Taste of Asia flyer

Come to the Inaugural Taste of Asia (a taste of food, music, cultural performances & exhibits) all at one site, the beautiful Tucson Chinese Cultural Center (1288 W. River Rd.) on two days, Friday April 30 and Saturday, May 1st.

This cultural event runs 4 to 9 p.m. on Friday, 11 to 9 p.m. on Saturday. Admission is $3 (children under 12 free). Food and beverage tickets will be sold separately.

Food vendors will be offering delicacies from the countries of Thailand, Laos, Korea, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, India, Kazakhstan, and China, and there will also be Filipino and Japanese food for sale at the Marketplace. The performers will be diverse as well: Tucson Chinese Association Lion Dance Team, martial arts dojos, tai chi, Leiola Hula Halau, Fine Stream Gamelan, Arirang Korean Dancers, Odaiko Sonora, Tucson Sino Choir, and many more.

I am especially looking forward to hearing a Japanese traditional musical duo “Muso” on Saturday at high noon, performing shakuhachi flute (by Paul Amiel) and koto (by master teacher Hiroko Coates).

Being Japanese American from Hawaii, I will be looking for my cultural foods and music, but also expanding my knowledge about all the other Asian/Pacific Islander cultures as well. This is similar to smaller Asian/Pacific Islander heritage events which have been held in Tucson, but this is the first annual Taste of Asia.

For further info, call 520-292-6900 or log onto www.tucsontasteofasia.com or www.tucsonchinese.org. The Tucson Chinese Cultural Center is on the north side of River Rd., just east of La Canada.

Everyone is welcome to taste a Taste of Asia 2010.

If you love sushi and Japanese food, please continue reading. If you don’t, or haven’t tried it yet but have an aversion to raw seafood and seaweed on cooked rice, stop now and read another blog about other food more to your tastes.

sushi sample

Back in July, 2009 I blogged about my favorite sushi restaurants in Tucson (click here). When we first got to the Old Pueblo in 1987, there were only a handful of Japanese restaurants, but later they started sprouting up all over town and sushi became very popular.

Here’s a comprehensive (more or less) list of the thirty and more Japanese restaurants in town, some with or without sushi bars. I once had the lofty (and expensive) goal of eating at every one, but I’m so far behind now as I haven’t been to about 1/3 of these new ones listed below:

Benihana, 6091 N. Oracle Rd., 297-5555 (update: closed March, 2010)

Fuku Sushi, 940 E. University Blvd, 798-3848

Fusion Wasabi, 250 S. Craycroft, #100, 747-0228

Ginza Sushi & Izakaya, 5425 N. Kolb Rd. #115, 529-8877

Hibachi-san, 4500 N. Oracle, 407-8296 (Tucson Mall)

Ichiban, 64 N. Harrison Rd., 393-7777

Ikkyu, 2040 W. Orange Grove, 297-9011

Kampai, 4689 E. Speedway Blvd, 325-6552 (now called Bushi as of March, 2011)

Kampai North, 6486 N. Oracle, 219-6550

Kazoku, 4210 E. Speedway, 777-6249

Kyo, 9040 E. Valencia Rd., 663 – 3717

Oishi Sushi, 7002 E. Golf Links Rd., 790-9439

On a Roll, 63 E. Congress St., 622-7655

RA Sushi , 2905 E. Skyline Dr, 615-3970

Sachiko, 1101 N. Wilmot Rd. #109, 886-7000

Sachiko Sushi, 3210 E. Valencia, 741-1000

Saga, 2955 E. Speedway Blvd, 320 – 0535

Sakura, 6534 E. Tanque Verde Rd., 298 – 7777

Samurai, 3912 N. Oracle Rd., 293-1963

Sarku Japan, 5870 E. Broadway, #556, 790-0818 (Park Place)

Shogun, 5036 N. Oracle, 888-6646

Sushi Cho, 1830 E. Broadway, 628-8800

Sushi Garden, 15 North Alvernon Way, 326-4700 (moving to Broadway/Country Club)

Sushi Garden North, 7401 N. La Cholla, 877-8744 (Foothills Mall)

Sushi Hama, 3971 N. Oracle Rd. 888-6763

Sushi King, 1800 E. Ft. Lowell, 321-4000

Sushi on Oracle, 6449 N. Oracle Rd., 297-3615

Sushi Ten, 4500 E. Speedway, 324-0010

Sushi Tran, 9725 N. Thornydale, 579-6604

Sushi Yukari, 5655 E. River Rd. #151, 232-1393

Takamatsu, 5525 E. Speedway, 512-0800 – closed August 2010, renovating

Tatsu Sushi, 7332 N. Oracle, 219-6989

Yamato, 857 E. Grant Rd., 624-3377

Yoshimatsu/Sushimatsu, 2660 N. Campbell, 320-1574

Yuki’s, 2962 N. Campbell, 326-7727

Blogger “Tucson Metromix” ran an online poll in January, and Sushimatsu won as best sushi restaurant in town. Its companion restaurant Yoshimatsu also won the 9/24/09 Tucson Weekly’s Best of Tucson category for Japanese restaurant. So eating there you can get two great deals.

I know this list probably isn’t complete, so readers, please let me know of other restaurants I may have missed or if you agree with the polls above. I also didn’t list the fast food places like Yokohama’s many Asian Express rice bowl outlets, and Tokyo Rice Bowl on Campbell and Glenn (because they’re more Chinese than Japanese).

And also keep in mind that some of these restaurants combine other Asian food with Japanese food on the menu, such as Korean bbq at Takamatsu, which isn’t quite authentic.

But I bet you can find a tasty Japanese restaurant somewhere near you from this long selection. And if you like the upscale look, check out Fusion Wasabi and/or RA.

Itadakimasu.