Nori Sushi has been serving raw and cooked fish in the same 55-seat dining room with which it opened 15 years ago.
Sometimes you just want OK.
You want food that's good enough, service that's friendly enough, and a bill that's reasonable enough for you to pay it, more or less, with the cash in your pocket. Sometimes you don't need to be wowed. You just need to be fed well, with no fuss, no wait, no pretense.
Low-key Japanese restaurant Nori Sushi is such a place. Since 2003, this comfortable spot housed in a little strip mall has been serving raw and cooked fish to Japanese food lovers in the same 55-seat dining room. Its somewhat hokey fishing decor — replete with nets, anchors and fish — has never changed. Neither have the dim lights or black tablecloths that give Nori a rather dark, near-clandestine ambiance.
That atmosphere may be the reason Tony Soprano and company swarmed into Nori one day in 2005.
"I think the Mafia likes a dark, black place," quipped owner Steve Chong in his attempts to explain why "The Sopranos" filmed an episode for season six at the restaurant. A slew of photos of that event are in fact the very first thing you see when you walk through the door. Open the menu and there's even a Sopranos special roll ($16).
But that shouldn't be the the spot's only claim to fame. Come here for fresh fish and sushi that's quite good.
Consider starting your meal with Agedashi tofu ($5.50), a hot appetizer, served with the dashi on the side. The tofu was crispy on the outside and silken on the inside, though it could have used some more time in the broth to give it some added oomph.
The sushi bar selections are standard — tuna, salmon, fluke, eel, etc. — and reasonably priced. The sashimi slices were a nice surprise: big steak-like chunks of raw fish cut perfectly. I was no fan of the uni, though my companion sang its praises.
There are almost too many rolls to choose from — I counted 82! — and, of course, we had to get the Soprano. Sorry to report it wasn't anywhere near as good as the show. Deep-fried white fish (fluke, snapper, striped bass, or another white fish) stuffed into a roll, then cut into five pieces. They are then drizzled with a special eel sauce, and each piece is topped by a slice of different raw fish: yellowfin, salmon, spicy tuna, etc. Alas, the hot inside and cold outside creation made for lukewarm sushi.
Among the standouts were a Red and White Roll ($13), albacore (white) tuna with slices of creamy avocado and refreshing cucumber topped with meaty fresh red tuna, and another roll called 2 in 1 ($14) that featured crisp fried shrimp tempura topped by both a nicely spiced tuna and well spiced yellowtail lathered with a special house-made mayo sauce.
The restaurant's most popular roll is the Krazy Big ($14). As the name implies, it's big (eight pieces) and a bit wild: spicy salmon mixed with spicy tuna is flecked with tempura batter and topped by fresh tuna, spicy mayo sauce and eel sauce. It may not dazzle, but it's filling and satisfying.
And that's OK. Sometimes filling and satisfying are exactly what you're after.
Appetizers: $5.50 to $13; sushi rolls $4.50 to $16; hot entrees $17 to $24; sushi/sashimi $3 to $8.
Open 7 days a week. Lunch every day except Sunday when the restaurant opens at 4 p.m.