Fan Favorites – Sushi Karma

It’s hard to remember how many times we have been floored at the idea of businesses launching at the height of the pandemic. We understand that once a ball gets rolling, you just have to see it through. Still, the idea of beginning during such an unstable market has to be frightening. When we spotted activity at an old haunt, we were anxious to see what would transpire. Low and behold, the old Chinese buffet was replaced with a shiny new eatery that is serving up some fan favorites. We were anxious to sample the menu at Sushi Karma.

Clean Lines

The new digs at 5820 Johnson Drive are a great fit for Sushi Karma. We could still picture the previous condition that had befallen the past tenant. You can imagine our surprise to find a shiny new interior filled with clean lines and modern styling. In the upper dining room, a long sushi bar dominated the view. Good lighting and an inviting atmosphere welcomed us in. The hostess escorted us to a booth in the lower dining room where we found a few other diners.

Happy Hour

Since our recent trend has been focused on Happy Hour visits, we saw no reason to break from it on this stop. During our research, we found that Sushi Karma has a robust happy hour menu. We easily found a handful of dishes that would make a perfect tapas-style meal. If you’ve read any of our Asian cuisine articles, then you know we aren’t true sushi connoisseurs. Fortunately, there were plenty of options that fit our style.

Fan Favorites

We chose three of the sushi rolls, which each come with eight pieces. These included; California Roll, Avocado Roll, and a Crunchy Karma Roll.This provided a nice variety of flavors. Crystal spotted the Pork Dumplings, which are a fan favorite of hers. You can order them steamed or fried at Sushi Karma. We also included an order of Crab Rangoon and a bottle of Hot Sake. With a table full of finger foods, we dug into our happy hour meal.

Finger Food

Since Crystal had ordered her dumplings, I decided to select one of my favorites, as well. The Crispy Chicken Wings are served with a delightful sweet & sour sauce. When they labeled them as crispy, they weren’t kidding. These had a perfect texture to the skin and hot, steamy meat on the inside. By the time we wrapped up all of these dishes, we were feeling pretty satisfied.

Sweet Ending

Just to make sure we didn’t leave any room in our bellies, a serving of Mango Sticky Rice was tossed in at the end. This sweet treat has a texture that was reminiscent of a well-made tapioca, but just a bit firmer. The fresh mango slices complemented the dish which seemed to feature coconut flavor. Quite an intriguing, and addictive taste. Each bite brought us closer to determining the exact flavors, at least until the dish was empty.

New Mission Destination

We are always looking to identify favorites in each sector of the metro. Locating Sushi Karma helped us nail down another great Asian cuisine option in an area we frequent. While this visit focused on their Happy Hour menu, we still took a look at their other offerings. We spotted over a dozen traditional Laotian meals and a nice variety of other Asian-style dishes. Our future is sure to contain a sampling of their curry or pho. With a wide range on their menu, we will have to make lots of visits to really explore their flavors. Oh well, it’s a sacrifice we are more than happy to make.