October 2007
Sushi Mania is owned and operated by the folks from La Trattoria restaurant also in Raanana. Sushi Mania is located on Ben Gurion near Ahuza, adjacent to the original restaurant. Owner Yoel and manager Miriam have brought their expertise to this fine new sushi restaurant. It is a pleasure to see a professional, well-run restaurant at work.
The decor of this new eatery is bright, lively, and extremely welcoming. The chairs and tables are staggered which gives a comfortable and inviting atmosphere. There is indoor, outdoor, and bar seating available. In addition to a full menu, Sushi Mania also has an abbreviated take out menu, and the restaurant plans to start deliveries in the winter.
 Sushi mania is like no other sushi restaurant. This is a dairy restaurant where you can find sushi creations with cheese. The sushi chef is creative and adventuresome, and the result is some great sushi. The presentation is noteworthy: each platter is a piece of artwork, in the arrangement of the pieces on the board and its vivid colors.
From the moment my friend and I entered the restaurant our waitress was by our side making sure we had everything we needed and recommending tasty menu options. We started with a spring roll, oozing with flavor from bean sprouts, carrots, tomago, and asparagus. This was served with a sweet and very tasty chili peanut dipping sauce.
For our main course we enjoyed a Maki Yakatori roll on scewers. These sushi gems have a tempura coating and salmon inside. Then it was on to a Maki California roll, which is rice on the outside with cucumber and feta cheese on the inside. This was refreshing and a good palette cleanser after the Maki Yakatori. We also tried the Maki roll with tomago, konfuei, which is a Japanese sweet potato wrapped in soy paper. There were so many interesting flavors we wanted more even after we’d had enough.
One of the specialties at Sushi Mania is the Salmon Seviche’, which is pieces of cured salmon elegantly presented in a long-stem glass. This is for the real fish lovers.
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After the sushi, which were so beautiful they could be dessert, the waitress rattled off their dessert options. Desserts range from not-very-Japanese hot chocolate soufflé to the more Japanese tempura fried apple and banana served with a maple dipping sauce. This was our choice, and it was the taste of heaven on earth.
We passed on the drinks, but the restaurant offers hot frothy coffee drinks, a range of fruit juices, and, sodas, and of course Japanese alcoholic beverages such as Saki Nihon Sakari, Choya, and assorted beers.
Sushi Mania is a very special restaurant that we recommend wholeheartedly.
See the Sushi Mania menu available in the restaurant or take out. |