If you're anything like the average college student in Fairfield County, then you love receiving more than you've payed for (without it being illegal). And, if you're anything like the average living person, then you probably love freshly made sushi.
Since I love a bargain, but love sushi even more, I made it my quest to seek out the best local sushi bargain. This quest led me to "all you can eat sushi" at Kama Sushi Japanese Restaurant. This restaurant is located less than 20 minutes from Sacred Heart's Campus—17 minutes to be exact. This quaint Japanese Restaurant is nestled between multiple storefronts on Main Street in Stratford. Most would pass this restaurant by without noticing all the potential savings and savory tastes that await inside.
It was 7 pm on a Friday night when I arrived at the restaurant. The restaurant was clearly crowded, but my party and I were seated in less than 15 minutes. The restaurant's dim lighting and multiple fish tanks give off a favorable ambiance despite the visibly packed seating.
Now to the good part—the sushi. The waitress handed my table a checklist of items offered through the all you can eat sushi special. The restaurant runs this special weekdays for $18.95 a person and Friday and Saturday for $19.95 a person.
There are 11 categories of food items ranging from salads and soups to sushi and sashimi and even dessert. The one rule at the restaurant is "order all you want, but eat what you order." You are not allowed to order new things until you eat everything that has already been served during the "all you can eat" sushi special.
Between two people, my guest and I ordered eight types of rolls— shrimp tempura, crab tempura, crispy calamari, and edamame all for $42. Being the avid sushi-goer that I am, I compared the prices of each roll at Kama Sushi to a comparable place in Fairfield that I have been before. For the eight rolls alone at the comparative place, the total would have been $74.50. Then if you add on all the additional items, we got at $24.50 for the four things, the grand total would have been a whopping $99 — a $57 dollar difference.
Whenever I pictured all you can eat sushi, I always imagined some sketchy buffet with sushi that has been sitting out for God-knows-how-long. But, this was not the case with Kama Sushi whatsoever. All of the sushi, along with all the other menu items, were prepared fresh and made to order like any other sushi restaurant. The orders came out fresh and professional looking with a pleasant aroma that made my mouth water.
The rolls that I devoured consisted of a shrimp roll, California roll, sweet potato roll, sakura roll, shrimp tempura roll, butterfly roll, and sunshine roll. All eight of the rolls were crafted and presented beautifully, all brought out on a large plate and leaning on one another in a way that exuded harmony through food.
My favorite roll hands down was the sakura roll. This roll was beautiful both inside and out. The medley of spicy crab, mango, and avocado inside paired wonderfully with the delicate kiwi placed on top of the rice outside the roll. This sushi's luscious combination of delightful texture and refreshing flavors created a burst of happiness in my mouth.
The best part of all you can eat sushi is that at the end of the night you can't even feel bad about it. Although you treated yourself, and probably stuffed your face (like I did), you saved a ton of money doing it and sushi is pretty healthy anyway—right?