Let me get this out of the way; I don’t actually like traditional sushi. When I was consulting in Memphis, this Japanese restaurant had this fried and generally sweet sushi dish that I loved immensely. Since I’ve been back home I haven’t been able to find anyone who makes that sort of thing… but I digress.


I love Chinese food… when it’s good. Unfortunately, the last good Chinese restaurant closed back in January, and I’ve yet to find anyone else who’s better than average. Luckily I like Japanese restaurants, not because of the sushi but because there are certain things I like to eat that, no matter the restaurant, always taste great.

Ocean Sushi on Route 57 in Liverpool, NY, is about a 1-minute drive or a 5 minute walk from my house. I went there maybe 6 years ago and wasn’t happy with the service, to the extent that I walked out before ordering anything. in my way of thinking, the person who was going to wait on me was probably gone after such a long period of time, so it didn’t make sense not to give it another try… which is rare for me because I’m not quite the forgiving type if I was irritated on the first visit.

My main meal at all Japanese restaurants is the same thing all the time; salmon teriyaki. I love it with a strong passion, but unfortunately I have a problem with high potassium levels. This means I need to only eat it once a week, and these days this is the restaurant I’m getting it at.

As I stated earlier, all Japanese restaurants have very tasty salmon teriyaki. What separates Ocean Sushi from all the rest? Check out this brief video:

How many times have you been to a regular Japanese restaurant and had your food come out sizzling like that? The things I love about this are: the salmon’s cut up so I know there’s no skin on anything; lots of onions, instead of the “few” you normally get at other Japanese restaurants; lots of teriyaki sauce, but if you don’t get enough they’re happy to give you more; no nasty mushrooms; a little bit of broccoli and just a touch of red peppers, which I normally don’t eat but with this concoction they’re actually pretty good.

I did mention I can’t eat salmon teriyaki all that often, right? Well, sometimes I have this major craving more the taste of teriyaki, so I’ll order chicken teriyaki; pretty much look and sounds the same:

No place makes everything perfectly, and Ocean Sushi’s no exception. One day I decided to try the beef bulgogi, and unfortunately it didn’t taste how I thought it would, as I’d never had it before. It also doesn’t look at appetizing as the teriyaki dishes:


Just so you know, this isn’t a hibachi place and their specialty is sushi. This means they don’t make fried rice, only steamed rice. I used to be kind of picky about this, but I have to tell you that not only have I grown to love steamed rice with this but sometimes I need extra to help me finish my meal.

I’m glad I started going to Ocean Sushi instead of driving all the way to the mall for lunch, since Ichiban’s not open for lunch during the week. The people who work here are courteous and friendly, which explains why I go there almost every single Wednesday afternoon. I recommend you think about giving them a try, even if you’re not as crazy about teriyaki as I am.