Blue Sushi Sake Grill

Mr. H and I were invited to dine at the newly opened Blue Sushi Sake Grill in Crocker Park.

Normally, I shy away from chain restaurants, but this group only has a handful and just one in Ohio. After hearing some rave reviews from fellow foodies, I decided to check it out for myself.

In addition to a pretty vibrant and fun atmosphere, they have a program with an oath for sustainable practices. It's their commitment to responsibly sourcing the seafood and respecting our Earth's ecosystems, by land and sea.

They have a couple of different dining areas within the restaurant, but we were seated with a great view of the sushi bar and the chefs hard at work.

While we decided on our order, the team sent out a Tuna Tower ($15) with sesame and ponzu-marinated bigeye tuna, spicy crab mix, avocado and sushi rice, topped with black tobiko and wasabi sprouts, served with honey wasabi, and mango and eel sauces. Not only was it gorgeous, but tasty and with great textures as well.

We ordered the Mango Crab Rangoon ($8) with crispy wonton wrappers stuffed with crab mix, mango, cream cheese and scallion, served with mango and fresno pepper sauces.

And the Tuna Tataki ($13.50) with thinly sliced pepper seared bigeye tuna with daikon momiji, garlic chips, scallion and tataki sauce.

Then we got into the sushi, and shared an order of the Cherry Bomb ($8) with bigeye tuna on top of rice tempura, topped with serrano, sriracha and ponzu sauce.

A Hot Popper ($9) specialty roll with smoked salmon, cream cheese, jalapeño tempura, soy paper, and sriracha. Not a far cry from my favorite roll at Mizu Sushi, the Mexican.

Our server recommended the Amazon Roll ($13) with red sea bream, olive oil, smoked salmon, tampico mix, jalapeño, chino chimichurri, wasabi sprouts, and maldon sea salt.

Lastly, Mr. H loves a good fried roll so he dove into the Hawaiian Roll ($12) that was tempura fried with salmon, crab mix, mango, and mirin mango purée.

Cooked salmon is way too fishy-tasting for me, even in a roll like this. So, I saved that tiny bit of "room" I had left in my stomach for the Tempura Fried Ice Cream ($8) with pound cake, vanilla ice cream, topped with chocolate sauce, raspberry purée and powdered sugar.

Overall, it exceeded any chain sushi joints I've ever been to and I was impressed with their service and vibe. While it still doesn't compete with my favorite local hole-in-the-wall, Mizu, I'd choose to dine at this restaurant while shopping at Crocker over many others in the area. 

Blue Sushi Sake Grill

2000 Crocker Road
Westlake, OH 44145

Disclosure: I was invited to enjoy a complimentary meal with a guest in exchange for my honest review and social sharing. All opinions stated are 100% my own.