STEPH DEROSA: I WENT TO SUSHI TOWN >>>

Word in the DeRosa household is that Sushi Town was THE place to dig down on tasty sushi. My non-raw-fish-eating husband swore by this place, so I had to go. The KAke and I jumped at the opportunity to take her brother, Ike Shanaman of the Tacoma punk band Broken Oars, out for his birthday lunch at this Bonney Lake legend called Sushi Town.

What makes this place crowded, line out the door, stuffed to the gills busy is their terrific sushi bar lunchtime deal. For $17.95, and only at the bar, can you scarf down all the sushi rolls you can eat in an hour. The catch is that you have to eat at least half within the hour in order to pay only $17.95. Otherwise you have to pay full price for all rolls.

I’m talking about 8-inch rolls piled with sushi extras such as tobiko, shrimp, imitation crabmeat, and tempura. They’re not on the small side of sushi rolls by any stretch of the imagination. What I did find lacking, and what I have come to realize is the reason my non-raw-fish eating husband likes this place, is that about 80 percent of their rolls are made with cooked ingredients. There are lots of vegetables, cooked shrimp, tempura everything, and of course imitation crabmeat (which I loathe) in almost all rolls. In order to get my fill of what I consider real “sushi” I ordered shiro maguro nigiri (raw albacore tuna). But guess what? They were out. (Thank you Ike for sharing your tuna with me.)

I ordered what appeared to be one of the few rolls that included sashimi in its ingredients: the mountain roll. Unfortunately, in order for me to get to the thin slices of fish atop the sushi roll I had to uncover it by scraping off the gynormous mound of imitation crabmeat that covered my food.

Contrary to how I felt about my initial visit to Sushi Town, I will definitely return. The service was friendly and I have yet to try the $17.95 all you can eat sushi bar. Although next time I will most likely jump on the “build your own” roll that allows you to add up to six ingredients and starts at the price of $6.50. I just hope they have more albacore by then.

[Sushi Town, 20649 State Route 410 E., Bonney Lake, 253.891.2046]