A Meal Fit for the Mikado: Sutra Sushi at BarcelonaA Meal Fit for the Mikado: Sutra Sushi at Barcelona
By Gerald Calamia
Photography by Eric Fairchild
North Scottsdale’s Barcelona Steakhouse and Night Club is noted for its standard of excellence throughout its entertainment and restaurant complex. This quality is equally evident in Sutra Sushi at Barcelona, the complex’s newest addition to its already iconic destination.
Sutra Sushi’s sophisticated climate invites you to relax and unwind. The seating area sports rich colors of red with oversized freeform leather benches and stylish tables and chairs. The bar is stocked with premium-level spirits, with color-changing lights against mirrored glass to spotlight the best vodkas, whiskeys, and gins available. The sushi chefs’ open-view kitchen is the restaurant’s center, where diners at the bar can see the masters assembling all manner sashimi, nigiri, and rolls. All this was in sync with the remarkable attention to detail and the high-level service we experienced as we dined.
Sutra Sushi at Barcelona has an extensive list of sake, served cold or hot. We decided on two cold versions of Nebuta Honjozo and Murai Nigori Genshu. Both sakes were fresh, crisp, full-bodied drinks, with melon, spice, and vanilla in the Nebuta, and pineapple and coconut flavors in the Murai. We also ordered two glasses of their Kobai Plum, a plum wine whose sweetness went well with the sushi and rolls we ordered for dinner.
We started with a sample of nigiri. Our server, Jaime Atkins, suggested we try the king crab and fresh water eel selections, to which we added tuna, yellowtail, and scallop. Their freshly handmade nigiri was served a la carte, and as each order came to the table, it was evident how important presentation and quality are to Sutra Sushi.
For our main entrees, we decided on a selection of rolls from their Sutra Specials and Classic Rolls. We chose a California roll and a rainbow roll from the Classics. The rainbow roll delights the eye, with the variegated colors of shrimp, yellowtail, tuna, whitefish, and salmon adorning ample amounts of rice as the foundation.
Our Sutra Specials rolls included the Sutra, Buddha, Bindi and what turned out to be our favorite roll, the Lotus. The Sutra and Bindi rolls offered tempura tuna and lobster, respectively, and the two sauces that the Sutra was served with combined a little bit of heat with a handful of flavor. The Lotus Roll, another very colorful, engaging dish, offered shrimp tempura with a spicy crab mix wrapped inside cucumber and soy paper, topped off with mango and avocado.
We finished with an order from their New Style menu. We selected the blackened albacore, which came sashimi style (albacore only, with no rice). It was Cajun-seared and served with a dollop of blackberry chutney to sweeten up the albacore.
Sutra Sushi also has a lunch menu that offers the same choices as dinner, with the addition of bentos (Japanese style box lunches). Bentos include halibut, beef tenderloin, and teriyaki chicken, as well as a vegetable tempura selection. On Fridays and Saturdays, the restaurant offers a late-night menu from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. for those late-night snacks.
General Manager Charles F. Smith III told us that all aspects of the dining experience must be at their highest level, from the food to the lighting to the service, so that each guest’s experience is a memorable one, and service and presentation were indeed true to the concept. The sushi and rolls were inviting, fresh, and creative. For a place to sample sushi, eat light, have that special dinner, or meet a group of friends, look no farther than Sutra Sushi at Barcelona. It will be an evening to remember, and you will surely be reminded to return.
Sutra Sushi at Barcelona is located at 15440 N. Greenway-Hayden Loop, Scottsdale. For reservations, call (480) 355-2626.