Restaurant review: Sushi Motto offers a light, bright palate cleanser during a season of heavy holiday food

My family is very lucky to spend Thanksgivings with a close group of friends who are not only wonderful people but wonderful cooks. The planning texts start weeks before the meal and the result is always a table straining under the weight of the pies, stuffing, casseroles, dinner rolls and the bespoke cocktails. Let it be known that everything is always delicious and that many, many sticks of butter are harmed in the making of this meal.

It’s a wonderful tradition. But let me offer a new one. In addition to Thanksgiving Thursday, Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, let us add: Sushi Sunday.

Because, as we all know, Thanksgiving doesn’t end on Thursday night. After days of prepping, and hours of eating, we then enter the weekend of intense leftovers administration. We excavate our refrigerators to make room for Tupperware bins full of gravy, butternut squash and cranberry sauce. We go through miles of plastic wrap and aluminum foil. We make turkey soup and turkey sandwiches, we eat pecan pie as a snack and we poach eggs to top plates of leftover stuffing. By Sunday, I am well and truly done with traditional Thanksgiving foods and feel more or less like a stuffed turkey myself.

As an antidote to this turkey purgatory, I invited my friend Carly, one of my Thanksgiving cohorts as well as a former ADN food writer, to join me for the only food I could imagine eating with any kind of enthusiasm: sushi.

In the last four or five years, several of my go-to sushi restaurants have closed, so I consulted my trusty foodie-social media team for the restaurant recently generating the most buzz. I opted for Sushi Motto, which occupies the space (and the hole in my heart) once occupied by Peter’s Sushi Spot.

The dining room is serene with soft lighting and well-spaced booths. A sparkly Christmas tree and classic Christmas music set a seasonal vibe. We arrived on the early side, but the space filled up rather quickly and the room developed a gentle convivial buzz.

The menu is complete and classic with the notable addition of shabu shabu, which to us just sounded like more cooking. That said, a nearby table was partaking and it did look like fun.

Instead, we handed the reins over to the sushi chef, ordering a sushi boat and taking the decision-making off our hands. We opted for a “friend” boat ($100), which comes with 15 pieces of sashimi, 10 pieces of nigiri, and one sushi roll of the chef’s choice.

This platter was all it should be. There was a beautiful variety of fish including salmon, mackerel, tuna, hamachi and octopus. The sashimi was tender and buttery, and the rice in the nigiri was perfectly seasoned. All of the fish was beautifully fresh and glistening. The chef’s choice of roll (full disclosure: I forgot to ask what it was) showcased a variety of fish, so each bite was different (rainbow-roll style) with a center of sweet and creamy crab salad.

Service is low-key and pleasant. Our servers were attentive but we were able to pace ourselves. Which brings me to another point. When the sushi boat arrived, Carly and I wondered if our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. But we were allowed to have a leisurely meal, and as the night went on, we polished off the entire boat feeling sated and happy but in no need of an after-dinner map. Best of all? No leftovers.

Christmas is just around the corner, and with it comes a houseful of hams and fruitcakes and sugar cookies and charcuterie. In this brief moment of culinary sanity, I recommend you drop into Sushi Motto for a light, bright sushi palate cleanser.

As I excited the restaurant, I noticed a sign advertising that they will be open for business on New Year’s Day. That might be the next tradition.

If you go:

Sushi Motto

3020 Minnesota Drive

907-771-9077

Sunday-Thursday: Noon-9 p.m.

Friday and Saturday: Noon-10 p.m.

Open on major holidays such as Christmas and New Year’s Day

sushimotto907.com

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