Sushi Deli

• Cuisine(s): Deli, Japanese, Sushi
  Hours: Sun 12pm-6pm, Tue-Sat 11:30am-7pm
  Price: $$ $$
  Payment Types: MasterCard, Visa, cash
• Attire: Casual
  Features: Takeout, Wheelchair Accessible
  Serving: Brunch, Lunch
  Alcohol: Beer/Wine
• Reservations: Accepted
  Parking: Lot Available

Description

Located inside a little Japanese market (that's nearly impossible to see from the road), this place has a Japanese-trained veteran sushi chef who turns out a limited selection of what insiders consider among Miami's top sushi. Some is extremely hard-to-find traditional Japanese stuff, like the Battera -- Osaka-style sushi, for which rice is loaded into a square box, layered with seasoned seaweed then more rice, pressed, topped with cevichelike marinade-"cooked" mackerel, then cut into squares. The result is as savory as it is beautiful. There's also uniquely creative sushi such as a Marie Roll: inside, the strong mint/basil flavor of shiso leaves balances raw tuna in hot sauce; outside, roasted garlic substitutes for standard sesame seeds, adding an inventive Italian touch. There are also a couple of hot dishes, such as an assertive curried beef stew with rice, a salad, and edamame soy beans in the shell) -- a substantial meal for less than five bucks. Well worth the hunt.