Anywhere There's Food: 12.--Sushi & Roll

Let's face it--there's a lot of sushi places in Surrey. Every strip mall has one, practically. But we were desperate for a place to have lunch, having driven around the Whalley/Fleetwood area for a half hour or so (hey that's a long time when you're starving hungry) and not finding anything open or appealing. Our last stop was the Olympia Restaurant just off King George Blvd. (seriously, why did they change that name from King George Highway? Its initials are KGB...), but when we went in our ears were intimidated by a live band setting up, why in a restaurant I don't know, and then when we came out we saw Sushi & Roll kitty-corner from it with a "Grand Opening" sign on it and decided to check it out. Sushi was sounding pretty good right then. I would have eaten a rock.We were delighted by the place when we entered--it has that wonderful clean, minimal-but-artistic feel that Asian restaurants do so well. There weren't many people in it when we entered; I assume it was because we caught it between lunch and dinner rushes at 2:45 in the afternoon. We were shown to a table and given a really lovely complimentary green and brown-rice tea that the server kept filled throughout the meal. My sister ordered the Chicken Udon, my brother-in-law, the Beef Teriyaki, I asked for the Sweet Potato and Prawn Tempura, and we decided to share a small plate of Gyoza as well. Five minutes later we heard a sizzling noise, and the server came up to our table with a truly spectacular Beef Teriyaki, inset on a wooden tray. It sounded like it was still frying, and the steam billowed up from it in volcano-like resplendency. No kidding, we were really impressed. A few moments after that he brought my sister her Chicken Udon, a generous portion, almost enoughfor two, and a couple of minutes after that came my Tempura, the sweet potato slices the size of the palm of my hand and the prawns which were big to begin with but with the tempura batter seemed massive. We dug in with a will, being as I think I've mentioned twice now starving, and were pretty pleased with not only the portion size but the taste. The vegetables were crisp but cooked, the noodles weren't mushy, and the tempura was not greasy like some other tempuras at other restaurants. I did think there was too much batter on them, but it's a small criticism swimming in a large pool of approval. We would have loved to try the sushi bar but when we saw the portions of our meals we knew there was no way we could eat any more than what we had. Sushi & Roll also has a lovely house spice--that's what it says on the little shaker, "House Spice"--a truly splendid combination of pepper flakes, poppy seed, orange peel, and other things I have forgotten, which begins as just flavor on your tongue and gradually builds in heat until you have a lovely intensity and which seems good on everything. I know, I had a bit of everyone's and tried it. I would have put it in my tea if the server hadn't been looking. After having eaten our fill we called for the bill and discovered to our shock that the whole thing, along with my brother-in-law's Coke, came to a measly $32.59! And that includes the tax, my friends. We have often spent that amount for three at McDonald's.