Lunch; to me it is the most important meal of the day. Oh sure, there are those that claim that breakfast is actually the most important but these are people who’d happily live on eggs, bacon and granola - or “light fare” as I like to call it. Okay, so breakfast does have its merits and there are many good ones out there but I’m not an egg person and I don’t typically get my appetite until at least 10 A.M. For me there is nothing better than sitting down for a mini-dinner at the mid-point of the day. When I worked in Fremont there were wide ranging choices for the midday repast, both within easy walking and driving distance. But for the past year I’ve been working in the suburbia that is North Kirkland and have been relegated to fast food, a run to the local grocery store or a seat at a national feed-bag spot - or so it seemed initially.

As I began to explore more and more of the area around my company’s office complex I started noticing little spots that held, at least potentially, promise. While proximity is still the biggest issue (A good many of these places aren’t within quick walking distance) I’ve decided to see what a short drive could accomplish in the way of a tasty meal. My first stop was at AA Sushi, a kaiten sushi restaurant that reminded me of the sushi lunches I used to enjoy at Blue C Sushi in Fremont. I’m not sure if the owners are former employees of Blue C, ex-partners or just piggy backing off of Blue C’s success by opening a shop in Kirkland but upon walking into the restaurant I noticed similarities that ran deeper than just the moving conveyor belt. For one, the space tries to be industrial chic. Unfortunately they fail to pull this off and the feeling is just cold, like that of a warehouse. Brightly colored art, wall treatments and even the chairs along either end of the belt mimic elements that are found in the kaiten sushi restaurant on the other side of Lake Washington.

But I didn’t come for the ambiance, I only have an hour for lunch and I was starving. “What are they offering on the belt,” I asked myself. For those who are new to conveyor belt sushi I will give a brief explanation. The chef or chefs prepare the sushi at a central location, plating each item on one of three or four different color plates. The colors of the plates represent a price so the more expensive sushi will be on one color while cheaper fare are on others. At AA Sushi the pricing for the plate colors are as follows: Green/$1.50, Yellow/$2.00, Blue/$2.50 and Red/$3.00. My first plate was Yam Tempura Roll ($1.50). The crispy fried tempura batter held tight to the inner roll filling of yam. Providing a nice crunch to a baked potato like texture though did not help the lack of flavor in the yam. This roll could have easily been flavorless expect for the rice. As you continue to read you will see how often I mention the rice. Cooked just right, so that it wasn’t crunchy or mushy, the rice was well seasoned with vinegar giving it a light sweetness that provided some flavor, and as you’ll see, enhanced the flavor of other plates.

My next plate was Salmon Nigiri ($3.00). The fish slices were long and wide but their thickness was relatively thin. Providing this much surface area allowed these two pieces of sushi to be creamy and buttery without a hint of stringy-ness. It also helped that the fish as very fresh and quite flavorful. A bit sweet in its own right the raw salmon had just enough fat content that it almost melted in the mouth.

As I was licking my fingers from the last of the salmon nigiri I spotted what I would later determine was a Kirkland Roll ($3.00). I was a little confused at first because a menu I had read described the Kirkland roll as having spicy tuna along with the tempura shrimp while the roll I choose substituted cucumber for said spicy tuna. But after a quick inquiry I was told it was something new that was being tried for the Kirkland roll. I’m actually glad the substitution was made. While the tempura shrimp was fresh tasting, slightly salty sweet and crunchy the real punch to the roll came from the generous layer of spicy chili sauce that sat atop each slice. The flavors did a little dance on my tongue as I used my chopsticks to tweeze bite after bite into my mouth. Sweet, spicy, chewy and crunchy all had their role in the flavor profile of what I think was the best roll I tried at AA Sushi. And I was thankful for the sweet, not just from the shrimp but also from the rice. That sweetness helped to quell the fire that the chili sauce started.

After such a bold choice of plates I turned to something a little tamer, Scallop Nigiri ($2.00). As with the salmon nigiri the scallop was of very good quality. Firm but not dry the scallop was creamy, sweet and fresh. Most times scallops lose a lot of their texture if they are frozen after being caught but based upon what I ate, the sushi chef must have been at the docks early that morning.

Since I missed out on spicy tuna in the Kirkland roll I decided, as a final plate, on a Spicy Tuna Roll ($2.50). One thing that I will say for this place, when they say spicy, they mean it. This is a shame in this case because the spicy sauce totally obliterates the taste of the tuna in the roll. All I could discern was chili sauce, cucumber and that strangely sweet sushi rice. If I had to do it again, I’d go for the tuna nigiri instead.

So with a little over ten dollars worth of sushi in my belly I paid my check and made the dash back to work. While AA Sushi is far from the best in the Seattle area, for a quick sushi lunch it’s not terrible. My main suggestion to anyone going would be to stick with the nigiri as the quality of their raw fish is well above average and be careful of rolls that include spicy sauce. That’s like playing with dynamite that sauce is.