On a whim, sister Pattie Sue and niece Jennifer decided it was time to tryout a fairly new sushi restaurant in downtown Pocatello. I was invited to come along. The Sushi Family restaurant offers a menu to order from and it also offers all-you-can-eat sushi but with a twist from the ordinary.

The restaurant is in an unassuming store front on Yellowstone Avenue. Signage is minimal and you have to look closely to find it. There is adequate parking adjacent and the main entry faces the parking area. Inside the facility is minimally decorated in Oriental style. Booths and tables are available but all are well separated so that even when fully occupied the diner density is low. There were a few other diners when we entered but the noise level was very low, always a plus. We were quickly seated in our choice of a booth that was comfortable.

What we learned was that all of the sushi orders, including the all-you-can-eat, are made at the time of the order. There are no trays of pre-made sushi. The house menu is used for both regular dining and all-you-can-eat patrons, the all-you-can-eat comes at a bit of a premium price. Be wary, though, because if you order more than you can actually eat there is a surcharge for the wasted food. It is certainly a different way as both styles of eating are the same product ordered from the same menu.

Tea and sodas were the beverages of choice. Sushi Family features Coca Cola products. We started off sharing a platter of the Tempura Combo appetizer ($8.95). The dish has four pieces of large tempura shrimp and five pieces of tempura vegetable. It is served with a tentsuyu-style dipping sauce. Nicely browned, the batter was cooked through. The shrimp was not over cooked and sill had the slightest little snap to the bite. The vegetables were tender but not mushy. We were also served bowls of miso soup and a house salad with dressing. The soup was a nice hot bowl of a tasty miso soup. The salad was a mixture of finely cut slaw with a mild dressing and what I believe were toasted sesame seeds. It was a tasty interlude while we waited for the entrees.

Pattie Sue ordered the House Special 1 ($8.50 Spicy crab, topped with tuna, salmon and yellowtail). A large serving served alone on a decorative plate, it was ample for a meal. She said it was very good and the three different surimi toppings made for an interesting variety of flavors. She was satisfied with her choice. Regular and low sodium soy sauce are at the table. A side dish provided the de rigor beni shoga and wasabi.

Jennifer ordered the Teriyaki Salmon ($12.95 Comes with miso soup, house salad, steamed rice and four pieces of tempura vegetables). The plate was full with an about 3-ounce teriyaki salon filet, a mound of steamed rice and a selection of tempura vegetables. A tentsuyu-style dipping sauce was also provided. Jenifer enjoyed her meal saying that the salmon was very good, very tasty. A light eater at times, her meal was just a bit too large for a single sitting but the take home would be scant for a later meal. She ordered an additional nigiri sushi, Octopus Tako ($3.00 Two pieces per order) to supplement her left over meal to take home.

I ordered something a bit different. I chose the Chicken Bento ($11.95 Comes with miso soup, house salad, tempura shrimp and vegetables, four pieces California roll, four pieces crystal shrimp roll and steamed rice).

A classic Japanese presentation, the ancient working man’s lunch has become an art form of food service. Mine was served in a compartmented tray or serving dish. There were individual compartments for the listed

ingredients as well as a small bowl of tentsuyu-style dipping sauce and a small serving of beni shoga and wasabi. The California roll was good. The crystal shrimp roll was served with a drizzle of sauce, soy or teriyaki I believe, but it was still a bit lackluster, not up to the promise of the name. The tempura shrimp and vegetables were excellent. The batter coating was well browned and cooked through without overcooking the inte