Ponzu Sushi & Grill

The new after school meal, date night spot, cheap and fulfilling dish is sushi. It has always been popular, but now it’s like its everywhere. As if everyone you know is eating sushi according to social media. While the Omahan sushi hotspots are Blue and Hiro 88, there are plenty of over restaurants that offer authentic Asian style sushi.

One of them being Ponzu Sushi and Grill. It is located in the heart of Askarben and offers a pleasing aesthetic to the optics. Walking inside instantly relaxes you because of its warm aura and color scale. Upon walking inside, the grill where the food is prepared is front and center, occupied by three cooks. There are two sides of Ponzu separated by a long sheer curtain and wall; one side being the bar and access to television and the other side being the two and four person tables. The restaurant is very modern and sleek.

On to what I ordered. I am a newcomer hopping on the sushi bandwagon. I had no idea what I wanted to order, so I asked my friends what’s the best thing to try first. They all suggested something with shrimp or crab. I took their advice and now I am giving the same advice to everyone else. At Ponzu Sushi, servers came right away with complementary water. It gave me time to figure out what I wanted besides a Cali House Roll. First, a Cali House Roll is a sushi roll with crab, avocado, and cucumber. It was delightful, yet peculiar in my mouth. I don’t try new foods very often and I’m not a huge fan of cucumber, but somehow, I liked the combination of crab, avocado, rice and cucumber. You get eight Cali rolls for six dollars, which is a fair deal because I thought it was quite fulfilling.

The second thing I ordered was the crispy shrimp. The Crispy Shrimp House Roll is tempura shrimp, unagi sauce and cucumber. While you get six rolls seven dollars this time, the presentation is marvelous. Ponzu has the shrimp tails sticking out of two the rolls and he unagi sauce is decorated on top. My final course of the meal was the Opah Cabana Roll. It is crab mix, avocado, cream cheese and tempura scallion topped with opah and yuzi Ponzu sauce. It is ten dollars for eight rolls. Granted, it is a sushi restaurant and it was my first time, I had no clue it was raw salmon on top of the Opah. I absolutely hated Opah. I tried the sushi with and without soy sauce, but it just was not working for me. It tasted like slimy jello that has no flavor but then the cucumber came and it made it worse.

Though, my favorite part of Ponzu were the Asian Sticky Wings. They were delightful, hands down some of the best wings I have ever had. They are chicken wings with sweet and spicy sauce. They are laid upon white rice, topped with peanuts and green onion, served with thin carrot sticks on the side. They were cooked perfectly and soaked with sauce (which I love the most). The time I went it was midday, a bit after lunch time and service was fast, tables were open.

There are a variety of options on the sushi menu, but the downfall is, it was not split into what is raw and what is not. I could have ordered all raw sushi and I wouldn’t know until I received my food. Still, I searched what some items meant to make sure.

If any Omahan ever wanted to try sushi beyond Blue and Hiro, Ponzu Sushi and Grill is the perfect place. It is a relaxed area in a popular part of Omaha that modern with its menu and restaurant.

The prices are affordable for a date, an after-school snack or party go-to. While I’m new to the world of sushi, Ponzu served as a great start. I probably won’t be the person who gets sushi every week, but now I can say I’ve had it. I give Ponzu a seven out of 10 rating.