Grocery sushi throwdown

By Rick Lax

Thursday, March 31, 2011 | midnight

With its “fully cooked brown rice sample assorted California Rolls,” Trader Joe’s boldly stretches the limits of what can be considered “sushi.” I bought a package on March 21. The sticker said it was good until the 27th. That’s not how sushi is supposed to work. But the spiciness nicely covered up the ricey blandness, and once I stopped thinking of the rolls as sushi and began considering them rice candy, they tasted pretty good.

Whole Foods takes its sushi more seriously. They’ve got a counter in each store, which elevates expectations. I went for the “multigrain spicy Ginza Roll.” I’m not sure how I was supposed to squeeze the extra thin lemon slice (Was is it just a garnish?), nor how I was supposed to get the wasabi out of the wasabi cup. But I do know that the salmon was surprisingly fresh. Advantage Whole Foods.