Though our dear friend Anonymous, who will remain so for the time being, has a much more refined palate for food and beverage than myself, I can appreciate good food, wine, and ambiance wherever it may be served in the world. As you can imagine, I had to do some sweet-talking to our dear Anonymous to persuade him to let me take on the task of writing this week’s review. After stroking our dear Leo’s mane and ego a bit he agreed that since it was the column’s first trek over to T-Town….Trussville of course….that someone other than the ex-lover of a citizen of the town would be better suited to take this one. So being the impartial and utterly devoted angel that I am, I volunteered and A. agreed. So dolls, here’s what I’ve got to report.
Despite what you may have been told, Trussville isn’t all sweet tea and Momma’s home cookin’ (though I wouldn’t complain even if it were). My quaint new town happens to also be the new home of the locally owned Rock-N-Roll Sushi. Interestingly enough, the only other location is in Mobile, AL, the place I last called home, though I just experienced the fish and funk fusion for myself in Trussville on Friday last.
Our waitress (who I soon found out would be serenading the crowd the following night for some of the spots frequent live music) sat our party of six at a table for four, because we were tired of waiting and the small venue was packed. As the aptly named establishment promised, we were greeted with paintings of KISS on the walls, Nine Inch Nails jamming through the speakers, and menu’s covered in the sleeves of vinyl records. I wasn’t pleased with my record menu, STYX: The Grand Illusion, so I perused the rest of my party’s collection to trade. I decided over options such as The Eagles and Johnny Cash to take Heart from one of my companions. What can I say? Alone is my all time favorite jam, so I couldn’t sell out Ann and Nancy. I opened my worn, yet still sleek record cover to find, not Barracuda, but a better and decidedly easier digestible array of aquatic Asian cuisine. Inside the menu stays true to its rock n roll theme with “Opening Acts”, which includes the usual Japanese appetizers: edamame, squid salad, seaweed salad, and my favorite, cucumber salad with thinly sliced crabmeat atop the chopped cucumber and spring mix greens marinated in a vinegar dressing, just to name a few. I highly recommend the Beef Tataki for my carnivorous cronies out there to start with; the filet mignon was cooked to perfection! I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, I’m afraid so let me regress a bit to the true opening act and what is often my favorite part of any menu, the drink menu. Some of my motley crew went with the rock and roll version of their favorite cocktails and ordered things like the “Dirty Diana” Martini or the Purple Rain.
Something I didn’t get to experience, but am looking forward to for a little hair of the dog action one of these woozy Sunday brunch’s is the Bloody Geisha, a creative Asian take on one of my all time favorite’s the Bloody Mary with a blend of wasabi infused vodka, soy sauce, and a pinch of sriracha added to the classic Bloody Mary mix, and garnished with, you guessed it, edamame. As some of you may already know, the Bloody Geisha is not original to Rock-N-Roll Sushi, but as my boy toy would say, I like their style. While our anonymous friend is correct in pointing out that I must be watched around the Bourbon, I do like my red wine now and again….ok who am I fooling? I try to keep it my main source of antioxidants to keep this healthy, girlish glow. Bunny’s not getting any younger doll’s, and sometimes a little vino is all it takes to forget that. What can I tell you about the wine list at Rock-N-Roll Sushi?
Well, not much because their isn’t much of one. The “wine list” and I’m being very kind, is composed of four types of red and six types of white. I couldn’t tell you the brand, only the variety, as merlot, shiraz, pinot noir, etc. is as descriptive as it gets. But I can appreciate a true rock and roll lifestyle enough to know that Tommy Lee or Slash would chug back a bottle of Barefoot Moscato or a bottle of Dom Perignon without knowing or caring what the difference is, so a refined wine list is about as rock and roll as a neat and clean hotel room on check out day, I suppose. I won’t knock the joint for their less than chic wine selection, but I will give them props for allowing us to bring in ten bottles of our own wine, brought and selected by Anonymous himself, and charging a small fee for allowing us to keep the bottles on the table. At $5 a bottle, we decided to keep two at a time on the table, always a red and a white, and had a nice tasting of his Italian, Chilean, and Argentinean reserve. If you’re wondering, my fave was the 2006 Don Baltazar Petit Verdot, Argentina. I love a good red wine, and as Anonymous says, I’m a “real man” when it comes to my drinking tastes. You make me blush, sir.
Now, back to business: the food. Where was I? Ah yes, after our wine tasting and opening acts came the “Classic Rock” and “Headliners”. On the “Classic Rock” menu those of you who don’t like to mess with a good thing can find your standard sushi: the California, Rainbow, Volcano, Spider, Veggie, and Shrimp Tempura to name a few. For all my rock and roll hero’s out there you can try the “Headliner’s”, which are all creatively named after a rock band or star. You can get an Elvis Roll, Madonna Roll, Mötley Crüe Roll, Ozzy Oz Roll, Poison Roll….the list goes on for two menu pages. I chose the Black Pearl Roll, and I can do nothing but rave about it. Though I can’t figure out how the name ties to rock and roll, other than that the Black Pearl belonged to Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, and Johnny Depp got his style inspiration for the character from Keith Richards. That’s like a cousin twice removed from rock and roll, if you ask me, but no one did. Davey Jones did bring the ship back from the dead, which if you take a cue from Nikki Sixx is extremely rock and roll, so who knows? Anyway, this really isn’t here nor there; just a little food for thought, no pun intended. The Black Pearl Roll is yellowtail tuna mixed with aioli sauce, topped with yellow fin tuna, crabmeat, and citrus sauce. The mixture of raw fish and spice is nothing short of divine! I also ordered some salmon sashimi, because I really can’t get enough raw fish in my diet. If you haven’t read up on the beauty benefits lately, I highly recommend it. You’ll be amazed what a bit of raw salmon washed down with a good red wine will do to get a glowing complexion. Of course I couldn’t order everything on the menu, but I was able to try some of my dining partner’s rolls, and I was as pleased with the Poison Roll as the Black Pearl. I absolutely adore spicy food, so I found the California roll topped with scallops, jalapeño’s, and hot chili sauce to die for. If you can’t handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen though. The heat in this roll will have you talking dirty to me for sure, my fallen angel’s. One more roll that I feel is a must mention is the Velcro Pygmies Roll. That’s right, it’s named after the 80’s cover band, and is just as much fun….okay, let’s be real for a minute, I’ve had a lot more fun with the roll’s namesake, but it is just as delicious as the former guitar player….again, I exaggerate.
The roll itself is spicy crunch tuna, avocado, crunchy flakes, and….are you ready for this? Pop Rocks! Yes, like the candy that pops in your mouth that we all ate as kids, and if you didn’t I’m sorry for you. Sounds interesting, I know, and I could think of a million inappropriate allusions to make to the rock and roll lifestyle here, but I am a lady after all, so I’m going to move on.
To say the very least, I will be returning to Rock-N-Roll Sushi as often as possible, and have already been on the telly with my Mobile comrades to tell them to get to the Bell Air Mall location immediately. The ambiance of the place itself would be enough to shake you all night long, but I’ve got a whole lotta’ love for the food too. If you think I’ve tasted better sushi around here, dream on. Okay, enough with the classic rock allusions.
Sorry, I get carried away; there’s just so many.
Let me leave you with some idea of where our night went from its culinary beginnings. We washed the food down with a few shots of hot Saki, and headed right around the corner in the Pinnacle to Lightening Strikes Bowling Alley. Don’t kid yourself, Bunny does not bowl, but the Billy Club bar is a country girl’s dream, once you get past the smoke. If I could make one complaint about my new hometown it would be that the place would join the rest of America in the 21st Century and ban smoking in these establishments. Gag me with a spoon….I still can’t get the smell out of my hair. But we battled the smoke to enjoy the down home feel and karaoke. I got a little Fancy myself with my humble take on the queen of country, Reba McEntire’s song about a woman of the night. Would you expect anything less from ole Bunny? It was an all around top night if you ask me, and luckily I was able to keep my hair pulling and eye scratching at bay yet again, for alas, there was no sign of the country girl.
