Lehi’s Tsunami has visitors wading through large crowds for good sushi
The Cococabana Roll at Tsunami Restaurant and Sushi Bar in Lehi.
The Chicken Teriyaki at Tsunami Restaurant and Sushi Bar in Lehi.
The Executive Roll, top, and Jenny Roll, at Tsunami Restaurant and Sushi Bar in Lehi.
The Cococabana Roll at Tsunami Restaurant and Sushi Bar in Lehi.
The Vegas Roll at Tsunami Restaurant and Sushi Bar in Lehi.
The Fire Breaking Dragon Roll at Tsunami Restaurant and Sushi Bar in Lehi.
Gyoza at Tsunami Restaurant and Sushi Bar in Lehi.
Skewer Trio appetizer at Tsunami Restaurant and Sushi Bar.
The P.D. Roll at Tsunami Restaurant and Sushi Grill in Lehi.
In landlocked Utah, picky sushi eaters are limited in their options of “good” or even acceptable sushi. Sure there are the all-you-can-eat sushi buffets, but that generally doesn’t mean “good” sushi in our book.
Fortunately for Utah County, Tsunami moved into the developing area around Traverse Mountain, just east of Harmons, about a year ago. The restaurant has a couple of busy Salt Lake locations, and is a welcome addition in Lehi — as displayed by the sheer volume of people dining there.
Our group visited on a Thursday for dinner, and the restaurant was packed with the waiting area overflowing with groups of people patiently waiting to snag a table. Luckily, we had made reservations online (that some in our party were late for) so it seemed to somewhat expedite the process of getting seated. As our waitress guided us through the large building with modern designs, I asked if the crowds were normally like this, and she chuckled. Yes, the restaurant is always busy and waits that have topped as much as two hours have not been unheard of. Needless to say, I recommend making a reservation. It’s easy and well worth dodging the hordes of Lehi people in search of food.
The specials sheet often has delicious options for those who are more frequent diners looking to mix up choices from the regular menu.
We sampled a couple appetizers, starting with the Skewer Trio, which had smaller portions, but was still delicious. It featured a combination of three grilled skewers of beef, teriyaki chicken and teriyaki salmon. Personally, when it comes to appetizers I more frequently opt for Gyoza.
We happened to order Tsunami’s fried Gyoza, filled with pork, that night in a fit of incredulity after my brother asked, “What are gyoza?” Enter: Thoughts of how we are at all related. Thankfully for him, I rectified this situation and he managed to snag the most pieces of the appetizer after he discovered how much he enjoyed them.
While Tsunami offers a variety of great entrees that do not include fish, our main goal was sushi. After all, when is sushi never an admirable goal?
Our party attempted to order a variety of rolls to best grasp Tsunami’s strengths and flavors when it comes to this treasured cuisine. We mostly ended up selecting rolls from the “House Rolls” section of the menu: Jenny, Fire Breathing Dragon, Executive Suite, Cococabana and P.D. Our lone tempura fried roll was the Vegas Roll.
The consensus for the group favorite easily settled on the Cococabana Roll. It features coconut-battered shrimp, jalapenos and spicy eel sauce topped with tuna, avocado, cilantro and eel sauce. It’s served with a wonderful habanero sauce, but it’s already fairly spicy without it. Together, however, it is quite the flavorful roll that packs a sweet and spicy punch.
My personal favorite is the Executive Suite, comprised of tempura shrimp, avocado and cilantro topped with tuna, lime slices, masago and scallions drizzled with eel sauce and served with habanero sauce. It’s an extremely colorful roll, with reds, greens and oranges. The avocado, lime and cilantro give it an incredibly fresh taste and the fish is as good a quality as you’ll find in Utah County.
If you gravitate to more simplistic rolls, the Jenny House Roll might hit the spot. I loved the paper-thin lemon slices that were the crowning ingredient on fresh salmon, with crab and avocado inside.
We did order one non-sushi entree — the Chicken Teriyaki. It was served with rice and tempura vegetables. The chicken was sliced very thinly and sprinkled with sesame seeds and scallions. It was grilled perfectly, and we appreciated that it was not drowning in sauce. The tempura vegetables also met the quality of the rest of our meal; it is hard to get tempura vegetables wrong, though. The medley included carrots, broccoli and mushrooms.
Though the restaurant was full, our waitress was always attentive and even promptly submitted additional sushi roll orders in the middle of our long meal. (We took our time enjoying each other’s company and savoring our indulgence in so many sushi rolls.) During our visit, the quality of our food and service never seemed to wane because of the inundation of people. That can be a hard balance to strike, but Tsunami does it well, which is likely why the crowds come back day after day.
Tsunami
Location: 1616 W. Traverse Parkway, Lehi
Prices: $3.99-$18.99
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, noon to 9 p.m. Sunday