Sushispotting: Marineopolis Sushi Land, Sushi & Teriyaki Express, FishForDinner.com

Sushispotting is a multipart series to review all 15 sushi restaurants in Downtown Bellevue. See the whole Sushispotting series here.

#8 Sushispotting: Marineopolis Sushi Land

So way back in the 1990’s an Asian friend of mine excitedly told me that not only should we try a new sushi joint, but that this place had sushi on a CONVEYOR BELT, just like in his hometown of Tokyo; all the raw fish goodness, right there for the taking, in front of your greedy face. I of course readily agreed to join him for lunch – I had heard of this novelty, but couldn’t believe it had come to Downtown Bellevue.

10+ years and many franchise locations later, Marineopolis Sushiland hasn’t changed much. It sports the same crowded parking lot, the same jam-packed cluster of customers anxiously awaiting a seat at the belt, and the cheapo prices. They did upgrade from crappy stools to real chairs, and paint the walls, but other than that it’s the 1990’s all over again…and that’s not a bad thing.

The roll and nigiri variety were a bit limited, even at the height of lunch hour, but all the old standbys were there – spicy tuna roll, salmon nigiri, tempura roll, edamame beans…and you can always request something you don’t see (though asking and actually getting can prove to be 2 entirely different challenges).

Given that Downtown Bellevue now has 4 conveyor belt, or kaiten, sushi joints in the Downtown Core, each place requires something to make it stand out from the others. With Sushiland Marineopolis, it’s the price. The plates range in price from just $1 to $3, which is pretty cheap, even for kaiten. Now, I’m not saying Sushiland is the freshest, or even the best of the 4 kaiten in the Core; I’m just sayin’ that if your funds are low, and your sushi jones is high, this could be the place for you.

And now I’m gonna share a cheapie deal with you. Go here:

http://printmecoupon.com/Coupons/27120/Marineopolis-Sushiland-Bellevue

Freshness: 2 fishies
Roll/Menu Variety: 3 fishies
Value/Cost: 5 fishies
Downtown Bellevue Core Walking Distance: 5 fishies
Proper Sushi Ambience: 3 fishies
Overall Deliciousness: 2 fishies
TOTAL: 20 fishies

Marineopolis Sushiland
138 107th Ave NE
(425) 455-2793
http://www.sushilandusa.com/
Daily 11am – 9pm

#9 Sushispotting: Sushi & Teriyaki Express

Sushi & Teriyaki Express has been in the Swensen’s Plaza for awhile now (side note – is it even called that anymore? Does anyone besides me remember going to Swensen’s for ice cream in the 1980’s?), but I shall admit that I have never been drawn to it until now. When I got a flyer shoved under my front door advertising “Free sushi delivery by bicycle in the Downtown Bellevue area!” my obvious response was, given that cycling and sushi are 2 of my favorite flavors, tell me more; you had me at “Free.”

OK then. Here goes.

Let me say that I really wanted to like this place. I really wanted to indulge in sushi, delivered magically by bicycle.

As I usually do, I ordered the bento box. For me, a bento shows all the dishes that a sushi joint does best, as well as a good example of its pricing. So for $13 and a long 15-minute wait, I got miso soup, a salad dressed in an undetermined brownish liquid, 4 gyoza pot stickers, and a choice of a 2-piece nigiri and 8-piece roll. For my sushi, what I received was a spicy salmon roll, that was neither spicy nor raw (it was mixed in with smoked salmon), served with white rice that, not being sticky sushi rice, was completely bland and proceeded to fall apart upon first prodding of my chopsticks…and that was kind of the highlight.

Maybe I hit them on a bad day; all I know is, eating imperfect sushi causes grave internal sadness.

Color me sad.

Freshness: 1 fishies
Roll/Menu Variety: 3 fishies
Value/Cost: 3 fishies
Downtown Bellevue Core Walking Distance: 5 fishies
Proper Sushi Ambience: 1 fishies
Overall Deliciousness: 1 fishies
TOTAL: 14 fishies

Sushi & Teriyaki Express
10630 NE 8th St
(425) 635-2031
http://sushiexpresstogo.com/
No hours listed.

#10 Sushispotting: FishForDinner.com

FishForDinner.com opened on Bellevue Way a few years ago, across from the new Safeway. Let me say that I love this place; I can pick up sushi-grade fish on the way home from work, and have sake or tekka don for dinner. And it’s wholesale, so instead of dropping $20/per pound at Uwajimaya, it’s considerably less expensive.

That being said, I also used to love their takeaway pre-made sushi. So I made not 1, but 2 attempts to stop by and grab some Sushi-Spotting lunch. What did I find? Both times, their pre-made sushi coolers were completely empty and there was no counter help to be found. So I gave ‘em 2, count ‘em 2, tries, but a girl has limits on her patience. I’m guessing that while they do indeed still sell whole fish, FishForDinner.com is no longer in the takeaway sushi biz. Color me sad. Again.

Freshness: 0 fishies
Roll/Menu Variety: 0 fishies
Value/Cost: 0 fishies
Downtown Bellevue Core Walking Distance: 5 fishies
Proper Sushi Ambience: 0 fishies
Overall Deliciousness: 0 fishies
TOTAL: 5 fishies, though I’m just going to go ahead and give it a DNF (for you non-racing fans, that’s “Did Not Finish”)

SushiForDinner.com
225 Bellevue Way Northeast
(425) 637-4908
http://www.fishfordinner.com/ 
Tuesday – Saturday 11am – 7pm