12PM, 5/14/2022
Today I headed to Cirby & Sunrise to check out Bonsai for lunch. I’ve been driving by Bonsai nearly daily since it opened in mid 2019 and always wondered what it was like inside. Previously this was Moe’s, a Chipotle-like fast food spot. Bonsai has converted the make-line, where you once worked your way down as your burrito got built, to a sushi counter. Although no-one was sitting there, the chairs and soy sauce were there and ready to go. The rest of the space definitely had a paint job to mute down some of the bright yellow-painted walls. Much of the rest, including the booth seating remained mostly the same.
I was greeted right away upon stepping inside and beckoned to a booth near the center of the restaurant. I was handed a nice looking bound menu and started to go through it to see what I would be ordering. The inside was more worse for wear with the thin plastic sleeves coming apart in places, but it did the job. My server came by to introduce himself, drop off a glass of water, and take my drink order. Having just made it to the back page where the beer was I hastily picked a large Sapporo before flipping back to confirm my other choices before he returned.
Bonsai’s offerings are pretty on par with the general sushi-focused restaurants we have in the area. Sushi, bento boxes, rolls, ramen, etc. Check out the menu below, as it appeared during this visit.
Once I had ordered I had the pleasant surprise of a complimentary edamame delivered. It’s been a while. I thought most places stopped doing this. At the very least, the spots I frequent have long stopped this practice. They were a nice, cool and refreshing snack to work on for a few minutes until my food started coming out.
I had started with their Wakame Seaweed Salad (Marinated seaweed salad/lettuce)[$6]. This is something I’ve been ordering a lot lately wherever I see it. If miso soup is my winter appetizer, this is certainly my summer appetizer. This was very nice and came with a little Lemmon wedge that I squeezed over top which brightened up the flavor a bit.
I was only a few bites into the salad when my 2nd app arrived, the Sun Shine (4pc salmon wrapped with crab meat and fish eggs)[$9]. First off I will say that I really enjoyed this. The description gave me a very different impression of what I would receive though. Instead of 4 separate pieces of salmon wrapped inside crab, two bite-sized clumps of rice were wrapped by two pieces of salmon each and topped with a slightly smaller ball of crab meat and thinly sliced avocado with the roe perched up top. I’ve always wondered if there was any money to be made in a menu-consulting gig.
Right around when I was polishing off the last of the Sun Shine my roll was delivered. I had picked out the Spicy Rainbow Roll🌶 (spicy tuna and tempura shrimp with avocado and assorted fish)[$13]. I love how this is presented on a long and thin dish with every piece carefully arranged in a row and topped with a thin slice of fresh, crisp jalapeño. This roll had a little bit of everything I was craving. Plenty of fish, tempura shrimp at the center of every bite, the aforementioned crisp jalapeño, and a tiny little dollop of a spicy sauce to top off every single piece. There was plenty of sauce on the platter around it if you wanted it, with a bit over top each bite to start you off. When I had finished this I was delighted by the lingering heat that was left on my tongue. This had an appreciable amount of heat to it without distracting from the rest.
I went in to this with virtually non-existent expectations and came out very satisfied. It may lack a nicer atmosphere but the food and service were both on point and the prices felt fair. Solid 4/5 here.
Eating Through Roseville 