Emma Bennett — Staff writer

As far as food goes, Sioux Center is not known for its diverse palate. There are, of course, your standard fast-food establishments: Pizza Hut, Jimmy John’s, McDonald’s, and Subway, to name a few. Next, there are the “fancier” places, such as Sioux County Livestock Co. and Four Brothers. All of this is to say the range of foods in Sioux Center has been, for the most part, moderately limited, save the choice between a grand total of two Mexican restaurants. However, this has changed with the arrival of a new sushi restaurant, Sushi to You, and here I will present my experience with it thus far.

Any successful restaurant must have good service, and from my experience, this place has it in spades. From the second you arrive, you are greeted from the outside by a wall of fake pink roses and a neon sign of the restaurant’s name. Walking in, the room is small but clean, and gives the sense that everything is kept in its proper place. Within seconds of entering the establishment, someone appears at the register with a smile and a menu. The list is short—only six rolls—but it is split in half between rolls which are deep-fried, and those which are not. Though the rolls are pretty similar across the board, I find there is enough variety to justify buying each. The wait time is 15-20 minutes, and any sauces you want to go with your sushi are available without extra cost.

I cannot say that I have tried every roll available, because sushi is expensive. But I can happily recommend the ones I have tried.
First is the standard roll, the Maki Yum Yum. This is a good place to start if you have never had sushi and want to try it. It consists only of cucumber, avocado, cream cheese, shrimp, and crab meat. The savory meat combined with the tangy cream cheese, and the cool cucumber and creamy avocado is the perfect foundation for falling in love with sushi.

Next is the California Dreams roll, another classic. The only difference between this and the Maki is the absence of cucumber, but this serves to increase the presence of the meat which makes it more appealing to those looking for an extra-savory meal. For those who want an extra kick, I recommend the sriracha mayo.

Finally, there is the Tempura Paradise. This one is deep-fried, which makes the roll crunchy and warm. The ingredients are pretty similar to the other two: shrimp and crab, avocado, and cream cheese.

The roll on my list for next time is the Gorilla Boom, which is simplified (without any intercessions to the meat like avocado and/or cucumber) but deep-fried and spicy. Other rolls include the Bora Bora Fish roll which has fish (shocker) and the Alaska Coco, which has sweet chili. Due to personal preference, I do not plan on trying these, so to those who like the sound of them, I hope you enjoy!

I for one am very excited to have a solid source of sushi and cannot wait to eat at Sushi to You again.

Contributed photo