Sushi Blue fills a need in the culinary scene of South Lansing. Housed in the former Mr. Taco building on American Road, curious visitors stop in and are often surprised to find a menu that offers yellow fin instead of yellow corn.

While East Lansing boasts a number of sushi houses, thanks in large part to Michigan State University and its diverse population, the rest of the area is largely bereft of the tasty little morsels. That’s not the case anymore on the south side, but there’s still a bit of East Lansing in the new spot.

Sushi Blue’s head chef, Lexus Kim, a native of South Korea, used to assemble rolls at East Lansing’s Ai Fusion, where he was also head chef. Kim has been building sushi and sashimi plates for more than 20 years in kitchens across the country, including stops in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.  
Owner Sarah Jang, who married Kim about a year ago, was a manager at Ai, and when the time came to find a new job, the pair decided to try their own thing. “He suggested to me, ‘Why don’t we find our own restaurant?’” Jang said. “OK, then we searched for the spot.”  While the building they found is a bit larger than what the couple needed, the price was right, and they opened shop in July.

Kim built an extensive sushi menu from scratch; there are fan favorites, like California and Philadelphia rolls, but plenty of personal inspirations as well.  

Neophytes venturing into the land of sushi for the first time might try the Maui roll ($12.95), in which fried shrimp, cream cheese and asparagus are wrapped in a sheet of seaweed with sticky rice. The dish is served with bamboo leaves that are artfully carved and constructed into a vertical design, giving the plate a dramatic visual flair. Topped with thin slices of mango and chopped nuts, the roll has a mild flavor punctuated by the tanginess of the cream cheese, which does double duty with a creamy texture that compliments the crunch of mixed nuts and asparagus.

Jang said most Americans prefer their sushi in the style of the Maui roll, with seafood, rice and vegetables wrapped in seaweed. Sashimi (raw fish) sells well with the more sophisticated connoisseur, though, and the Cherry Blossom ($13.95) has a more robust flavor for someone craving uncooked seafood. Raw salmon encircles a sliced roll of avocado, tobiko (roe), tuna, crabmeat and red snapper.

As an appetizer, the shrimp tempura ($6.25) is worth a try. Three long shrimp that look as if they are skewered (they are not) are covered in a delicate, flakey breading and make for tasty pre-meal snacks.

The menu also offers some Korean dishes, including bulgogi ($12.95), a delicious mound of sliced beef marinated with a homemade Korean barbeque sauce (all sauces at Sushi Blue are made from scratch), with carrots and green onions served on top of a bed of cabbage with a ball of sticky rice. The spicy chicken ($12.95), fried with a sweet sauce and heat that might make you sniffle, is served the same way, offering a delightful contrast with the fresh bed of cabbage.  

The key to a successful sushi restaurant, Jang explained, is, of course, fresh seafood.  “The fish should be very fresh, of course, and when we get it, we must take care of it, and the chef’s doing that,” she said. “Texture-wise, the rice is very important, too. Taking care of the fish and the rice, it’s the taste that makes the difference and makes you like it or not.”

Sushi Blue, 920 American Road, Lansing. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon - 9:30 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday. (517) 394-2583.