Name: Tsunami
Address: Fransisco Medina Ascencio S/N local A-32, Centro Comercial Villas Vallarta
Telephone: 224-0105 (delivery available for orders over $250)
Hours: Every day, 2-11 p.m.
Type of food: Japanese, sushi, fresh seafood, and Japanese-Mexican fusion
What I’d heard about it beforehand: Some friends of mine had recommended Tsunami to me as one of their favorite places. If you’ve ever eaten sushi at any Vallarta supermarkets, you’ll know already that it’s not particularly authentic…and it’s very much cream cheese based.
Atmosphere: Tsunami’s atmosphere is full of contradictions. First, the location is a little hard to find, but once you do you forget you’re in the plaza all together. The interior has a lot of blonde wood booths and white walls, and a little bit of Japanese flair, but it makes me think more of an upscale seafood family restaurant than of Asian inspiration. I also noticed that they were playing jazz-remixed 90’s pop songs through the restaurant, but also had baseball on mute in the main dining room. Out near the bar, another TV was on too, but I only noticed because the restaurant wasn’t busy. Still, I don’t mean to sound negative – the place has a cozy feel, and I really like that pretty much everyone gets a booth.
Service: Our service was beyond excellent. Our waiter sincerely acted like he had been put on earth to serve us sushi, and he carefully explained and detailed every part of our meal. Sometimes, when you’re at a restaurant too early (in the day or in the season), I think it’s easy to feel a little claustrophobic or completely ignored, but this waiter had a great balance of our space and our needs. I also appreciated that a manager came and checked on us later in the meal.
Drinks: On the back of the menu, there’s a short list of beers available (Corona & related products, and a few other beers), but there’s no other drink list on the menu (not even soft drinks). I noticed on the Specials board they had a rose wine cocktail in an old-fashioned glass (it sounds prettier and far more classy in Spanish), for $55. I ordered it, and it was sort of like sangria (which I adore), but too dry, and not sweet at all. A can of Coke was $25.
Dress Code: One step up from beach wear and beyond…but I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if you came in beach wear, either. I’ve been there twice, and once they brought me a hot towel before I ate; I (personally) would feel self-conscious using a hot towel on my sandy beach face.
Price Range: $$-$$$ The average specialty sushi roll is $105.
My order: Let me start by saying we ordered ENTIRELY TOO MUCH FOOD. Do not order as much as we did, or you will have to be air lifted home. First, we each ordered the fried rice (Yakimeshi). I had the “mixed” for $58, and it was amazing! I used to live in Asia, and one of my friends once told me that the more oil in fried rice, the better. There is something about Tsunami’s fried rice – I would eat it just for dinner, all by itself. It’s very generous portion if you ordered just that, anyway. What I like the most about it is that it’s almost caramelized in the oil, like if you took a pan you just fried a rib-eye in and made fried rice in it. Order it – but split it with your date. We also had two types of sushi rolls:
- the “Cosmopolitan” (rice, seaweed, avocado, flying fish roe, salmon, octopus, cream cheese, and cucumber fried tempura style with eel sauce and mayonnaise) $105. I loved these – I had never had anything tempura style before visiting Tsunami, but it’s a light batter fried delicately on the outside. If you’re not into the whole raw-fish thing, you should try it this way - it doesn’t have any of the “I’m eating raw fish” scariness. Eel sauce is just a sweet fish sauce dribbled on top, along with a little mayonnaise.
- …and the “Tsunamimaki” (rice, fish, shrimp, salmon, crab, avocado, and cream cheese wrapped in zucchini, fried tempura style with dynamite sauce) $105. The zucchini is like a shell around this, with the tempura beyond that. It’s very creamy and a little sweet. Don’t be afraid of the “dynamite” sauce (that word makes me think “spicy,” but it’s not – I’m not even sure where that was – I think it’s just a cool name they made up for it.
The Good… I really loved my waiter, and the food is amazing. Half the menu still has cream cheese (maybe it’s a big thing in Japan now?), but if you’re into sushi you can find more delicious, creative inventions. If you’re not into sushi, get the fried rice. On second thought, get it no matter what.
The Bad… I can’t afford to eat there every day, and I don’t know what drinks they have, which kind of bothers me. I picture a Japanese restaurant having a really kitschy drink menu, with drinks like a Singapore Slings on it. Maybe they just forgot to give it to us, or I should have asked.
…& the Hungry… I’m a curry lover, and I also really like Japanese curries, so I wouldn’t mind trying one of theirs next time. I’m also intrigued by a lot of the names of the different types of sushi (Richard’s Masago Especial, anyone? How about a Fantasy Roll?).
Should you spend your hard-earned peso? Don’t miss this place!
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