Omi Sushi - Stylish and also Down to Earth

Omi Sushi is the Japanese restaurant right down town in East Lansing, tucked in between the alley and the creamery. The decor is ultra-modern, but not snooty, and that describes the overall style of the place. They have the usual fusion sushi and appetizers, as well as entrees that come more from the casual end of Japanese cuisine.

For our first foray into the place, we went for a selection of appetizers and sushi, just to get a variety.

The Ebi Shiu Mai (shrimp dumplings) are tender and fresh, and attractively presented.

This picture shows, from back to front, Avocado roll, Kampyo roll, Shrimp Tempura Roll, and what may or may not be Spicy California Roll. This turned out to be a great selection for variety of textures and flavors. The avocado and kampyo provide a refresher between heavier rolls. The avocado is silky and rich, the kampyo a lightly sweet and tangy crunch. The tempura shrimp had a nice crunch, with a touch of fried flavor.

But the hit of the night was the California roll, but I don't know if you can order it exactly as we got it. See, we ordered Spicy California Roll, and they started to give us ordinary California Roll. At the last minute the waitress realized the mistake, and the sushi chef squirted this creamy spicy sauce on it. I don't know if it was supposed to be served that way, but it turned out to be a perfect touch.

Finally we had the Vegetable Tempura Appetizer. It was very well prepared, not too oily, nor too much batter. It was also attractively presented (as everything at Omi is) as a little castle of yam, green pepper, onion, broccholi and asparagus, topped with a little tempura-ed sheet of nori (sushi seaweed). I love tempura, but usually I am burping up the batter all night. While I left with a pleasant taste in my mouth, there was no "revisiting" of the meal later. My digestive system really liked this.

We're definitely going back, and will likely try the regular entrees next time. Many of the dishes on the menu are known for being variations of Japanese home cooking (such as the kasuzuke -- a marinade of the flavorful dregs of saki), but they are still presented in lovely ways. And I'm told the noodles are great here too.

Omi Japanese Restaurant, 210 MAC Ave, East Lansing. (517) 337-2222.