Entertainment - Dining

POSTED: Thursday, Sep. 03, 2009

Kuru Kuru Sushi a delight for palate and eye

BELLINGHAM - Eye appeal is one of the key selling points of sushi, so why not let the customers see it before they buy and consume?

That seems to be the guiding principle at Kuru Kuru Sushi in the Bellwether complex, and it certainly worked on me.

Small plates of artistically-designed sushi and other Japanese morsels circulate past diners on a small conveyor belt, covered with small transparent domes. Chose one of the few tables or rub elbows with your neighbors at a counter seat, where you get a better view of the sushi chef at work. The plates are color-coded by price, with the most expensive being just $3.50.

Want to know what you're eating? There's a plastic picture panel at your table, a sort of Sibley guide to sushi, that may or may not enable you to make a positive identification before you dip (or drop, if you are chopsticks-impaired) that little rice-coated delicacy into your soy and wasabi and swallow it.

Besides the enticement of the lovely little plates trundling past, there is also that sense of urgency: If I let this dish go past me now, will it circle back to me a second time, or will it be intercepted by some other glutton? I seldom ran that risk.

Offerings include nigiri-type mouthfuls of raw fish on rice, as well as the roll variety, plus a few small Asian-style salads. One of those salads, featuring chewy pickled sweet-and-sour octopus, was the day's standout, but every bite we had was delectable.

We also especially enjoyed the simple salmon nigiri, highlighting the rich yet subtle flavor of the Northwest's signature fish, but it was hard to pick favorites.

A baked scallop roll came with a creamy and fiery mayonnaise. A smoked calamari salad combined the smoky seafood with green beans and a vinegar dressing, with little sliced rings of hot red pepper providing added zing for eye and tongue. A deep-fried spicy squid roll was an explosive blend of hot and smoky tastes. Inari featured rice wrapped in tofu and deep-fried. And there was more.

Dine alone if you must, but it's of course more fun to visit here with two or three. The plates generally feature three bites, enabling a threesome to sample a lot of intriguing dishes.

Sushi is never cheap. My companion and I pretty much put self-restraint on hold, grabbed everything that looked good, and wound up with a tab of about $50, including drinks, before we reached the point of not wanting to look at food.

We went with the traditional Japanese Kirin beer, which is just fine, but a Northwest microbrew or two would make a nice addition to the menu here.

When this place opened earlier in 2009, I wondered if it could attract a clientele to this location in the midst of an economic downturn. That doesn't seem to be a problem. We found the place packed during a recent midweek visit.

KURU KURU SUSHI

Address: 11 Bellwether Way, Bellingham

Phone: 392-8224

Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday; closed Sunday

Price range: Small plates from $1.50 to $3.50