If you've been following Sushipalooza since last year (why??), you may recall the sad tale of Mochizuki, which went out of business just before I got around to visiting it. Well something new has finally opened up in it's space. Is it a coffee shop? A haberdashery? A Kinkos? Heavens no, it's another sushi place!
Well actually a sushi place / izakaya, because izakayas are the hot food trend of summer 2010. Sushi Queen Izakaya an offshoot of the popular (I think) Sushi Queen on Queen St., but with some extra izakaya-y stuff on the menu. Also some additional wacky maki rolls. I love wacky maki!
But first I got started with some wakame seaweed salad which much like any other wakame salad I've had (i.e. good). Then from the izakaya menu, a bacon enoki roll, which is exactly what it sounds like, assuming it sounds like enoki mushrooms wrapped in bacon and grilled. And also assuming it sounds tasty. Which it was.
As it happens, Sushi Queen Izakaya is right up the street from the ill-fated Tatami Sushibar (still closed by the way, and still scattered with remnants of lunches left by fleeing diners), and they've really stepped in to fill the void in over-the-top presentation. Complete with a glowing bowl of sprouts in the middle of my plate of Paris Rolls. The rolls themselves were pretty good too; like inside-out spicy tuna and salmon rolls topped with lobster salad.
But personally I preferred the Hawaiian Roll, which incidentally contained neither ham nor pineapple. Instead it was tempura shrimp, crab stick, cucumber and tobiko in a rice paper wrapping. Oh and mango I think. Was there mango? I forget. Well it was good either way. (Ed.: No mango, but salmon. Good thing I take pictures to refresh my memory!)
Sushi Queen Izakaya doesn't have the same fun atmosphere of the perpetually-packed Guu (which moved into Sushi Plaza's old digs a few months ago), but it does have some pretty decent food. And if you hustle, it's 20% off until the end of July, or something like that.