I’ll be honest: figuring out which sushi joint is better than the next is a tough task. Raw fish isn’t always created equal, but at these kind of mid-priced, local restaurants, it can be a challenge to figure out your go-to. At times we’ve switched because of one bad experience. Usually connected to standing around waiting for a million years for a to-go order. Or an order mix up. Or a serious price increase. Or a less-than-great in-person night out. Shit, I think we nixed a place for a while because they gave us a warm can of Diet Coke with no ice. Sorry, that’s a dealbreaker. At least worth six months in the penalty box.
But Nori does its best to differentiate itself from its brethren by making some wacky-ass special rolls. In fact, looking right now, they have 54 special rolls. 54! That’s absolutely insane. Those poor sushi chefs probably curse the day they decided to take on a gig at a place that has the Donkey Kong roll. Which is apparently a shrimp tempura roll with fried banana on top and Bangkok sauce. What is Bangkok sauce? I have no idea. And why is it named after a video game from 1981? Also, no clue. Oh, wait, it has banana. Which I guess is what monkeys eat. And Donkey Kong is a monkey — or, an ape… Ok, I’m getting it now! Ooh, let’s do another one. The Snoopy. It’s another shrimp tempura roll with peanut on top and eel sauce. Because Snoopy is a dog in the comic Peanuts and… he sits on top of his house like the peanut sits on top of the roll! Jesus, these people are artists! Okay, last one: Naruto. I’m told by Hipster Jr. Jr. that that’s a Japanese manga series about a ninja. This one you get a choice between tuna, salmon or white tuna wrapped in cucumber with ponzu sauce and spicy mayo. I… yeah, they lost me with this one.
The point is, Nori goes the creative route, offering up an interesting and varied menu of sushi concoctions. I’m sure this won’t thrill the sushi purists out there, but they do, of course, have your more typical rolls and Japanese grub. I am a bit of a traditionalist, so I don’t go too far afield with my raw fish, but everything we’ve ordered from here has been fresh and decent. I do feel like their prices are a little more reasonable than some of the local places as well. Not that you want to cheap out on raw fish, of course. The restaurant itself is relatively small and cosy. It definitely has that local flavor and is pretty under-the-radar. To the point that I swore it had closed along with the multitude of other closings lining that stretch of Bloomfield Ave. But, no, it’s still going strong and pumping out weirdo rolls for the public’s entertainment.
561 Bloomfield Ave. – Montclair
973/655-8805
montclairnorisushi.com
