Sushi Track
8750H SW Citizens Dr
Wilsonville OR 97070
503-570-8888

Disclaimer: All reviews and original content Copyright © Mike Blackwell [remove "nospam." or it won't work] of Oregon Sushi -- All Rights Reserved.

Food Quality: A to B-, depending on the dish.
Portion Sizes: Typical (mostly irrelevant, since you pay as you go)
Overall value for the dollar: A to B, depending on what you order. B- for the $35 sashimi platter.

I've been here several times, normally for the kaiten sushi (conveyor belt), which is always good and enjoyable. On this particular occasion, however, I decided to treat myself to the $35 Deluxe combination plate. Normally, when I have a $35 combo, it arrives in a tray the size of a large pizza pan and includes sashimi, maki, and nigiri. So when I received a wooden boat about 8" x 12" containing only sashimi, I assumed this was just the first course. However, there was no second course. When I re-read the menu, I saw that while there was no specific mention of the content, the listings for Regular and Deluxe combos did immediately follow the separate listings for a la carte sashimi, so it was my misunderstanding.

My sashimi included four or five slices each of tako, ika, maguro, sake, hamachi and tai, each resting on a bed of shredded daikon radish and accompanied by three slices of lemon almost credit-card thin. Standing beside the sashimi was a block of tamago cut in half in a Z-shape, perhaps to resemble mountains. Thin slices of cucumber garnish were arranged in fan shapes at opposite corners of the boat.

The tako (octopus) was just slightly chewier than I prefer, but not difficult to eat. As for the ika (squid), I'd never had it as sashimi before (just as nigiri or maki), and was surprised by the difference between its chewy texture and its creamy aftertaste. The maguro (tuna) and sake (salmon) were slightly disappointing, as I'm used to getting a very distinct flavor from these sushi staples, and I don't remember my tastebuds saying, "wow." Also, the maguro wasn't cleanly cut: two of the four slices were still connected by a thread of fat. The tai was good (red snapper), and the hamachi (yellowtail) was the best of the lot in my opinion. The tamago (hen's egg omelet) was good, but not especially memorable.

Since it's bad sushi etiquette to leave food behind, and since my parents taught me to clean my plate (to "dine to the shine"), I try to eat everything that's served to me, even the garnish. While I don't mind daikon radish, after eating six large piles of it, I found myself getting a little tired of it, and was grateful that some of it was falling through the gaps in the boat's wooden "deck." For this reason alone, I thought that the garnish was a bit overdone, although to someone who doesn't eat the garnish, this isn't an issue. I also felt that including three slivers of lemon for each type of sashimi was overkill. One slice each would have been plenty, or better yet to alternate between lemon and other types of garnish (e.g., lime, orange, maybe even celeriac for a visual snap) for color variation. However, such garnish variation as I describe could be wasteful, since it's probably only used in the more elaborate combo dishes, and I don't think very many people spring for them. The lemon actually affected the taste of the red snapper, since one of lemon slices was actually touching the fish. I wound up putting the lemon in my water glass (for which I believe I may have been charged $1, as it may have been mistaken for a glass of iced tea when it came time for the server to tally the bill).

Granted, if I had ordered sashimi like this a la carte at a regular sushi bar, it would probably have cost at least $35, but it would have been better quality and more filling, if only in terms of being more satisfying. When I was done with tonight's sashimi platter, I was still hungry enough for a pair of mussels in a spicy orange sauce ($1) and four pieces of spicy tempura-fried California roll ($3) (which, on this busy Saturday night, took too long to arrive), not to mention a triple shot Vente latté and a biscotti at a nearby Starbucks afterwards.

In short, I've had better and more filling sashimi for less money. I'm glad I tried it (I mean, knowing my obsession with sushi, I just *had* to), but I won't order it again. Granted, a conveyor-belt sushi bar is an unlikely place for top-notch sashimi, so I wasn't too surprised. Buying a la carte off the conveyor belt is a better way, and still this restaurant's best bargain.