanese version of mix-ins. Flavors include vanilla, cappuccino, and strawberry. If you want an over the top dessert, it’s the fried ice cream. Pound cake encloses green tea ice cream, which is then flash fried so the ice cream doesn’t melt. This is a creamy version of green tea ice cream, not the gritty stuff you get in Japan.

History: Takashi Segawa, who grew up in Japan, opened the restaurant in November, 2001. Most of his staff spent their childhoods there, too.

The last word: There are over 80 sushi bars in the Valley. Sushi-Mon is one of the best. In addition to fresh, fresh fish, it has the largest variety of specialty rolls in the Valley. It’s open late; you can enjoy sushi at 2 p.m. or 2 a.m.

Where is it? 9770 S. Maryland Parkway at Silverado Ranch in the Smith’s shopping center (southeast corner.) The phone is 702.617.0241.

Website: http://www.sushi-mon.com

By: The Culinary Curmudgeon Lady of the Night Out

At this time of year, everyone’s always in a hurry. There’s no faster food than sushi. I sit at the sushi bar… I make eye contact with the master. I tell him what I want. While I’m attempting to spear a slice of fresh ginger with my chopsticks, two beautiful pieces of yellowtail have high tailed it to my spot.

I have to laugh at the menu’s admonition that you only have 60 minutes to ingest all the sushi you can eat. With the fish flying from those knives at mach speed, I’m outta there in 35 minutes or less. If I show up at Sushi- Mon at 2 in the morning, I’ve waited longer to get a seat.

I hate to admit it in public, but I’ve met most of my friends at Sushi-Mon. The restaurant serves these really cool specialty rolls that easily feed a family of eight. It’s impossible for one person to eat the whole thing. So you share. Since Biblical times, breaking bread with another human being encourages you to share your deep dark secrets. I’m hooked.

In the old days, before there were sushi restaurants on every corner, the best place to meet members of the opposite sex was the produce department at Lucky’s. Now raw fish restaurants like Sushi-Mon are the new meat markets. And why not -- it’s a great place to show off. Real men don’t eat quiche; they eat sea urchins without a flinch.

Another great reason to eat sushi in the winter. Who needs a decongestant when wasabi paste is at your disposal? That is the green stuff we should keep out of terrorist hands. Sometimes I think I’m tougher than I am and mistakenly add a little too much wasabi paste to my soy sauce. One dunk and I feel like a bomb went off in my nose. Act a little too cocky and you’ll end up at the ER at St. Rose.

I’ve always wanted to sample the caviar at Petrossian, that fancy caviar bar at the Bellagio. But the prices there equal one of my mortgage payments. The next best thing is the smelt eggs at Sushi-Mon. They look and taste exactly like the pricey stuff from Iran. Since Iran’s a part of the Axis of Evil, I feel like a real patriot swooning over smelt eggs instead.

Aired 02 December 2002

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