The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the views of Spoon University.
Are you looking for All You Can Eat Sushi (AYCE) in Gainesville? Unfortunately, Sun Sushi and Izakaya, the new sushi restaurant in Gainesville, is not the place. Despite initially advertising as an AYCE sushi restaurant, once my friends and I arrived at the location, there was a large sign on the door stating that their AYCE service ended on October 27th. Being turned down with our empty bellies growling was quite the letdown, and I don’t want you to make the same mistake. To this day, even though they’ve taken the page down from the website, when you Google the restaurant, it still states that Sun Sushi and Izakaya offers an AYCE dining experience.
Despite the initial disappointment, we decided to still dine in since we drove there and the sushi craving was not going away any time soon. Although it was not AYCE, the food we tried was still pretty tasty and relatively inexpensive when compared to the prices of other sushi restaurants in the area.
Crab Rangoons
For one of our appetizers, we got the crab rangoons, which were the perfect crunchy bite. They were served alongside a sweet and sour sauce that had a bit of a fruity flavor profile. While the crab rangoons were crispy and hot on the outside, they were nice and creamy on the inside. The inside of the crab rangoon had a garlicky flavor that made it easy to down all six seafood pouches.
Monkey Brain
Our second appetizer was labeled the “monkey brain” on the menu. This immediately caught my attention, and out of curiosity, I had to order it. When it came out, we received a tempura fried avocado stuffed with Kani (imitation crab meat) and drizzled with eel sauce and spicy mayo. This appetizer quickly became a favorite of the table. The avocado was smooth and creamy, perfectly ripe, and the richness of the sauces enhanced the flavors well. We did wish that it had been a bit crunchier. However, the whole table agreed that it was delicious anyway. I always urge people to take a risk when ordering because you never know when you’ll fall in love at first bite.
Pho
Someone at the table ordered the pho that included beef, brisket, and meatballs and was brought with the traditional pho toppings such as bean sprouts and mint (however, they brought lemon instead of the traditional lime). The beef and beef meatballs were very spongy texture-wise, and the meat was very tasty and tender. Unfortunately, the broth was a bit lackluster and not as flavorful as the rest of the dishes we were served, making the added sriracha and hoisin sauce necessary to enhance the flavor. Thankfully, the noodles had the perfect slightly chewy consistency.
Sushi
Finally, let’s talk sushi. The first roll we ordered was the Manhattan roll. It was slightly sweet but not as sweet as the other sushi rolls we sampled. It consisted of a spicy crab mix and cucumber and was topped with salmon, avocado, tobiko (fish eggs), and eel sauce. The Manhattan roll wasn’t too fishy, meaning that it’s quite likely that the fish was properly handled.
The second roll we got was the classic spicy tuna roll. The roll was creamy, but we could taste the rice and cucumber a lot more than the actual tuna. The roll had a good amount of spice, although I could see how it could be too spicy for someone with a lower spice tolerance.
Finally, the last roll we tried was the Una Apple roll, which consisted of pineapple and cream cheese and was topped with crispy onion, eel tempura, and mango sauce. The Una Apple roll was very sweet and creamy due to the pineapple and cream cheese; it expectedly had a very fruity taste. the aftertaste of the roll was unconventionally similar to sweet buttered popcorn, but it was my favorite out of all the rolls. One common theme for most of the rolls was that the flavors of the fish were slightly overpowered and hard to taste in comparison to the other ingredients.
AYCE sushi is out, but Sun Sushi and Izakaya is still in.
Given that it’s been some time since my last visit, I’d be willing to go back and try some more of their sushi rolls and would recommend you guys do the same and form your own opinion on Sun Sushi and Izakaya. Maybe they’ll even bring back AYCE one day!