rank the boxed sushi choices

The Famima post below gave me the idea -- let's compile a list of the best and worst boxed sushi. That is, not a to-go order from a real sushi restaurant, only from a market, deli, etc.

My list so far:
Best:
Fish King -- great spicy tuna roll, huge, only $6
Bristol Farms -- good selection, half rolls and sashimi available
Mitsuwa

Acceptable:
Ralph's
Gelson's

Worst:
Trader Joe's - inedible, gluey

Link: http://eatingla.blogspot.com

[amandine]

Which Bristol Farms are you all finding your sushi at? I used to love the sushi at my local South Pas BF, but lately it's been terrible.

1. Mitsuwa or Nijiya
2. Bristol Farms
3. Ralphs or Pavilion

Way on the bottom-- Trader Joe's-- what were they thinking? The sushi rice sucks beyond belief. Everything is sticky paste, including the fillings.

Cool blog, Chowpatty.

I work at TJs and have never even thought about trying the sushi, after reading these posts I probably never will especially since Mitsuwa is not far away!

What about Santa Monica Seafood? They have some boxed sushi in the refrigerator case, but I have never tried it.

I have eaten A LOT of Gelsons sushi over the years, mostly spicy tuna in its various forms - plain w/white rice in cut and hand rolls, brown rice cut rolls w/avocado, bowl. Haven't tried too much other than spicy tuna. But I think the spicy tuna is generally fine, although you have to check the dates. Never had any ill effects.

Bristol Farms is also good for sure. And I like Nijiya market sushi (Sawtelle) as well.

Best: Mitsuwa
Disappointing: Marukai
Mediocre: Bristol Farms (at least in LB), Ralphs
Gawdawful: my vote also goes to Trader Joe's

I love Fish King. It is BY FAR the best! In fact, if you call ahead, you can order fresh filets of your choice cut into sashimi. Just take it home, make your own rice, etc and you will have your fill of solid, restaurant quality sushi for a fraction of the price. The tuna is a little tasteless and can be fishy, but the yellowtail, salmon, and albacore are all good. If you call ahead, they can even source low volume, exotic fish when they replenish their own supplies (i'm pretty sure daily). We do this with the mirugai (giant clam).

1. Fish King
2. Mitsuwa
3. Nijiya
4. Gelson's
5. Other chain markets (i.e. Ralph's, Vons, Albertson's, etc..)

I've had decent box sushi from Erewhon on Beverly(?) east of La Cienega. They sometimes have a sushi chef on premises.

Ditto on Trader Joe's (I hate to say anything bad about them, but that stuff that they call sushi is vile).

Not from your list, but I've found the boxed sushi from Nijiya to be really great quality.

Nijiya Market
[phone]
17869 Colima Rd
City Of Industry

Their futomaki rolls are very big and generous, and the tempura shrimp rolls are very good quality as well.

They have other locations, but I have only tried the ones from the Rowland (Industry) store.

Nijiya Market
[phone]
2130 Sawtelle Blvd Ste 105
Los Angeles

Nijiya Market
[phone]
2121 W 182nd St
Torrance

Nijiya Market
[phone]
124 Japanese Village Plaza Mall
Los Angeles

Yes...my vote goes to Nijiya Market! Next, I like Bristol Farms.

Bristol Farms for sure. You know you are getting quality fish with an upscale market, and the selections are good- love the spicy salmon and the spicy bowls- with or without rice. Plus, their seaweed is good, and I agree on the squid salad. And where else do they think ahead and provide you with extra masago!?!?!

I've never been to Fish King so I can't say, however I do like the ones at Mitsuwa. I'd say

1) Bristol Farms- love the sashimi option.

2) (tie) Mitsuwa and Marukai

3) Whole foods is so-so but good lord, what is up with brown rice rolls? Whoever invented that should be.....ok, no violence on the Chowhound boards.

Trader Joes- oh, how can they make such beautifully tasty treats like the Asian Noodle Salad, Eggplant Hummus and buttery madelines and screw up the boxed sushi as badly as they do? Say it ain't so...but unfortunately, it is. Stay far far away from these little imitators.

Link: http://tokyoastrogirl.blogspot.com/

Oh yeah, forgot about Whole Foods. Agree on the brown rice, yuck. However their spicy tuna bowl is quite good.

Definately Bristol Farms. I like the squid salad they have there too. And ditto about the sashimi option.

Gelsons is real similar.

The brown rice stuff at Whole Foods is dreck, but their white rice stuff is OK, but not as good as Bristol Farms. And stay away from Ralphs and Vons.

I agree with Mitsuwa for best boxed sushi -- and Wild Oats also has surprisingly fresh and good-tasting ones too.

also ditto on Trader Joe's being sub-par -- I had a chuckle over their variety pack (vegetable roll, plus 3 varieties of California Roll [regular, low-fat, spicy] ALL made with surimi and NO avocado)

Best - Ranch 99 Market (get there when they open at 9, but don't buy any of the sushi trays after 11 a.m.)

Acceptable - Pavilions (but only with stores who have a psuedo "sushi chefs" preparing the boxes)

Worst - Vons, Ralphs (their sushi would probably survive a nuclear fall-out)

sorry dont agree there, ralphs is ok (in my neighborhood), (had some from the Ralphs somewhere at western and sunset? and that looked like crap, and tasted like sh*irt

worst is Trader Joes

The boxed sushi at Farm Boy in Sherman Oaks is really good. Behind Trader Joes on Riverside. Worst is Vons IMO.

Concur on Farm Boy, although I've only tried the Calif. roll from there. The spicy tuna looks good, though. Is it?

OMG yeah! That's my favorite....SOOOoooO good!

As I've mentioned in my other posts, I have a pretty tough tummy, but I got violently ill from boxed sushi on your list... so I tend to stay away from it...

But that being said, I've been really surprised at the quality of Mitsuwas... My favorite is their Spicy Crab Roll with REAL Crab... Yummmm!! :)

But for cheap Sushi, I think I'll stick to the CSA students! :) They do mean handrolls too (For ~3 Bucks!)

--Dommy!

Mmm, spicy crab roll sounds good!
Well, you never know what you're going to get sick from. I've never gotten sick from boxed sushi; gotten a mild upset from a very reputable sushi bar; and gotten violently, horribly ill from a very reputable non-sushi restaurant where I think I had a cobb salad. If only you could tell in advance...

Yup, me too, I have bad memories associated with sushi from Gelsons and Whole Foods, and a couple of weeks ago I bought some tamago (my son's favorite lunchbox food) at Bristol Farms and (though it theoretically should last for days) it started growing fuzz within a day; luckily PoPJr noticed a bad taste and didn't eat the slices I'd sent along in his lunchbox in the interim. SO you really have to be careful with this stuff, no matter how tony the source--check dates, look carefully at the packaging, make sure it's been kept cold, etc.

Having said that, I've never had a problem with sushi from Nijiya or Mitsuwa. This isn't great stuff but it will do--when I worked on Sawtelle I got lunch from Nijiya all the time. Nijiya's selection has gotten broader recently, with the addition of a number of dim sum items like bbq pork bao and shiu mai and (another PoPJr. fave) har gow. Nijiya also intermittently will have interesting looking things on the shelf like a "diamond plate" (salmon eggs with very small pieces of tamago, cucumber and tuna over rice), battera sushi Osaka style, etc. Other days it will just be boring.

And despite my recent bad adventure I do agree that the squid salad from Bristol is tasty.

i would say bristol farms might be alright.