New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Sushi seems to be one of those foods that you really love or really hate. The ingredients may vary, but typically it consists of “shari” which is cooked vinegar rice and some type of raw seafood, all wrapped up in seaweed and often accompanied with salty soy sauce or spicy wasabi. Okay, so those things may sound a bit gross in theory, but this Japanese food has hundreds of years of history and is actually quite savory. If you haven’t tried sushi yet because you fear the consistency of raw fish, there are quite a few varieties of sushi rolls that are just as tasty and don’t require you to face your phobia.
If you are a sushi lover, or aspiring to become one, the South Coast is an excellent place to live. This is not because there is an especially large population of Japanese chefs here, but rather because of the off-the-boat seafood we have in this region. The sushi in Greater New Bedford is of a uniquely high quality, and eating sushi is always a fun experience (how daring will you get with the wasabi? Have you mastered chopsticks? What roll will you try next time?) If you are looking for place to grab some sushi, here is my list of the five best sushi spots in the South Coast.
1. A Kitchen
Allow me to be corny and and say A Kitchen is A Mazing. This isn’t the first time A Kitchen has been raved about on New Bedford Guide (see my 5 Dinners for $10 or Less article, or Ivey Winkler’s A Kitchen Review), but when it comes to South Coast sushi, it would be absurd not to include this restaurant. A Kitchen is housed in a modest facility on route 6 in Fairhaven, and while it may be small, it’s always very tidy and welcoming. Since it is a BYOB, it’s a great place for a romantic dinner or a night out with friends. Most importantly however, I’ve never tried a sushi roll there I didn’t like.
When I asked some fellow sushi connoisseurs from the area where their favorite sushi spot was, they all mentioned A Kitchen. This is largely thanks to the quality of their rolls, their super fresh ingredients, and the fact that they have incredible variety. A while back my fiance and I decided to split the Sushi/ Sashimi Boat for two. For those of you who don’t know, sashimi is basically thin strips of raw fish, often served on a bed of shari rice (disclaimer: if you are new to sushi, this is probably not the best meal to start with). The arrangement of the sushi and sashimi tower was really cool, and we shared a bottle of wine and rated each piece to determine our favorites. Overall, a very fun evening.
A Kitchen’s Dragon Maki is hands down my favorite roll and it consists of shrimp tempura, eel and avacado with tobiko (fish roe) on top. The crunchy consistency of the tempura shrimp is delicious, and there is slight sweetness to this roll that when combined with salty soy sauce makes for a taste bud’s dream.
Sorry, got to reply to this list. You guys left out Azuma, which actually does some of the best specialty rolls around. And Thai Taste? If there was one place to leave off the list, it would be them. Poor technique, limited choices, and the fish wasn’t even served at appropriate temperatures (as in it had sat on the counter for too long).
Note: Azuma doesn’t carry any Sushi or Maki anymore. They said it didn’t sell. Which I thought was strange since every time I went there with my wife and son there were people eating Sushi or Maki. Strange! Did try A Kitchen and thought it was very good.. Had the Spicy Tuna Maki. It was so good my wife and I had 4 rolls. Will definately go back.
LOL yes they do
Went to Azumas the othrr day for lunch waoted 20 minutes non ed ever came to thr table service is horrible there now. Went to Wasabi instead it was awesome
Thanks for the heads up Chris! Unfortunately for Azuma, it’s probably a case of not selling fast enough. Says a lot about how professional they are, since sushi is so perishable. A less professional restaurant would serve stale or old product to customers to save money instead of trashing it. They were probably destroying too much. Kudos to Azuma.
I have to chime in on this subject. I haven’t been to Wasabi in years. The last time I was there eating sushi was with my mother. During the meal a huge rat ran out from under one on the tables and hid under one of the fish tanks. The employees tried to play it off like it never happened. I will never go back there. Completely disgusting.
Market Basket has the best fresh Sushi. The variety is endless. Reasonably priced.
About 3 years ago, I saw a huge rat behind the bar. It walked along the back of the sink & went into a hole. Luckily my food hadn’t come out yet so we promptly left. Very dangerous place to die.
#2 thai taste too I worked there for two months and quit because honestly it is extremely filthy in the back sushi is left in a fridge that’s never yhe proper temp and the cooks and staff dont clean a single thing for closing just so happened it was infested with the biggest rats ive ever seen in my life out back because the staff just toss the trash in the general vicinity of the dumpster not quite in the dumpster food storage is horrid the dining and bar are fine but the back is disgudisgusting check your list nb guide they were shut down for a month because of there disgusting working environment by the board of health sorry but not sorry
Yuck thai taste too
This list was written a while ago and in need of some updates, thanks for reading and commenting!
SRyan ! Once you go to Turks you will realign your list! Turks will top the list. Fresh seafood straight from the boats, and a lovely, talented gentleman who has been rolling sushi (right behind the sushi bar for diners to watch and talk to) here for years!! He
has his own following!!! Sushi lovers always come back to Turks! Family run for decades. Check them out.
This article was written quite a while ago and was just recently re-shared. I have been to Turks several times since, it is great! The list in not in order by which is the best either, just a list of places that have good sushi in the area (it is in need of some updating!)
This article is very outdated. Wasabi closed by board of health. Their food would poison you
Did you read the Facebook post?
Hazuki Kitchen and Mings!!!