And the Name of Good Sushi Is...I Love You?

When I set about the arduous task of selecting which restaurant to review this week, it required that I use a fairly sophisticated formula and other secretive techniques to select my destination. By plugging the necessary data into the complicated equations and formulas, I would be issued the geographic coordinates of where to go. Unfortunately, the formula came up with ... my own kitchen.

So I went to Plan B. I selected my dining destination based on how fun it is to say the restaurant's name. This is how I found .

To be fair, I was searching for a sushi place to begin with. Concord has quite a few of them. None has a name as fun as Momoyama, though. 

For years I have been getting my car washed on Monument Boulevard, next door to the strip mall in which Momoyama is located, but I didn't know it was there.

A friend said their sushi rolls were gigantic so I had to go check it out for myself. Gigantic is a bit strong, but not too much so. They are quite substantial. However, here is the best part, the sushi rolls have cool names, too. Somehow, that makes you order more than you need because you want to see what the rolls look like and whether the names fit.

One thing that was a pleasant surprise was that all meals come with miso soup, edamame—soy beans—for the table and a refreshing side salad. This is a nice way to settle into your meal, prepare your palate and mull over your eating options.

My dining companions and I started with the Las Vegas Roll, which was shrimp tempura, cucumber and avocado topped with spicy hamachi and tobiko. It arrived on a board that was dressed to look like a sequined dress you’d wear to a Vegas club, with lots of colors and sauces. It was fun to see AND eat.

The Cherry Blossom Roll is fresh salmon and avocado topped with fresh tuna. It looked like a roll of Cherry Life Savers that had been sliced. It was very delicious and possibly my favorite roll of the meal.

You will also find the standard Godzilla Roll and Spider Roll on the menu. They are certainly delicious and quite substantial, but live a little and go for the New Bay Bridge Roll, a California Roll topped with fresh salmon, snow crab and tuna hamachi or the I Love You Roll —deep-fried salmon served up with avocado. If you really want to go crazy, check out the Dragon Roll that tops a California Roll with grilled eel and special sauces, among other things.

I wanted to order more rolls to see what they looked like but I was hitting the wall. I missed out on the Rattlesnake Roll, the Sexy Roll, the Caliente Roll and the Lambada Roll, to name just a few. See what I mean? Aren’t you curious to know what the Caliente Roll looks like?  I’m going back soon.

Momoyama also serves a great selection of teriyakis, including pork teriyaki, tempuras, udon and soba noodles and some fun bento boxes that include a sampling of several items. If you prefer nigiri over sushi rolls, Momoyama has a wide selection of sliced fish as well.

While there are many sushi restaurants in Concord, this is one that you should add to your list of places to check out. In the coming weeks, I will visit other sushi houses and share the details but it will be tough to surpass the meal I had at Momoyama.

Momoyama

1800 Monument Blvd., Suite D
925-686-1888

Hours:

Lunch:

Tuesday – Fridays, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Saturdays and Sundays, noon – 3 p.m.

Dinner:

Tuesdays – Fridays, 5 – 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, 5 – 9:30 p.m.

Sundays, 5 – 9 p.m.