How Do You Roll? opened its doors in the Stadium Center on University Avenue to Gainesville customers last week promising the best in custom sushi and a different atmosphere when it comes to that quick Asian experience.
But you may ask, why in God’s name do we need another sushi restaurant in Midtown? There’s already Sushi Chao and Sushi-2-Go. It’s sushi madness.
How Do You Roll? is a much more user-based experience, for their sushi rolls and their bowls. When I went to the shop I decided to try a bowl. Rolls go for $6 and bowls are $7.
They also have non-custom items where you’ll find the timeless spicy tuna roll and even ramen noodles.
When you enter the store, do not panic. It’s tempting to enter panic mode because there are so many important decisions to make like what protein you’re going to get and what vegetables you are going to add. Even more importantly, white or brown rice? There were employees who helped me along the way. I was assured everything was going to be OK when I couldn’t decide between sauces.
Protein options range from tuna, salmon and escolar to beef, chicken and shrimp. Step two in creating a bowl is to add veggies (or fruit if you’re weird) like carrots, cucumber, avocado, spinach and green onion.
Next, you select your sauces. Personally I went with a combo of creamy miso and spicy mayo. Don’t act like you aren’t impressed.
The food did take a while to come out, but I’ll give them a break because the restaurant did just open and sushi rolling seems like you need some sort of degree in order to do it correctly.
The dumplings ($3 for four) were phenomenal. I took down the batch of four like a true champion. Other sides include edamame ($2), cucumber salad ($2), ceviche ($4) and the classic miso soup. ($1.50) There’s also beer, wine and sake, which always is an A in my book.
When my food got to the table, I got down to business. Though, it was slightly disappointing. The tuna was fresh, and delicious, but the rest of the dish lacked some serious flavor. It was just rice and a few raw vegetables. From a health perspective, I felt like there were more calories in a piece of gum then there was in my entire meal.
Where I went wrong must have been the sauces. I thought I was getting crazy by combining too but it was no way near enough to moisten up that rice up to par on my tastiness scale. My advice to you is to either ask for extra sauce or get every sauce the restaurant offers, because they are free.
I can’t speak for the sushi yet because I’ll have to go for round two. I also want to try the “Fruit by the Roll,”($4) which is one of their dessert items.
How Do You Roll? is worth giving a shot because it is different than your average greasy Asian restaurant. The ingredients seem fresh and the atmosphere is happy and clean.
The restaurant, a chain, was actually on ABC’s show Shark Tank. Who knew such fame would ever grace Gainesville?
So give it a chance. But remember: make sauce your friend. In fact, befriend all of the sauces there to maximize your experience and keep you from rolling out unhappy.
