Sunday, November 15, 2009

Holiday Hours

Please come celebrate your holidays with us! These are the hours we will be operating:

Thanksgiving - closed
Christmas Eve - 11:30 am – 3 pm / 5 pm – 10 pm
Christmas Day - 11:30 am – 3 pm / 5 pm – 10 pm
New Year's Eve - 11:30 am – 3 pm / 5 pm – 10 pm
New Year's Day - 5 pm – 10 pm

Monday, May 11, 2009

Closed May 11, 2009

Sushi Sono will be closed today, May 11, so the staff can celebrate Mother's Day. We will be open tomorrow for regular service.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Open on Mother's Day, May 10

Celebrate Mother's Day, May 10, at Sushi Sono as we will be open from 4:30 - 9:30 pm. As a result, we will be closed on Monday, May 11.

For reservations, please call 410-997-6131.

Friday, May 1, 2009

May Discounts

Here is a list of discounted items during the month of May. These prices will be valid everyday during lunch and dinner.

Japanese fries (fried pollack fish) $3.50
Shumai (steamed shrimp and vegetable dumplings) $4.00
Grilled yellowtail cheeks $11.00
Crispy soft-shell crabs (garnished with white pepper, green onions, garlic, and jalapenos) $14.00
Soft-shell crab roll $14.00
Yellowtail scallions roll $4.00
Yellowtail sushi $4.00

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

April Discounts

Cheers to a dreary beginning to April 2009!!!

Today we start new discounts for the month. Like last month, no coupons are needed and you can take advantage of these specials during lunch and dinner.

Check back daily for the specials as those items are purchased and delivered every morning. They vary with what the fish market has available.

The items listed below we already have a price lock on ... so these will be the daily features:

Seaweed salad (from Japan) $3.00
Fresh water eel sushi $4.00
Soft shell crab roll $14.00
Kani Kara Age (WHALE-size soft shell crabs) $15.00
Eel cucumber roll $4.00

The fresh water eel is from Taiwan and the soft shell crab is from the mid-Atlantic states.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

What is a soft-shell crab exactly?

Since we are having a special on whale-size soft shell crabs in April, I thought I would take a little time and highlight this delicious seafood.

Picking crabs, as most Marylanders know, takes skill and patience. It is an experience – a moment where you relax and catch up with family and friends, wrapped in the scent of Old Bay and beer. For many though (you out-of-towners), the rewards are minuscule in comparison to the hard-work of cracking and picking at the hard shells for hours. Wouldn’t it be great if crabs shared their tender and tasty white meat in an easier fashion (and I don’t mean out of a plastic or tinned container)?

They do - in the form of soft shell crabs.

Since crab shells do not grow with the rest of the crab, they need to be shed, which is called molting. Basically, when the crab outgrows its old shell, it forms a new shell underneath the old one. When it is ready, it cracks the old one and backs out of it. At this time, the crab is extremely vulnerable as the new shell is still soft – thus, the term “soft shell crabs.” It will need to stay submerged in water and away from predators while the new shell hardens, which takes about 72 hours.

Soft shell crabs are usually caught right before molting. Then, as soon as they lose the old shell, they are plucked from the water and shipped live to the restaurant. This is very important in keeping the soft shell soft since the shell cannot harden without water. The quality of the soft shell crab dwindles the longer the timeframe from when the crab sheds to the time it is pulled out of the water. The process happens rather quickly as the crabs can only survive a short time out of water (and it ensures that the soft shell crabs are fresh)!

The number of times a crab molts mainly depends on its sex (females molt less) and age (the older the crab, the less it molts). An average is around 20-23 times per lifetime. The soft shell crab season begins when the weather starts to warm, giving the crab a bigger shell for growing during the summer. New shells are usually around 30% bigger than the body.

Crab meat is a great source of vitamin B-12, protein, zinc, copper, phosphorous, niacin, vitamin E, calcium, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-5, vitamin C, thiamin, magnesium, iron, and essential fatty acids. These are needed for a well-balanced healthy diet.

There is a slight misnomer about crabs being unhealthy because it contains cholesterol. Like most things, cholesterol is bad only if consumed in excess amounts. In fact, we need it for proper hormonal development and brain functionality. If a deficiency in cholesterol occurs, irritability and depression follow. Thus, most health organizations recommend a daily limit of 300mg. Also, some diets that contain too much consumption of saturated fatty acids will suffer from high blood cholesterol (saturated fat causes excess cholesterol production within your body). Crab meat is extremely low on fat, especially saturated fat.

Just FYI as well - a whale-size soft shell crab means that the crab is over 5-1/2 inches across the back. Jumbos are 5 to 5-1/2 inches, and Mediums are 3-1/2 to 4 inches.

Monday, March 16, 2009

March Madness Special is Halfway Over!!!

Hope you have had a chance to stop by and enjoy some great Japanese cuisine. If you have not (or just can't get enough), the 33% discounts is still going strong. The discounted menu items have changed and here is the new list for the rest of the month:

Salmon Sushi $3.00
Salmon Sashimi $3.00
Salmon Tempura Roll $3.33
Fresh Salmon Roll $3.00
Salmon Skin Roll $3.00
Alaska Roll $3.33
Spicy Salmon Roll $3.33
Cucumber Roll $2.33
ShrimpTempura Roll $3.00
Chicken Teriyaki $13.00

Remember - the restaurant is closed on Sundays.

Daily Discounts in April

So far, here are the daily discounts in April. Again, no coupons are needed and you can take advantage of these specials during lunch and dinner. King is still working on some more deals so stay tuned ...

Seaweed salad (from Japan) $3.00
Fresh water eel sushi $4.00
Soft shell crab roll $14.00
Kani Kara Age (WHALE-size soft shell crabs) $15.00
Eel cucumber roll $4.00

The fresh water eel is from Taiwan and the soft shell crab is from the mid-Atlantic states.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Celebrate Your Health in April

I know, I know - St. Patrick's Day hasn't even passed and I'm already thinking about April.

April 7 is World Health Day. Each year, the World Health Organization presents a theme around which the day revolves. 2009's theme is "Save lives. Make hospitals safe in emergencies." For more information about the day, visit http://www.who.int/world-health-day/2009/en/index.html.

So, indirectly related to hospitals is your diet and eating healthy. Since Japanese cuisine is considered one of the healthiest cuisines, Sushi Sono will be spinning off March Madness into Celebrating Your Health.

Menu items are being created right now - so if you have a favorite that you would like to be included, let King know when you go in or feel free to post a comment!

Stay tuned ...

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

King and Hui-Jou

Thank you to everyone who have taken the time out to send me emails. I hope everyone will grow comfortable enough to start adding their comments on the blog, but I appreciate your feedback in any form!

Sushi March Madness started yesterday, but I am not counting yesterday due to the wintry weather Mother Nature decided to dump on us. Today is a beautiful day so please stop by for lunch or dinner and enjoy the snowy view of the Lake.

Some of you have asked about my father, King, who is the owner and sushi chef. As I have mentioned in Yelp and Facebook, my father is the one who is ALWAYS there. If you have never been to Sushi Sono or have never gotten a chance to sit at the sushi bar, my dad's pic is attached. So here is a little history ...

Born and raised outside of Taipei, Taiwan, he is the oldest of four brothers. My grandparents forced him to start working when he was in grade school, basically to help out with bills, so that was the highest "formal" education he ever received. He started cooking and working in Japanese restaurants, apprenticing under many different Japanese chefs in Taiwan and Japan. He worked in four major Japanese restaurants - names I cannot easily translate. By the time he reached 20, he branched out to learn Chinese cooking in order to broaden his development. A couple of years later, he volunteered for the Army and found himself stationed in Japan, returning him to his culinary root. So, he stayed and worked as a chef in several Japanese restaurants. When he returned to Taiwan, he continued to travel back to Japan on a yearly basis to teach aspiring Japanese chefs.

He met my mother, Hui-Jou, when they were both in their 20s. My mother has a similar story - she also was never formally educated. However, she just didn't enjoy school and dropped out on her own to start working. She also came from a huge family - two brothers and four sisters. She was a waitress / hostess when my dad asked her out, and she actually said no 5 or 6 times, but his persistency worked. She finally said yes and they got married shortly after.

I think my mother was (and is) the one person that finally made him start dreaming big. In 1983, he decided to explore the US to see how it would work out for us. He went to Texas, Tennessee, and finally settled in Maryland. In 1985, my mother followed, leaving me under the care of my grandparents. In 1988, I followed.

They opened several restaurants before Sushi Sono - my dad as the chef and my mom as the hostess. Although he wanted to open up a Japanese restaurant as his first restaurant, he was unable to do so since he did not speak English well enough to interact with customers and Japanese cuisine was not popular at the time. So, in order to bring in the paychecks, he bought Hunan Taste, off Liberty Road in Reisterstown. Chinese cuisine was extremely popular at this time and allowed him to save money in order to properly plan and open his true dream. Another was Taste of Asia in Columbia Mall food court, which I had the privilege of working as a cashier and "cooked" on the teppanyaki griddle. They had part ownership in some other places, but nothing worth mentioning (since I don't really remember).
When he saved enough, Sushi King came next, returning him to his Japanese style of cooking. He was now able to mingle with his customers and see their reactions when they are tasting his creations. Also, he was able to practice his English. (My parents basically learned English by listening to WBAL at night, reading the dictionary - yes, I am serious, and talking to as many people as they can.) Sushi King thrived under his ownership, but the location just was not ideal - he wanted a beautiful surrounding to complement his food. So when the location opened up where Sushi Sono is at currently, my dad snagged the lease and has been there ever since.

Having very little income (everything he made my grandmother took), he never had a chance to attend a culinary school and "refine" his skills. Words cannot express how truly amazing my parents are. They are FAR from perfect, as my friends can attest to the frustrations I go through in dealing with them, but their constant push for achieving perfection strikes me in awe sometimes. However, with the many disappointments, failures, and obstacles they have experienced, I find it fascinating that they are where they are. If you ever get a chance, I would recommend going solo or in twos and sit at the sushi bar. Watch my dad work - whatever he puts on the plate is derived from him and the memories of where he has been; it is not from something he learned out of a textbook. Most of all, talk to him about what you like and dislike; he truly lives to please your palate and satisfy your appetite.

As for my mom, she is out of work indefinitely. She has been ill for awhile and is resting to hopefully get better.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

March Madness Special - 33% Off

During the month of March 2009, Sushi Sono will be running a 33% discount on select menu items. This is in part to help everyone during this tough economic condition and to celebrate the restaurant's 11th year anniversary. The specials run every day in March, for lunch and dinner. No coupon is necessary.

Remember to also ask for the daily specials as these are modified daily, according to due to the fresh fish availability of the day.

Specials for March 2 - March 14 (restaurant is closed Sunday)
Avocado Roll $2.33
Tuna Sushi $4.66
Tuna Sashimi $4.66
Spicy Tuna Roll $3.66
Tuna Roll $3.66
White Tuna Tempura Roll $3.33
Tuna Tempura Roll $4.00
White Tuna Sushi $3.00
White Tuna Sashimi $3.00
White Tuna Roll $3.00
Salmon Teriyaki $18.75

Specials for March 16 - March 31 (restaurant is closed Sunday)
Salmon Sushi $3.00
Salmon Sashimi $3.00
Salmon Tempura Roll $3.33
Fresh Salmon Roll $3.00
Salmon Skin Roll $3.00
Alaska Roll $3.33
Spicy Salmon Roll $3.33
Cucumber Roll $2.33
ShrimpTempura Roll $3.00
Chicken Teriyaki $13.00

Here is some basic information about the restaurant:
10215 Wincopin Circle
Columbia, MD 21044
Phone: 410-997-6131
Open Monday-Saturday
Lunch - 11:30am-3pm / Dinner - 5pm-10pm
http://www.sushisonomd.com/
sushisono@gmail.com


Enjoy fresh sushi without breaking your wallet!

www.zagat.com/Verticals/PropertyDetails.aspx?VID=8&R=86443

www.yelp.com/biz/sushi-sono-japanese-restaurant-columbia

www.sushisonomd.com/menu.html