Samurai Sushi

In the past 10 years the HD has seen a major sushi boom in the area, our only sushi restaurant used to be Tatsuki on 7th in Victorville. Nowadays there are sushi restaurants on every corner of every major street in the HD. In this post, I am reviewing Samurai Sushi in Victorville.

Samurai Sushi is a small "hole in the wall" type restaurant on the outer edge of 7th street in Victorville. Samurai is very nicely decorated with various Japanese style decor through out the entire restaurant. The lighting is dim, and along with the beautiful decor, provides for a very intimate dining experience. The first thing I ordered was an order of Albacore, the first thing noted is the giant serving! I was given two standard pieces of sushi, along with a couple pieces of sashimi on the side. Samurai serves their albacore with caramelized onions, green onions, and a garlic vinaigrette that covers the fish. The fish tasted very fresh and had great consistency, the caramelized onions added for a light crunch to play off of the soft texture of the fish. My favorite part was definitely the vinaigrette that was on the fish, it gave the fish a very clean and tangy flavor that left a slight garlic aftertaste, the best part was that it didn't take away from the flavor and texture of the albacore.
One thing that's great about Samurai is that every diner gets a free Japanese Sweet Pepper appetizer with your meal. The sweet peppers are fried in a tempura batter, and served with thin noodles, carrots, and the same garlic vinaigrette that was served on top of the albacore sushi. What I like most about the sweet peppers is that they taste very similar to jalapeno peppers, without the spiciness involved with eating a jalapeno pepper. The appetizer is light and very tasty, it's a great segway into your upcoming meal.
The next item I received was the "Branden's Special Hand Roll". Branden is the head sushi chef at Samurai. Not only is he a very nice person, but he makes some great sushi! The hand roll consisted of spicy tuna, crab, tempura flakes, rice, cucumber, and a special spicy mayonnaise sauce to accompany the roll. The spicy tuna in the roll had great texture and wasn't overly spicy, the crab meat tasted just as it should, and the tempura flakes added a great crunch texture to the roll. The mayonnaise sauce complimented the vast flavors of the hand roll with a creamy and spicy flavor, not overly spicy, but not mild.
Next came our roll order. I ordered the Alaska roll (left) which consisted of a spicy california roll with tempura fried salmon on top, drizzled with a teriyaki-like sauce. The roll on the right is the tempura fried California roll. The Alaska roll was the highlight of the 2 rolls, the inside of the roll tasted like a California roll with a light Sriracha aftertaste, and the crunchy tempura salmon on top made for a great crunch contrast to the tender insides of the roll. The tempura fried California roll was also pretty good, but is recommended for the non-experimental sushi eater that wants a change from the typical California roll.
My wife ordered the chicken teriyaki dinner special. The special came with miso soup, salad, chicken teriyaki, vegetables, rice, veggie tempura, and half of a california roll. The miso soup tasted just like every other miso soup served at Japanese restaurants, which is a good thing because miso soup tastes great! The salad had a thick ginger dressing on top that offered a sweet and spicy taste to go with the salad. The chicken teriyaki was amazing, the teriyaki sauce wasn't overpowering and the chicken was cooked perfectly, it was served stir-fry style with broccoli, carrots, onions, and mushrooms. The veggie tempura was fried to perfection and offered a crunchy outside with a moist tender inside, also accompanied by a light tempura dipping sauce that completed the meal.
If the free appetizer wasn't enough to make you happy, Samurai also includes a free dessert with your meal! The dessert consisted of chopped apple sitting on top of a spoonful of peanut butter, with a drizzle of chocolate syrup and finished off with whip cream. The dessert was very tasty and cleansed the palette very nicely. Overall the experience at Samurai is easily one of the best in the HD, not only were the flavors amazing but the presentation of the food was comparable to a work of art. Head chef Branden takes pride in every dish that leaves his hands, if you get the chance make sure to sit at the sushi bar and watch him create his masterpieces firsthand! My only gripe is that when it comes to waiters/waitresses, Samurai seemed understaffed, once it became busy, they had a hard time keeping up with refills/serving. Samurai Sushi is located at 14464 7th St. Ste F, in Victorville.