The popularity of Nama Sushi Bar always manages to amuse me, considering it’s in a landlocked state. However, such predicaments never stop me and my friends from making the almost weekly pilgrimage on Thursdays for half-price sushi night.
We gorge ourselves on appetizers and sushi rolls, for which we refuse to pay full price. This has become our tradition, one that started during our second semester of freshmen year, when on-campus dining became too monotonous. As a frequent Nama diner, I quickly realized an unusual pattern in my dining experience: consistency does not exist.
I’ve ordered the tuna noodle plate where the tuna lined the rim of the plate, and another time when it was sliced and splayed in a line across the bed of noodles. I’ve ordered the spring rolls, sometimes which come sliced in half at an angle, in a straight line, or not at all. I’ve ordered the tempura roll (my favorite roll) and seen it displayed in a line, in a half-circle, with drizzles of eel sauce, or puddles around the plate. Not even the desserts are spared from the inconsistency. My favorite indulgence is the chocolate truffles, and even those have arrived in all different kinds of configurations with the crispy wafer and diced fruit.
In short, every time, and I truly mean every time, I eat at Nama, I’m surprised by my food’s presentation and plating. I’ve made trying to identify the slightly different thing about a dish I order consistently a game for myself. Don’t believe me? Try it for yourself next time you’re there.
Perhaps the differences come down to a rotating schedule of chefs who prepare the plates each night. Or perhaps this creative license is, unbeknownst to me, in Nama’s mission statement. Regardless, the one arena where Name does maintain consistency is in its taste and quality—which explains why I return every Thursday.