Saturday, September 03, 2011

Lee's Fresh Sushi

Lee's Fresh Sushi
6646 Poplar
681-0111


One of our favorite places to go when we are in a hurry is Lee's Fresh Sushi, a.k.a. "Gas Station Sushi." Yes, sushi in a gas station. It was one of my go to's for a quick lunch, and ever since I introduced it to the monkeys (Satchel, 9, and Jiro, 7) it has been ON. (One of our favorite things to do is to sneak it into the movies, shhh!)

On Friday night after a Target run (the monkeys have been saving their money for Nerf guns) we did a quick drive through.



Since we go so often, the monkeys don't spend too much time perusing the shelves. They go right for their favorite--the crunchy shrimp tempura with eel sauce but without spicy sauce.




Last night a woman walked by, looked at the monkeys with sushi in hand, and asked amazed, "You eat that?" They grinned and looked at each other. I assured her that there weren't any vegetables involved other than a little seaweed. Basically this is the chicken nuggets of sushi rolls. (In their defense they do like quite a range of sushi. Satchel has been known to down three house rolls at Sekisui and beg for a fourth.)

I really like the shrimp tempura roll. I'm pretty sure it is their biggest seller. I'm often tempted to get one with spicy sauce for myself, but the monkeys rarely eat all of theirs, so I settle for their cast offs. I typically get the spicy tuna or the spicy crawfish.



Instead of avocado, which tends to brown, they use cucumbers in most of their rolls. They also have a special rice formula that keeps it from getting hard. They make sushi fresh all day, but they still have to be mindful of the fact that it can be refrigerated for several hours.

In addition to sushi they have edamame, seaweed salad, squid salad, dumplings, and egg rolls. We usually stick to sushi although I have tried the squid salad a couple of times.

Each sushi roll is about $6 and has 12 pieces--a very good deal. Even better, with every four you buy, the fifth is free. You also get a free Coke product with every two rolls you buy.



I've completely eliminated soft drinks from my diet so I tried to pass on the free drink, but the check out dude was insistent. "You can get a Dasani," he told me. While we debated, Jiro quickly ran and got a Diet Sprite. I relented. Honestly I was happy that was all Jiro tried to sneak in. Going to the gas station for dinner can backfire when the monkeys remember that the candy and chip aisles exist.

Once in the car, it is time to eat. There are chopsticks available, but we usually just use our fingers like they do in Japan. Likewise, we don't use any soy sauce. Smothering sushi in soy sauce and wasabi is very American and quite rude especially if done in front of the sushi chef. But I say if you are eating sushi from a gas station you can make up your own rules.



Don't forget the napkins!

Lee's Fresh Sushi and Deli on Urbanspoon

1 comment:

Paul Knipple said...

Congratulations on finally stepping up your reviews and going to high class places. :-) Lee's is one of our favorite places anywhere. We wrote about them as part of a piece that should be out next year.

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