There are dozens of sushi restaurants in Oklahoma City. Keep Inaka Sushi and Bar on your short list, serving up delicious food in an inviting atmosphere.
I’ve done a really poor job lately of doing new restaurant reviews. As a matter of fact, the last one was nearly a month ago…that is not even remotely acceptable. When I switched blog platforms in December, I took the opportunity to begin working my way through editing and upgrading older posts. I’ve had the blog for 4 years, but only started truly pushing content on social media about 6 months ago. That actually works in my favor, as I can republish and promote older content, and it will be new to most of my readers. It’s been good to give those posts new life, but it has also been at the detriment to new posts.
I’ve made it my mission to shift focus. Last week I took Friday afternoon off to run errands in OKC, which was the perfect opportunity to start. I have quite a long list of restaurants to revisit, mainly because my pictures were horrible, so I started there. Inaka Sushi and Bar was on the list, Groupon was having a sale on their coupons, and I was craving sushi, so it was a sign that I needed to go back.
Inaka Sushi and Bar is located in a strip mall in north Oklahoma City. About 2 months ago I visited Kobe Sushi and Hibachi Steakhouse, about 9 miles north in Edmond. I had never been to Kobe before, but when I walked in I thought I had, because it looks so much like Inaka Sushi and Bar. I could be wrong, but I’m convinced it’s the same owners, or within the same family. The restaurant is long and narrow, with a large bar along the left wall; the sushi bar is at the back; there are 2 rows of booth seating in the middle, and a row of tables along the right wall.
Looking back on my previous review, the beginning of this experience was the same. My server wasn’t very friendly, but she was efficient and did help me in making decisions.
On my last visit, I had started with the house salad, because the picture in the menu looked really good. However, the salad ended up being just a very simple lettuce, carrots, and cucumber. The picture on the menu hadn’t changed, and I considered getting it again this time, just to see. But I didn’t want to be disappointed, so I went with the harumaki
These rolls were delicious! They were definitely cooked when I ordered them, and came to the table screaming hot. Sometimes spring/egg rolls can be very greasy, but these were not at all. The filling was light and very flavorful. I was super hungry, and devoured the rolls in record time.
The first time I ever tried sushi was 9 years ago in Maui, and the only reason I even went to the restaurant was because there was non-sushi on the menu. I tried one bite, discovered it was raw eel, and vowed never to touch sushi again. About a year later different friends convinced me to try cooked sushi. One bite, and I was sold. I have very slowly experimented, and now do rolls with a little raw in them.
The Inaka Sushi and Bar menu is quite large, and includes appetizers, rolls, sushi, and hibachi. With the Groupon, I had to spend $20, so I went with both the Monster and Snow Crab rolls
I usually don’t get crab in rolls because it’s almost always fake crab. The snow crab roll was outstanding. The crab really burst through with each bite, and it was almost a little bit creamy. I have to say, I was very impressed. The avocado was creamy as well, and provided a wonderful flavor contrast.
So you know how I said earlier I refused to eat raw eel? I have this weird obsession with cooked eel in sushi rolls. The first time I tried it was a couple of years ago, and at that time it was super adventurous of me, but I discovered that I liked it. This monster roll was absolutely fantastic. The eel is seared, and that brings out the depth of flavor. The eel sauce doesn’t actually have eel in it; it’s just a sweet, delicious sauce. The creamy avocado was a great contrast in texture to the crabmeat and cucumber. I was full by the time I finished both rolls, but had another Monster roll appeared at the table, I would have tried really hard to finish that one too.
Will I go back to Inaka Sushi and Bar? No question. The food is delicious, and I still want to give the service another chance.