OUTSTANDING RESTAURANT REVIEWS
By Debra Jorgensen

Z Sushi California Cuisine
1132 N. Garfield Ave.,
Alhambra, (626) 282-5636

It’s not very often that I go to a place so fresh on the restaurant market that the paint is practically still wet and they are still revising the menu. To top it off, they are still finalizing the name of the restaurant.
Well, I was lucky enough to witness all of the above the other day when our sales manager, Giorgio, and I dined at Z Sushi in Alhambra.
It was an extremely warm day when we entered the restaurant, and the cool air conditioning was a relief when we walked in the door. The decor is not the usual Japanese-style found in most sushi restaurants because this is definitely not your usual Japanese restaurant. It is decorated in more of a contemporary style, very open and spacious with a sushi bar and also a full liquor bar.
As we walked in we were greeted by Owner Judy Tu and Manager Peter Park and quickly seated and greeted by Travis, our server.
After ordering refreshing ice tea and lemonade, we were served an appetizer of sweet shrimp. The dish was picture-perfect, with red and white seaweed-looking sprouts with the large shrimp placed delicately on the dish with the head on the plate, just to show that it’s very, very fresh. Good choice for an appetizer.
Our next dish was a delicious Tuna Carpaccio, which is thinly sliced tuna topped with sea salt, lemon juice, melted cheese and a vinegarette dressing. This was very good and not as tart with the vinegarette dressing as I thought it would be. The tuna is extremely fresh and mild and the toppings are just the right touch to add a mild zing to the taste buds.
Next, was a healthy seafood salad. This was very hard for Giorgio and I to share because we both went crazy over this dish. It is mixed greens with a vinegarette dressing and this incredible spicy mayonnaise on the side. It is comprised of shrimp, octopus, crushed tofu and avocado accented crispy wonton skins. (Try dipping the wonton skins in the spicy mayonnaise.) I’ll have to go back for more of this dish, I couldn’t get enough. Try not to share this, you’ll want it all.
Next was grilled tuna and caterpillar rolls. The grilled tuna is served on top of thinly sliced cucumbers, sesame seed paste and chinese chili sauce.
At this point I have to mention the presentation of each dish. Each is definitely a work of art and the time and skill shows on each plate.
We both very much enjoyed the grilled tuna. Again, somehow, Giorgio managed to have more of this dish than I did. (All this means is another trip there to have some more!)
The caterpillar rolls were very good, also, I had never had rolls with cream cheese in them. At first I couldn’t figure out what was the different taste, and of course the eel was very different, but surprisingly, I enjoyed these very much also. Some of the other flavors of rolls available are California, tuna, shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, spicy albacore, spicy yellowtail, eel with asparagus, crunch, rainbow, salmon skin and a Z’s special.
Sushi options include: albacore, toro, Spanish mackerel, whitefish, sweet shrimp, crab, octopus, shrimp, jumbo clam, abalone, oyster, salmon eggs, squid just to name a few. However, the caterpillar rolls with the eel, cream cheese and avocado are such an unusual and great flavor, they should definitely be on your list of rolls to try.
Next on our table was the grilled chicken with vegetables, shiitake mushrooms with a miso sauce. I was surprised at the miso sauce. It is smoother and mellower than teriyaki sauce, and extremely good. The chicken was marinated for three days, which made the flavor three times as good and the chicken very tender.
Other dishes I strained to get a glimpse of are from the sushi bar, a sushi assortment plate, which includes spicy tuna roll, with a generous six portions, tuna, yellowtail, salmon, whitefish, albacore, surfshell clam, shrimp, smelt roe and salmon roe, sashimi assorted plate of tuna, yellowtail, salmon, whitefish and surfshell clam and a tuna sashimi bowl (tekka don), which is fresh tuna sashimi on sushi rice served with Japanese pickles.
Some of the house specialties include baked yellowtail collar, baked salmon collar, black pepper salmon with cucumber and onion dressing, rare cooked whitefish and a tuna tar tar with wasabi and avocado dressing, to name a few.
There also are lunch specials that are reasonably priced, including marinated chicken, beef teriyaki, marinated chicken with tempura, beef teriyaki with sushi, sashimi with tempura and a sushi combination.
Other added bonuses is that only virgin olive oil is used in the sauces and dressings and no msg is used.
Chef Toshii Ito should be applauded for not only having an incredible menu with outstanding flavors but for his presentation of each dish. Everyone is friendly and very knowledgeable about the food and the service is very good.
Z Sushi is located behind In-N-Out right off of Huntington Drive on Garfield Ave. Their hours are 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner is 5:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Z Sushi is definitely on my A+ list. They just opened a month ago so the word has not gotten out about them yet. So let me start by shouting, “This is a must try!!” You will be so happy you did, and you will definitely return, over, and over, and over again. Enjoy!

Debra is an avid food enthusiast, enjoying cooking and eating. She is now the San Marino Tribune’s restaurant reviewer. She can be reached by calling (626) 282-5707 or by e-mail at debrajorgensen@sanmarinotribune.com. You may also read more of her reviews on our website at sanmarinotribune.com