Tokyo Fro's: Disco Sushi

Tokyo Fro's
2224 Fair Oaks Blvd
Sacramento, CA 95825
(916) 648-1115




Tokyo Fro's has been around for a while. I remember when it first opened: my family ran over there immediately, memories of a Disco Sushi place we used to frequent while living in Atlanta running through our heads. The place didn't disappoint in that regard: thumping disco music and funky paintings filled the space and young, attractive sushi chefs sliced and diced fish at the wide open sushi bar, while rail thin CSUS students picked at decent rolls and enjoyed Happy Hour.

I hadn't been in a few years, but we revisited the other night. Has it changed any?

The music is still loud, but Tokyo Fro's definitely seemed to be seeing less business then it did in the old days. The menu is your standard Americanized/Fusion Sushi sort of bidness, with a lot of bizarre rolls and other vaguely Japanese and Asian inflected dishes. Almost all menu items have cutesy little nick-names, which is kind of fun if you're drunk but embarrassing to say when you are both stone sober and with your parents.

We began with the wakame seaweed salad (6.50), which was essentially the same as you'd get anywhere else: tangy, crispy, and salty. I insisted on ordering the Kama Sutra (pictured above) (6.95), which was a grilled hamachi collar in ponzu sauce over a bed of daikon. This was actually very good, and I enjoyed picking the meat out of the fish's elaborate bone structure, while swirling it in the tangy citrus sauce that covered the plate. For god's sake though, don't order this if you have any issue whatsoever with fish bones. For the rest of us: it's like pig picking Japanese style.

We also ordered a couple of rolls. The rolls here are totally overwrought, stuffed with ingredients, drenched in sauce and generally way too big to eat in one bite - but if you're into Wacky Explosions of Fish (and let's be honest, most people are,) Tokyo Fro's has some options for you. If you're into austere, simple rolls that are healthy, normal sized, and evocative of actual Japanese cuisine....uh, good luck.



We went with the Passion of Rice (13.50), which had tempura prawns, avocado, and spicy tuna on the inside, topped with salmon, jalapeno, and garlic miso sauce, then torched. This was pretty good, and I liked the spicy kick of the jalapeno - though again, why does everything have to be drenched in some kind of squeeze bottle sauce?

We also tried the Captain Save-A-Fro (13.95), with spicy tuna and asparagus on the inside and hamachi, avocado, maguro, shitake mushrooms, and the ubiquitous miso sauce on the outside. The roll itself was rather ginormous for my tastes (though the aspragus was a fun touch), but the shitakes were absolutely delicious, with a garlic butter sort of flavor. It wasn't Asian, but it was tasty - I wish they offered these mushrooms as a side order.

We also tried a simple 12 piece sashimi platter (20.95), which was simply okay - featuring only hamachi, salmon, and maguro, rather then the more interesting variety you usually get with samplers. The fish itself seemed fresh and tasted good, but the pieces were gigantic and cut with an obviously heavy hand. I like sashimi in manageable pieces. Anything bigger and I feel more like a vicious raw meat consuming predator then a customer in an ostensibly civilized restaurant.



Still hungry, I ordered the Hawaiian Poke (8.95). The presentation was lovely: the chunks of tuna were layered with the seaweed and onion in a martini glass, along with slices of avocado on top. The spicy soy sauce it was tossed with was light and not overpowering - I really enjoyed this dish.



Service was fairly quick and certainly friendly, although our waitress did seem a bit overattentive. The noise level here is very loud, and you should by no means expect to come here and have a relaxing Japanese cuisine experience - you'll end up shouting at each other over the table as college students take sake shots instead.

So is Tokyo Fro's worth a visit? The place certainly lacks the luster it had when it first opened up, but the very untraditional sushi is still a decent option if you have no convictions about how Japanese food *should* taste. If you're a roll person or simply enjoy spicy mayo sauce drizzled over everything, you'll like Tokyo Fro's. (And the poke is definitely a safe bet if you're only willing to commit to a bar snack or two.) Try a few things off the menu, have some drinks, and try to relax - if you can get past the whole thumping party music thing.