I was in NJ to spend some time with my mom around my birthday. We were on the hunt for somewhere local to eat in Somerville and she remembered a sushi restaurant that she had heard rave reviews about, Shumi. I did some mobile research and this place had AMAZING reviews. So we followed the directions and ended up… here…
Hmmm. That isn’t exactly the most inspiring place to get sushi, however, I was willing to try it and see how strip mall sushi was.
We started with miso soup. I don’t LOVE miso soup. It is usually a bit too bland, either totally under or over salted, and the texture of tofu is not my favorite. This, on the other hand, was delicious. Good flavor, good broth, and more than 2 chunks of tofu and a slice of carrot hanging around in the bowl.
Next we ordered a special… Monkfish liver. I had only had it once before and while I was skeptical about strip mall sushi, I decided I was going to go all the way. This was awesome. My mom couldn’t get past the idea of monkfish liver enough to enjoy it, but I just ate this up (very literally). It was perfectly cooked, seasoned, and dressed. Scrumptious.
Even the salad that came with the emal was good. The ginger dressing tasted much more fresh and anyone who dares to put a beet in my salad is a friend, in my opinion.
We decided to go Omakase (chef chooses what he serves you). I cannot remember for the life of me what the special things were, but I do remember Spanish mackerel and some kind of Japanese fluke I had never heard of. Each bite was better than the last. Fresh… filled with flavor… And even the rice was somehow special.
I was absolutely impressed by this place.
I would say this sushi rivaled many of the good (and much more expensive) sushi in NYC. And this was in NJ… in a strip mall! I have to start being less of a judgmental snob.
Total Nom Points: 8 out of 10
