18291 Highland Rd. Ste. 100-103
http://www.hellosushi.com
By: Chad
Of all the cuisines available to enjoy in our area, the one that currently has my attention is sushi. Like most, I started out some time back with the safest of offerings, and only briefly glancing with raised eyebrow at the more exotic fare. As time passed and my sushi eating became more frequent, I became more daring and now enjoy many of the raw items, and have found them to be delicious.
At last count, there were about twenty different places in and around the city offering sushi. I have visited most, and many are quite good, but my favorite remains Hello Sushi. They have two locations, one near LSU, and the other on the opposite end of the city, at Highland Rd and I-10.
You get a pretty good idea of what to expect there by visiting their website. The ultra-modern, innovative look and feel of the site is carried throughout the restaurant itself in its stylish appearance. This is also carried out in the menu offerings, which consist of much more than just sushi. Tasty appetizers like edamame and the gyoza dumplings are fairly standard and done well here, but it’s the more innovative dishes like the Japanese twist on jalapeno poppers called Hellopeno Poppers that steal the show. This dish takes the jalapeno pepper and stuffs it with snow crab and cream cheese, then breads it with panko (Japanese bread crumbs) and fries it to a delicious golden brown. It is served with wasabi ranch sauce for dipping. Another innovative dish is the sushi pizza. Snow crab, crawfish, and spicy shrimp are baked in a savory sauce, then placed atop a fried rice patty and topped with smelt roe and green onions. It makes for an exciting way to enjoy Japanese food.
Of course the star of the show is the sushi. All of the raw items I have sampled have been very fresh, and full of flavor. Most of the traditional rolls that can be found at any sushi house are present here, and all are done well. Of these, one of the most popular is the crunchy roll. Second to only the California in its popularity, this roll can be found in different forms depending on where you are. Here it consists of a tender snow crab mixture and tempura batter, and it is delicious. I’m practically convinced that they add an addictive substance to the mixture because it’s that good. More exciting and innovative offerings feature Louisiana ingredients, like the Orleans roll, combining a spicy crawfish mixture with asparagus, and the Johnny roll, which is loaded with crawfish, spicy tuna, spicy shrimp, and crab then fried in tempura batter. My two favorites though are the Evangeline roll and the Paradise roll. Both rolls feature shrimp as the main ingredient, and accentuate it with great flavors. The Evangeline features delicious pecan crusted shrimp and avocado, topped with a savory scallop mousse. The Paradise roll could practically be considered a dessert offering, featuring sweet coconut shrimp and creamy avocado topped with thinly sliced mango. I find the sweetness of this roll combined with the spiciness of my heavily wasabi laden soy sauce make for an explosion of flavor and taste.
For the non-sushi eaters, they offer some great alternatives, like teriyaki steak, chicken or salmon, chicken katsu, and others. If the sushi wasn’t so good, I might have actually tried one of these at some point myself. Friends I have dined with have had favorable reviews of the teriyaki offerings and enjoyed them very much.
Although you can see that I’m more geared toward the modern sushi offerings, Hello Sushi delivers great tasting sushi of every kind, in a fun and vibrant atmosphere that will leave you wanting to return.
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