Sushi joint features tasty rolls and romantic atmosphere
Japango is located at 1136 Pearl St. in Boulder and is one of a few stellar sushi places in town. It features a traditional Japanese menu with a full section dedicated to the sushi bar, the interior design is distinctly avant-garde.
Mini palm trees, modern light fixtures and a massive Mona Lisa decorate the dining area. A dozen or so tables fill the small room and don’t leave much space to stretch your feet, creating a friendly dynamic among customers and enhancing the dining experience altogether.
Women’s faces are depicted on the walls in a sexy, stylistic form. They’re weird but fit in to the complete interior design of Japango as perfectly as they could.
Thursday night I went to Japango under the pretense that over the years, I’ve tried every sushi joint in town except this one. I took two friends with me who define themselves as sushi connoisseurs, so it was bound to be an interesting meal.
We were seated promptly in the center of the dining room where we were able to take in the surroundings while anticipating our dinner. Our friendly waitress, Sarah, greeted us shortly thereafter, offering drinks and appetizers.
Our tradition is to start with miso soup, and we ordered a round for $2 a cup. Miso is a salty soup that perfectly prepares your palate for the meal to come. Japango’s miso was traditional with pieces of seaweed and tofu amassed within the cloudy soup.
Next, we ordered the edamame, which are steamed and lightly salted soybeans, for $3.95. They were a little dry, so we doused them with soy sauce and took on the enjoyable yet tedious task of popping the seeds from their pods into our mouths.
Arriving simultaneously were the lobster pot stickers drizzled with a spicy wasabi dressing. For $7.95, they only gave us four small dumplings, which was disappointing because the texture and taste were unique and delicious, leaving us craving more.
Our next choices were not as easy as the previous two, and the task of choosing a few of the many sushi rolls proved to be daunting.
After getting some advice from Sarah, we decided to order five rolls, ranging from sweet and tangy to hot and spicy. They arrived together and looked like a family of fluorescent fish waiting to be devoured.
We started with the rolls that are staples of Americanized sushi.
The Philadelphia Roll was $6.80 and contained a delicious combination of cream cheese, smoked salmon, brown onion and smelt roe. It had more cream cheese than most Philadelphia Rolls do and was probably the best I’ve had.
Next came the Caterpillar Roll, which is my favorite sushi roll of all time. It cost a reasonable $8.80 compared to other places, which often charge up to $12 for this culinary masterpiece. Inside the rice and seaweed are freshwater eel, cucumber and a sweet egg omelet, which is formed together and then wrapped in avocado.
I’ve had upwards of 50 caterpillar rolls in my life, and never has a sweet egg omelet been included. It changed the dynamic of the roll and was the most disappointing aspect of the meal.
The one thing that makes a sushi restaurant great is its selection of uncommon rolls, and Japango succeeds in having many of them.
My favorite of the bunch was the Montana Roll for $8.95. It had spicy shrimp crevettes with avocado, tempura batter and smelt roll on the inside and seared beef, thinly sliced onions and ponzu sauce layering the outside. I’ve never seen a sushi roll with beef on it, so the Montana was enticing and did not disappoint.
We spent $90 on our meal, which is a normal amount to spend on sushi if you go all-out.
The laid back atmosphere, easygoing wait staff and delicious sushi confirm Japango’s claim as “the most romantic and contemporary sushi bar” in Boulder.
Contact Campus Press staff writer Quincy Moore at quincy.moore@thecampuspress.com
