Suddenly Sushi Uno

All I had planned to do was walk the dog before it got dark. There are a few bars and restaurants we normally walk past, but tonight I thought it would be better to cruise past the park on the residential side of the neighborhood. I couldn’t have known there would be sushi.

But there was the Sushi Uno food truck, sidled up to 28th Street Park like it had never been anywhere else. And what I learned about myself that night was that, yes, if you put sushi in my path, I will eat it.

On a couple previous occasions I had wanted to try Sushi Uno: once outside a brewery, later on at the Balboa Park Food Truck Fridays event. But both times the line was super long. Here on 28th Street, there were only a couple customers ahead of me. They hadn’t planned on finding sushi at the park, either. We were all having a real seize-the-day kind of moment here.

Photographs of several specialty rolls were pinned on the side of the truck, and before finding out what it was made of, I had a hunch I wanted to try the Megusta roll. It probably had something to do with the glistening yellowtail draped over the top of it, or the dollop of sriracha atop each cut piece of that, dressed with masago roe and green onion. It almost didn’t matter that inside the roll packed avocado, cucumber, ahi tuna, and cilantro. Almost. But every bit of this $15 roll worked for me: clean, tasty fish, nice textures, just the right amount of spice. The unexpected perk of taking it home from a dog walk definitely added bonus points to an otherwise humdrum day.

It’s not all I grabbed. There was no accompanying photo, but the words “crispy nigiris” on the menu stood out to me as if someone had taken a highlighter to them. Turns out the crispy refers to the fact the pads of sushi rice were deep fried before a spicy tuna mix was added to them. Dressed with eel sauce, jalapeno, and cilantro, these crispy snacks reminded me of eating jalapeno poppers (which Sushi Uno serves) in the sense they provided this complex mouthful of different textures and robust flavors. Honestly, a bowlful of these and a beer, and I’m set for happy hour. At three for 6 dollars, next time I’m ordering two servings.

I take it there will be a next time. The Sushi Uno team told me they started parking by 28th Street Park a couple weeks ago, and people in the neighborhood have been receptive enough they hope to keep at it, every Friday night. They were kind enough to assure me they would thoroughly sanitize the prep area and utensils before making my food, to accommodate concerns about a shellfish allergy. That’s a strong effort for a mobile kitchen.