Crave Sushi? Swim over to Blue Sushi Sake Grill

I love sushi. I really do. While I understand not everyone is as big a fan of raw fish as I am, if you are looking for a fun place to get your omega-3s, swim on over to The Streets at SouthGlenn and give Blue Sushi Sake Grill (Blue) a go.

The Streets at SouthGlenn is one of my favorite date night stops. There are a variety of shops, cute boutiques and a movie theatre just a block away from Blue Sushi Sake Grill. Pleasant water features, an abundance of flowers, and a beautiful patio are just some of the things that enhance the experience at Blue after being welcomed by a three-dimensional robotic-looking octopus at the outside entrance.

Blue has an additional location on the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver, as well as four restaurants in Nebraska, three in Texas, one in Kansas and Illinois with openings planned in Indiana and Kentucky. General Manager, Chris Stoleson, opened the LoDo Denver location in 2012 and later opened the SouthGlenn location
in 2015.

As you walk into Blue, you will see a cool bar area to your right called the “Sake Bombers Lounge,” which has a different décor than the remainder of the restaurant. With dimmer lighting and a variety of entertaining images, including laughing Japanese faces and a backlit mural of Godzilla, all on top of a rustic brick backdrop, the scenery is a feast for the eyes. Individual and community tables are available in the bar, and vats of sake adorn the shelves throughout.

The central portion of the restaurant includes a sushi bar and tables with panels of origami images adorning the ceiling, while blue wave-like patterns decorate the lower section of the walls. If you are new to the sushi experience, Blue’s menu makes navigating the options straightforward with the categories of nigiri/sashimi and maki. Traditional sushi rolls or maki are made with raw fish, vegetables, rice and nori, which is a type of seaweed. Sushi or nigiri that is not rolled is sliced raw fish on pressed rice with added vinegar. Sashimi is thinly sliced raw fish by itself or with some type of sauce.

If you don’t care for raw seafood, Blue offers many cooked selections as well. Under the maki section, diners will find options for “not raw” and “raw” dishes. The restaurant also offers a variety of hot and cold items from their grill, in addition to a large assortment of gluten-free options.

Blue’s website boasts, “We serve fun sushi,” and that does seem apropos with offerings of traditional sushi with an American twist. The variety of rolls tend to have amusing names, such as Spanish Fly, Blue Balls, and Godzilla Bomb, and there is a large selection of top-shelf cocktails.

We started our experience with beverages, mine being the Sake Sangria, which I had never heard of before. It consisted of sake, red wine, fresh lime juice, fresh lemon juice and a simple syrup. It was delicious and probably one of the most refreshing drinks I have enjoyed in a while.

Next, we enjoyed the Cherry Bomb, which is raw tuna, serrano peppers, rice tempura, sriracha and ponzu sauce. I have never had rice tempura before, and this was an excellent combination of textures and flavors. We indulged in the Yellowtail Serrano, which was raw yellowtail, cilantro, serrano peppers and ponzu sauce. I have had Yellowtail Jalapeno before at other sushi bars, but the serrano peppers give this dish an extra kick if you like a lot of spice.

We then savored a fully-cooked order of Shrimp Tempura followed by a mostly-cooked dish of Spider Maki, which is a soft shell crab tempura roll with panca mayo, smelt roe, avocado and cucumber. It was a delicious meal with mouth-watering sushi, and after a short walk to the movie theatre, our date night ended. I look forward to returning to Blue Sushi Sake Grill, so I can try out some of their other unique and clever creations.

The Streets at SouthGlenn
2154 East Commons Avenue, Suite 326
Centennial
720-283-6383
http://bluesushisakegrill.com/

Monday – Saturday 11a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sunday – Noon to 9 p.m.
Happy Hour – Monday – Saturday 3:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Sunday – Noon to 8 p.m.
Sushi Lunch Special available Monday – Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Two maki $14, One maki + one order nigiri $15
One maki + one order sashimi $17
Served with miso soup or a house salad.
Dine-in only. Limit 1 per person. No substitutions.
Crunchy Thursday Special 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. every Thursday
All four crunchy rolls (Crunchy Blue, Crunchy Red, Crunchy L.A., Crunchy Cabbage) are $5.50 each and bottles of Sapporo are $2. Dine-in only.

Each month The Connection Food & Dining guide features a restaurant we think our readers will enjoy. I am a sushi fanatic and am always looking for delicious and fresh options in this land-locked state of ours.

Blue Sushi Sake Grill offers tasty sushi and grilled items with an American twist and also has a wide range of signature cocktails. The Streets at SouthGlenn, along with the proximity of the theatre, make for a great date night or a night out with the family.

As always, our writer dines at a restaurant, unannounced, so that an unbiased experience can be shared with our readers. A restaurant cannot pay to be featured, and there is no charge to the restaurant once they have been selected. All restaurants that have been featured in The Connection are listed on our website. Visit www.castlepinesconnection.com to check out our selections and commentaries.