Sushi Jazz Thai Cuisine - Closed

The rising popularity of sushi in the last few years means a new sushi place pops up in many cities every few months.  I thought Sushi Jazz Thai Cuisine was more of the same.  In some aspects, it exceeds my expectations and in others it was exactly what I thought it would be.

Even though it's a sushi restaurant, I was really excited to try out the some of the Thai dishes.  I have been looking for a great place in Mobile and this may have been the best I've had so far.  My brother and I decided to share two Thai dishes and a sushi roll "family style"



Combination Pad Thai $10.95

First, let's talk Pad Thai.  I ordered the combination plate that consists of shrimp, chicken and beef.  There was a ton of meat to noodle ratio.  I didn't like the shrimp though.  It didn't taste anything like fresh gulf shrimp and that's a big no, no especially since we have such a big seafood industry in Mobile County. I avoided the shrimp after the first one.  The chicken was ok but I really enjoyed the beef the most.  The sauce coats every bit of the noodles and meat without being too cloying.  I didn't think the dish was salty enough so I asked for a little more fish sauce; which is what they use to season to begin with.  I also squeezed a wedge of lime over the dish.  It brightens everything up.  I didn't understand the little bit of rice they served on the side though.  I wasn't going to mix it into my noodles to eat and there's nothing to eat with it otherwise.  What a waste!  We ordered this extra spicy but there was little, if any heat at all.  I don't know who dropped the ball; the kitchen or the waitress but someone did. 

Beef Larb $9.95

My brother and I also shared the Beef Larb.  This dish is traditionally made with a variety of minced meat then flavored with fish sauce, lime juice and fresh herbs.  It's served chilled and sometimes mixed with assorted vegetables like red onion and lettuce like at Sushi Jazz. I absolutely loved it.  It was fresh and different from a lot of other places.  The beef was sliced thinly instead of minced which made it seem heartier.  I ordered this one spicy and it came out as ordered.  There was a ton of Thai chili in each bite.  It was also served with a bowl of rice but I decided to forgo that and ate it like I would a salad.  The larb would be perfect for anyone that's on a high protein diet. 

Deep Sea Roll $12.95

I wanted to try one of the sushi rolls as well to get a feel of the quality.  My brother and I settled on the Deep Sea Roll.  Inside the roll is fried snapper, avocado and cream cheese and then it's topped with fresh salmon and tuna.  The whole plate was drizzled with an eel sauce.  There's also crunchy bits of fried tempura and strings of fried noodle.  The fried snapper was tender and the raw fish tasted fresh.  The fried tempura and noodle bits gave it the same taste those deep fried rolls have without all the grease  If you don't like the taste and texture deep fried sushi rolls, you have the option of forgoing those bits and you still have a stellar roll. Basing it off of this one roll, I think the quality is pretty good.

But it seems as though, the sushi is really overpriced.  Your basic California roll was $6.95; a Philly Roll was $8.95.  For those prices, I could hit up much better sushi joints in town.



Aerial view of the Deep Sea

Sushi Jazz also serves up Bubble Tea; which is a smoothie with tapioca pearls.  The flavors are not typical though; cantaloupe, avocado, taro, mango and cappuccino.  I hated my smoothie. I got the mango and it was so thick and icy.  When I looked inside the cup, there was still huge chunks ice in it.  Thumbs down.

One of the things that really threw me off about Sushi Jazz is the food didn't come out at the same time.  We got everything in stages so if you're not eating family style or sharing dishes it would be awkward if your food comes out and your companion has to wait several more minutes to get his or her lunch.  There was one waitress working the lunch rush but since there was a total of six people so she didn't have trouble keeping up with everyone. The interior was not what I expected from Sushi Jazz either.  This building has been a number of Chinese/Asian buffets and it still looks like a Chinese restaurant.  There's no hint of jazz in this place at all.  However, I did notice a setup for karaoke that may be interesting if you like that kind of entertainment.