Sushi Totoro

Lunch time with my brother and sister-in-law at one of their favorite places, Sushi Totoro on Mission Street. You may remember Totoro from the adorable Studio Ghibli anime "My Neighbor Totoro". He's a big, furry, blue cat-like creature. Sort of like my brother...

Yelp website

This is a popular place for college students and has lots of whimsical decorations as well as pictures of past customers on the walls. I think they are going for a party atmosphere, which is good for smaller sushi place.

It was about half full when we got there mid-week and the waitress was quick to give us menus and drinks. Mike, my bro, said we're getting the stuffed peppers appetizer. Sure, sounds good...

The Little Bomb ($7.95) was filled with tuna and cream cheese, deep fried and covered in roe and sauce, it was quite the starter. The sweetness of the fish and sauce balanced the spicy jalapeño and finished with a crunch. I'm a fan!

Next, I ordered my old standby, a California roll. Some things never go out of style. Did you know it was invented in LA in the 70s? Ichiro Mashita, a sushi chef, replaced tuna with avocado and it was an immediate hit. This version was fresh with lots of crab, but I didn't taste the cucumber.

Mike ordered his favorite, the Big Boy ($16.95) has tuna, salmon, spicy tuna, avo & cream cheese and it was double-sized. It too was deep fried and then covered in roe and sauce. The other roll was the TNT Special ($9.95), which had spicy tuna and cucumber. Even though fried, both weren't greasy and we could taste all the ingredients.

The last roll we ordered was the Philadelphia Special ($13.95) with salmon, cream cheese and avo. I guess the specials are all deep fried with sauce and roe. You can get them without, but why would you want to? They make for a more filling meal.

Sushi Totoro is a cozy place that has a great menu and good food. There are other places in town for bigger parties, but for a quick lunch hour, it fits the bill.

Scores out of 10:
Food: 7
Service: 7
Atmosphere: 7
Value for Price: 6
Overall: 6.75