Restaurant Review: Fat Salmon

If there's one thing Brad and I love, it's going out for sushi! This weekend, we made our second trip to Fat Salmon, located in the Washington Square West neighborhood (719 Walnut Street). The first time we went, Fat Salmon was a BYO that had applied for a liquor license but was waiting for it to be approved. To our disappointment, this weekend was the first weekend that they were no longer a BYO — boo! We knew it was inevitable though.

We started with the shrimp tempura appetizer — B ate the shrimp, and I ate the veggies! Perfect! It was very tasty, and I was very pleased with the variety, including a red and green pepper ring, sweet potato slices, zucchini, broccoli, and green beans.

We ordered five rolls to share for dinner (what can I say — he's a hungry guy):

• Rock 'N Roll: Tuna, salmon, cucumber inside; crunchy and eel sauce on top.
• Rolling Fire: Shrimp tempura, cucumber inside; broiled spicy scallop sauce with crab stick and scallion on top — spicy spicy!
• Mr. French Kiss: Spicy crab stick with scallion, masago, and crunchy inside; shrimp, bacon — yes you read that right — and onion tempura on top.
• Lobster Tail Tempura: See the picture below — that mother had to be 2 inches in diameter!
• Nami: Salmon, cucumber, spicy sauce inside; avocado on top.

The rolls were all fantastic! Now, I know that some of you sushi purists may be rolling your eyes at the prospect of having maki with such bells and whistles (e.g., bacon), but it really was tasty. And even though there was a lot going on, the flavors all meshed very nicely and it didn't seam like things were being added for the sake of listing another ingredient on the menu.

The restaurant has a great vibe too. When you walk in, you notice a full-length wall that has a lighted wave pattern.

And opposite those seats is a modern sushi bar, behind which several guys roll these delicious concoctions.

 Okay let's boil this down...

Pros:

• Cool atmosphere and comfy chairs (I'm sorry, but it matters!).
• Tons of variety (dozens of specialty rolls as well as many non-maki options).
• The rolls are huge compared to a lot of other places — they are definitely generous with the amount of fish they use per roll. 
• Amazingly, this place has great prices too! The two of us ate dinner for $71, but that included a fair amount of food and Brad's $12 Sapporo (see cons for more info).

Cons:

• Now that they're not a BYO, we've learned that their beverage list is pretty pricey! They have a huge sake menu, and frankly I have no idea what the going rate for sake is. Brad ordered a Sapporo, which came in a 24 oz. can, that was $12. Wine seemed to be at the going rate — about $8 and $12 for a glass.
• The music is kind of weird. But once the place fills up (and it does on a weekend night) it's pretty noisy and you won't notice.
• I would recommend making a reservation on the weekends since it's a pretty small space. Although you could probably snag a seat at the sushi bar without waiting too long during peak times.