Rolling Through Tsubaki's
There has been no greater explosion of a foreign culture's food in the United States in recent history than sushi. While not loved by all, sushi has taken the world by storm and this insane rise in popularity has caused a major shift in the culinary world, because what was once restricted to Japan, and maybe a few other countries, at one time, is now available to anyone virtually anywhere!
If anyone's seen the documentary, "Jiro Dreams of Sushi," you know that making sushi in itself is an art form--a delicious art form. While its purpose in early history was more for the preservation of the fish inside so that people could travel without food going bad, this simple dish has evolved into something magnificent with a large variety of options, which has only grown as its popularity has become world-wide.
I've always loved sushi, and so I was brimming with excitement when I told Duy I wanted to try out a sushi place in our area. He knew the perfect spot: Tsubaki Japanese Steak House & Sushi Bar in Lufkin, Tx.
Walking into the establishment, which looks rather regular from the outside, I was hit with a wave of an appearance of authenticity with the interior decorations. Japanese paper lanterns hung from the ceiling, the color scheme of the place gave it a cool, calming vibe, and of course, there was the actual sushi bar in the middle of the restaurant. Behind it were two sushi chefs, working quickly and efficiently at slicing fish, pressing down on rice, assorting a mixture of vegetables, and wrapping it into a seaweed roll.
Naturally, Duy and I gravitated toward the bar, which is a more intimate setting since you get to watch the sushi chefs create the rolls you order right in front of your eyes.
There wasn't much room in our visit to get to know the owner/manager of the place, unfortunately, so we got right to ordering our food. It is no surprise that since East Texas is not exactly near pristine fishing waters, that sushi can be a little pricey, especially when ordering it from a restaurant, because most of the materials needed to create sushi are imported. A single Californian roll can typically run up to $7.00, easily.
However, Tsubaki's has a lunch special that I think is excellently priced and keep those of us who would like to eat sushi more regularly from having to give an arm and a leg to do so. Their lunch special is $11.95 and lets you pick out three rolls of sushi. Now, of course, the rolls you pick out won't be the extravagant specials that can run up to $20.00 a roll, but they do give a good selection of simpler rolls you wouldn't find in your average Kroger's sushi section, such as a yellowtail roll. On top of that, it also comes with an appetizer of a soup or a salad (I recommend the soups).
Our waiter came up to us and took our order after we had spent a few minutes looking through their rather extensive menu. We both ordered the lunch specials and got pretty much the same rolls which were the eel with avocado roll, smoked salmon skin roll, and a yellowtail roll with either cucumber or avocado. For our soups, Duy got miso and I got the house special, which I will go into in just a moment. Special rolls we ordered for ourselves was a yellowtail jalapeño roll for Duy and a tamago roll for myself -- tamago being, essentially, a japanese omelet, though because of the way they cook and season it, it is hardly anything like a western omelet.
Our soups came out right away, piping hot. Duy took a sip of his and immediately looked impressed.
"Not too salty," he said, "literally almost anywhere you go that serves miso they serve it too salty, but it's actually pretty good here!"
As for my house soup which was a similar type of broth to miso, though is also had sliced muscle or clam in it and honey was mixed into the broth, giving it a delicious and savory sweet yet salty contrast. The soup came in small clay bowls and only added to the sense of authenticity I felt about the place.
The sushi chefs started working on the rolls we had ordered. Duy pointed out the finesse of their work when they pulled out the full pink slab that was yellowtail. Before long, he had a white plate with five neatly packed balls of rice, each with a sizable piece of yellowtail laid out on top, and on top of that was a sliced bit of jalapeño finished off with a brown silky liquid that looked like eel sauce.
"If I could literally catch this in the ocean," Duy murmured as he picked up one of the pieces of sushi with his chopstick and placed it gently in his mouth. He bit down and closed his eyes momentarily in bliss before turning to me. "Only good things."
I nodded with a silly grin as I watched him devour the remaining pieces.
Moments later the remaining rolls we had ordered came out. For the lunch special, all three rolls were on the same, large, white plate, a fair distance apart from each other so they didn't touch, and placed neatly, so that it looked visually appealing. Under the lights hanging over the bar, the sauces poured over the sushi glistened. My tamago roll came on a separate plate and looked simple enough--a roll of rice with tamago in the middle and sushi enveloping the entire thing.
We dug in, trying each different roll first without the salty benefits of soy sauce, then with it. The rice itself was a little sweeter than sushi rice perhaps out to be, but it was very subtle--so subtle we had to each the rice by itself to make sure. The seaweed was a good freshness, not chewy which is a sign of bad seaweed. The freshness of each element in the rolls (vegetables, fish, etc.) was good, though Duy did have the misfortune of an unripe avocado with one of his rolls. In my opinion, that was just bad luck, because the avocado in my rolls was the soft, creamy goodness it needed to be to enhance the texture of the overall sushi.
"How's that tamago roll?" Duy asked me as I chewed on my first piece. I shrugged.
I'm going to be a little critical about the tamago roll, mostly because I've been to Japan and have had homemade, authentic tamago while I was there. There is supposed to be a sweetness in the egg that makes it unique from other types of omelettes and a soft but springy feel when you bite into it. I have high expectations for any place that has the courage to offer tamago in any of their dishes; and of course, since those expectations are based on my experience while in Japan, they will always be hard to meet.
All in all, however, the tamago roll was okay. I personally thought there was not enough sweetness in the egg, the texture was almost there, but not quite. For an establishment in East Texas, it was a good attempt. We learned later from our waiter that the tamago is not made there but is made somewhere else, brought to their location and then frozen for future use, which explains the texture to me. But all in all, certainly worth the $3.50 price for an entire roll of it.
As for the other rolls, the salmon skin was the most interesting, having a nice crunch when you bite into it. The eel roll was perfect, the actual meat just melted in our mouths and there was just the right amount of eel sauce so our taste buds weren't smothered in the thick sweetness of it. The yellowtail rolls we bought seemed to be overpowered by the cucumber or avocado that came with it. If you want to taste the actual fish, I recommend ordering the plain yellowtail roll, without the vegetables.
Duy and I ate in relative silence as the soccer game of the day played on the TV hanging over the bar. When we finished, we paid, and as we walked out I couldn't help thinking of how many pieces of sushi I just ate for the price I paid. In most sushi establishments, I would have been looking at a rather high bill for that much food. Lufkin is about a twenty-five minute drive from Nacogdoches, so eating there is not always the best thing to do if one just wants a quick bite. However, as I turned on my car and blasted the AC to counter the melting heat of the Texas summer sun, I knew if I ever wanted sushi again in this area, I would definitely be making the drive down.
***
EXTRA MESSAGE:
So, we ate at Tsubaki's weeks ago and obviously I didn't post the review for it until just now. There are many reasons for this delay (which I apologize for) that I will put down on another blog post, but hopefully from now on I will be able to post regularly every time Duy and I go out to eat at a new place. Don't worry! We're still here, eating new foods and we will be continuing to share our experiences with you. So stick with us for more food critiques, We appreciate all of our readers!
***
Ratings
Atmosphere -------- 4.6
Service ------------- 4
Food ---------------- 4.5
Presentation ------- 4.8
Pricing: Well-priced
Would return? Yes
Would recommend? Yes
***
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Tell us in a comment! Share this on Facebook,
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Follow me on Twitter: @Fansler96
 |
| Tsubaki's Japanese Steak House & Sushi Bar on 2301 S. First Street, Lufkin, TX 75901 |
If anyone's seen the documentary, "Jiro Dreams of Sushi," you know that making sushi in itself is an art form--a delicious art form. While its purpose in early history was more for the preservation of the fish inside so that people could travel without food going bad, this simple dish has evolved into something magnificent with a large variety of options, which has only grown as its popularity has become world-wide.
 |
| Part of Tsubaki's menu |
Walking into the establishment, which looks rather regular from the outside, I was hit with a wave of an appearance of authenticity with the interior decorations. Japanese paper lanterns hung from the ceiling, the color scheme of the place gave it a cool, calming vibe, and of course, there was the actual sushi bar in the middle of the restaurant. Behind it were two sushi chefs, working quickly and efficiently at slicing fish, pressing down on rice, assorting a mixture of vegetables, and wrapping it into a seaweed roll.
Naturally, Duy and I gravitated toward the bar, which is a more intimate setting since you get to watch the sushi chefs create the rolls you order right in front of your eyes.
 |
| Duy sitting at the bar |
However, Tsubaki's has a lunch special that I think is excellently priced and keep those of us who would like to eat sushi more regularly from having to give an arm and a leg to do so. Their lunch special is $11.95 and lets you pick out three rolls of sushi. Now, of course, the rolls you pick out won't be the extravagant specials that can run up to $20.00 a roll, but they do give a good selection of simpler rolls you wouldn't find in your average Kroger's sushi section, such as a yellowtail roll. On top of that, it also comes with an appetizer of a soup or a salad (I recommend the soups).
Our waiter came up to us and took our order after we had spent a few minutes looking through their rather extensive menu. We both ordered the lunch specials and got pretty much the same rolls which were the eel with avocado roll, smoked salmon skin roll, and a yellowtail roll with either cucumber or avocado. For our soups, Duy got miso and I got the house special, which I will go into in just a moment. Special rolls we ordered for ourselves was a yellowtail jalapeño roll for Duy and a tamago roll for myself -- tamago being, essentially, a japanese omelet, though because of the way they cook and season it, it is hardly anything like a western omelet.
Our soups came out right away, piping hot. Duy took a sip of his and immediately looked impressed.
"Not too salty," he said, "literally almost anywhere you go that serves miso they serve it too salty, but it's actually pretty good here!"
 |
| Left: Miso Soup Right: House Special |
The sushi chefs started working on the rolls we had ordered. Duy pointed out the finesse of their work when they pulled out the full pink slab that was yellowtail. Before long, he had a white plate with five neatly packed balls of rice, each with a sizable piece of yellowtail laid out on top, and on top of that was a sliced bit of jalapeño finished off with a brown silky liquid that looked like eel sauce.
"If I could literally catch this in the ocean," Duy murmured as he picked up one of the pieces of sushi with his chopstick and placed it gently in his mouth. He bit down and closed his eyes momentarily in bliss before turning to me. "Only good things."
I nodded with a silly grin as I watched him devour the remaining pieces.
Moments later the remaining rolls we had ordered came out. For the lunch special, all three rolls were on the same, large, white plate, a fair distance apart from each other so they didn't touch, and placed neatly, so that it looked visually appealing. Under the lights hanging over the bar, the sauces poured over the sushi glistened. My tamago roll came on a separate plate and looked simple enough--a roll of rice with tamago in the middle and sushi enveloping the entire thing.
We dug in, trying each different roll first without the salty benefits of soy sauce, then with it. The rice itself was a little sweeter than sushi rice perhaps out to be, but it was very subtle--so subtle we had to each the rice by itself to make sure. The seaweed was a good freshness, not chewy which is a sign of bad seaweed. The freshness of each element in the rolls (vegetables, fish, etc.) was good, though Duy did have the misfortune of an unripe avocado with one of his rolls. In my opinion, that was just bad luck, because the avocado in my rolls was the soft, creamy goodness it needed to be to enhance the texture of the overall sushi.
 |
| Yellowtail with Jalapeño sashimi |
 |
| Tamago roll |
"How's that tamago roll?" Duy asked me as I chewed on my first piece. I shrugged.
I'm going to be a little critical about the tamago roll, mostly because I've been to Japan and have had homemade, authentic tamago while I was there. There is supposed to be a sweetness in the egg that makes it unique from other types of omelettes and a soft but springy feel when you bite into it. I have high expectations for any place that has the courage to offer tamago in any of their dishes; and of course, since those expectations are based on my experience while in Japan, they will always be hard to meet.
All in all, however, the tamago roll was okay. I personally thought there was not enough sweetness in the egg, the texture was almost there, but not quite. For an establishment in East Texas, it was a good attempt. We learned later from our waiter that the tamago is not made there but is made somewhere else, brought to their location and then frozen for future use, which explains the texture to me. But all in all, certainly worth the $3.50 price for an entire roll of it.
As for the other rolls, the salmon skin was the most interesting, having a nice crunch when you bite into it. The eel roll was perfect, the actual meat just melted in our mouths and there was just the right amount of eel sauce so our taste buds weren't smothered in the thick sweetness of it. The yellowtail rolls we bought seemed to be overpowered by the cucumber or avocado that came with it. If you want to taste the actual fish, I recommend ordering the plain yellowtail roll, without the vegetables.
 |
| Lunch special -- Top: Yellowtail roll with cucumber, Middle: Salmon skin roll, Bottom: Eel roll |
Duy and I ate in relative silence as the soccer game of the day played on the TV hanging over the bar. When we finished, we paid, and as we walked out I couldn't help thinking of how many pieces of sushi I just ate for the price I paid. In most sushi establishments, I would have been looking at a rather high bill for that much food. Lufkin is about a twenty-five minute drive from Nacogdoches, so eating there is not always the best thing to do if one just wants a quick bite. However, as I turned on my car and blasted the AC to counter the melting heat of the Texas summer sun, I knew if I ever wanted sushi again in this area, I would definitely be making the drive down.
***
EXTRA MESSAGE:
So, we ate at Tsubaki's weeks ago and obviously I didn't post the review for it until just now. There are many reasons for this delay (which I apologize for) that I will put down on another blog post, but hopefully from now on I will be able to post regularly every time Duy and I go out to eat at a new place. Don't worry! We're still here, eating new foods and we will be continuing to share our experiences with you. So stick with us for more food critiques, We appreciate all of our readers!
***
Ratings
Atmosphere -------- 4.6
Service ------------- 4
Food ---------------- 4.5
Presentation ------- 4.8
Pricing: Well-priced
Would return? Yes
Would recommend? Yes
***
Like what you're reading? Subscribe to us here!
Have a suggestion of where we should go next?
Tell us in a comment! Share this on Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, with your friends, to the world!
Follow me on Twitter: @Fansler96
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