After spending more time than needed at the mall this weekend, Nathan and I decided we were too tired to cook and headed to town to pick up dinner. We settled on sushi since we recently found out about Kawaii Tori.

We first went earlier this month for a late birthday celebration and loved the food. Unfortunately, it was a bit crowded, and the service was affected by this. Nonetheless, the food was finger-licking good, and we knew we’d be back — though we didn’t realize it’d be this soon! We called ahead to check if there was a wait; and since there wasn’t, we opted to dine in instead of picking up.

Our first time around we shared some rolls as appetizers, and for entrées I had the Bim Bam Bap and Nathan had the chicken teriyaki. We also tried their Spicy Tuna Fried Rice starter,   and that was the winner of the night. The dish consists of very crispy rice tots, spicy tuna, avocado, scallions and a very yummy kabayaki sauce.

Naturally, we ordered it again this time, and it was even better. The crispy rice tots were really crispy, which contrasted beautifully with the soft texture of the spicy tuna. We also tried the crispy spring rolls; they were light and airy and very, very hot. 

Another item we tried for the first time was their top signature roll: the Yardley Roll.   Wow, I didn’t realize they could make sushi look that good! Topped with fresh, springy microgreens and sparkling red flying fish roe, I’m not sure if the roll was better to look at or to eat — and it was delicious, so that’s saying something. Besides its beautiful presentation, the roll includes spicy tuna, avocado and crunch inside, and it’s finished off with salmon, tobiko, scallions, kabayaki sauce and the house spicy sauce. I usually do not go for anything with raw salmon in it, but this roll changed my mind. It’s spicy, sweet and savory all at once with a very umami-based flavor profile.

So far we haven’t been able to restrain ourselves enough while ordering dinner to make it to the dessert round, but I guess we’ll just have to go back again so we can update you!

Yasser Ogando, advertising & production manager