A Taste of Japan at KoKoRo Sushi in Salinas

For great unforgettable sushi, KoKoRo Sushi may be the place for you. Nestled in downtown Salinas, this sushi restaurant is a hotspot for Japanese food. Unless you come early, this location is packed and you’ll be waiting outside, but once you get a taste of their specialty rolls, you’ll soon forget the long wait it took to get in.

With a large array of Japanese entrees on their menu, KoKoRo offers an assortment of their famous sauces including teriyaki, spicy miso, ginger soy, apple sesame, sweet chili, and yuzu (Japanese citrus sauce). For these sauce selections, you can have the chef select them for you, or you can choose two for yourself. These sauces pair up to several dishes, including combinations like filet mignon & shrimp, chicken & shrimp, pork tenderloin medallions & shrimp, or try on the Ahi tuna or Norwegian salmon.

For the specialty sushi roll lovers like myself, with over 20 different types of specialty rolls to choose from, there is no shortage of roll selections. The more famous rolls are the 49er and the Raider Roll that comes with shrimp, crab, tuna, avocado, and macadamia with white sauce to top it off. The Raider roll has salmon instead of tuna.

One of my personal favorites that KoKoRo prepares really well is the crunch roll. It’s just a basic roll with shrimp tempura, crab, avocado, and cucumber wrapped in seaweed and rice, but it’s so good. One of my new favorites that KoKoRo has is the Jungle Roll, which comes with spicy tuna, cucumber, and topped with seaweed. The other sushi roll that I had that has become my favorite is the rainbow roll. I never tried it until this night. It has five different raw fish (tuna, hamachi, salmon, shrimp, and red snapper) with cucumber, avocado, and crab meat. Along with some miso soup, an order of edamame, and hot green tea makes for fulfilling meal.

Overall, my visit was most satisfactory. When I return and my craving is for sushi, I would definitely come back. With that, I shall say, “Makotoni Arigato Gozaimashita” (Thank you, very much).