Food

My first thought after all the sushi disappeared was “I wish there was more.” Shinsei Sushi, located in the Cascade Village Shopping Center offers a happy hour from 4 to 5:30 p.m. with appetizers, sushi rolls and sashimi. The veggie Goma salad (available on the happy hour menu for $5.95) met all of my expectations. It tasted fresh and was topped with sesame seeds and served over a bed of cucumbers.

Happy hour prices are not offered if you’re picking up food to go, but you can order select sake to bring home. I ordered the Hakushika Sayuri Nigori ($10)— a sweet sake, but not overly so. It came in a small pink frosted bottle, and as someone who has never before enjoyed drinking sake, this one changed my mind. It was refreshing and creamy and complemented the sushi.

From the sushi menu, the golden California roll ($7.95) was the highlight of the three rolls I ordered. It’s a traditional California roll made with real crab and topped with fresh masago (fish eggs). I could taste the high quality of every ingredient.

They have a number of rolls named after local hot spots such as the Bend, Broken Top and Tumalo crispy rolls. I tried the Bachelor premium roll ($16.95), for the name if nothing else. With the same real crab center as the California roll, it comes topped with tuna and salmon. This premium roll also comes with coconut sauce, but I mistakenly poured the sauce over top of the spicy salmon roll ($7.95), the roll it was sitting next to in the box. It didn’t need the extra flavor, and I’m sure it would have elevated the Bachelor roll.

Service

Over the phone, the staff is incredibly friendly and willing to accommodate. When they didn’t know the answer to one of my inquiries, they took the time to check and swiftly got back to me. According to others who have visited the restaurant in person, the wait can be long.

Takeout

Do you ever have the problem of remembering which sushi roll you ordered? It won’t be an issue with takeout from Shinsei Sushi. The names of each of the rolls I ordered were neatly labeled on the outside of the plastic clamshell, which I certainly appreciated.

More info

Location: 63455 N Highway 97 #35, Bend

Contact: 541-306-3486, shinseibend.com

Hours:11 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday

Cuisine: Japanese

Price Range: $4.95-$109.95