Madison’s west side has an abundance of places clustered together where you can get all-you-can-eat sushi. Namely, we have Takara Sushi Station, Sake, World Buffet and now Sushi Lover, located at West Towne Mall.
Lunch is $17.99 and dinner is $28.99. The format is similar to Sake (here’s my review) in which you order items off the menu instead of heading to a buffet area (World Buffet) or using a conveyor belt (Takara).
I appreciated that each plate, except for the sushi, contains a less-than-full-sized serving, allowing you to try a larger breadth of food. Also, you may order several plates at once, and the wait time was surprisingly short.
Here’s a look at some of the appetizers.
- The harumaki is a veggie spring roll that’s deep-fried. It was perfectly cooked so that the veggies were not raw, and the shell was crispy.
- The miso soup had the right level of saltiness.
- The kani salad was very fresh and had just enough crab meat so you’re not just eating cucumber.
- The shrimp tempura was a little bland, but it had a side of sauce to go with it.
- The gyoza came in three pieces and were pretty average.
The entrees are divided into fried rice, yakisoba, fried udon, hibachi and teriyaki. Make sure to order the yakisoba. It had an excellent fried flavor, wasn’t overloaded with veggies and came with a good amount of small shrimp.
I’m usually hesitant to order udon because it can be flavorless, but this dish was quite tasty. The noodles also had a nice chew, and the beef was tender and flavorful.
Meanwhile, the chicken fried rice may have been my least favorite item, and that’s not to say it wasn’t good. The rice could have been softer, but the chicken was tender. However, after eating the udon and yakisoba, I thought this dish should have had a stronger flavor.
Of course, a place called Sushi Lover has to have a large selection of sushi, as you will find many variations on the menu. I stuck to the specialty rolls, and as I alluded to earlier, they come in a full-sized serving of eight pieces.
In the Green Bay roll, the shrimp was pulverized, and the crab was like a patty. Neither was very spicy. I liked the honey wasabi mayo, which had a hint of sweetness to it but certainly didn’t taste like honey.
I found the Monkey roll to be creative, as I’ve never had plantain on a roll before. It actually paired well with the crabstick and the sweet mayo, and I would order this roll again.
The Angry Bird roll wasn’t very spicy despite the use of Sriracha and spicy shrimp with spicy crab, but it was still good. The tempura panko on top provided the only contrast in texture.
Sushi Lover is open every day for lunch and dinner.
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See more photos in our Sushi Lover Flickr album.
