Located at 511 State Street, Awi Sushi brings another option for sushi downtown.
Awi Sushi is a small chain from Colorado, having three locations in the state and recently opening an additional location in Milwaukee along with Madison.
Awi, the owner, has worked with sushi for over 15 years sharing his passion for Japanese cuisine. The restaurant offers more than 70 specially made rolls by sushi chefs.
My first impression of the menu was overwhelmingly positive, specifically because of the price and quality of the selections. Regular rolls like Philadelphia or California cost $5.99. They have three tiers of specialty rolls with the first tier costing $9.99, the second tier being $10.99 and the third tier costing $11.99. Several of their specials are under $15.00 as well.
There were many options, which felt overwhelming, but also fun because there were various types of ingredients and flavors.
I ordered three rolls. My first one was a classic Philadelphia roll, which has salmon, cream cheese, cucumber and avocado. You can’t go wrong with this roll — it’s simple and delicious. Truthfully, if I was looking to have the classic rolls like Philadelphia, California, tuna and avocado, I would probably choose somewhere else. But nonetheless, I enjoyed it though I got two more complex rolls so this wasn’t necessary.
Next, I tried the New York Roll. This was a house special that had tempura shrimp and crab meat inside and shredded crab, white sauce and crunch on the outside. I really enjoyed this roll. I got it mainly for the shrimp tempura and the crunch but I was iffy on the crab — it ended up being delicious.
Finally, I tried the Maui roll. Inside it has salmon, white tuna, pineapple and cucumber and outside there’s tuna, mango with white sauce and coconut flakes. This roll caught my eye because of the pineapple — I’m a huge fan of it on my pizza — but unfortunately, the flavor was missing. I did really enjoy the roll regardless because it tasted very fresh, I would get it again.
My two friends also joined me. They both ordered the Butterfly roll, which had cream cheese and shrimp tempura on the inside and sliced avocado, white sauce and crunch on the outside. This was my favorite roll. For those who love cream cheese and shrimp tempura, I would highly recommend it.
They both also ordered the miso soup. While we all agreed the broth itself was good, we weren’t fans of the pieces of tofu inside.
Along with those, one friend tried the spicy California roll. This has crab meat, avocado, cucumber and spicy mayo. She had originally asked for a regular California roll but noted the spicy mayo that came on top of the spicy California Roll was not spicy at all.
Finally, my other friend ordered the Shumai, a shrimp steamed dumpling that came with white sauce on the side. I really enjoyed the combination of the dumpling dough and the white sauce but we all agreed the shrimp on the inside did not have much flavor.
Overall, I did enjoy trying this restaurant and thought all the dishes were so worth the price. The location is also a plus being at the heart of State Street. Overall, I rate it an 8/10. There are other sushi restaurants I enjoyed more but if I was looking to eat the specialized rolls, this would be the place I visit.
