Ever since a friend almost died a few years ago after dinner at a highly respected New York City sushi restaurant, I'm more cautious

Hmm, maybe mother was right about raw fish!

Our family loves sushi, but we have been reading that most fish used is not sustainable long-term, so we may have to change yet another food habit.

FACT: Sushi King in Columbia is the best sushi restaurant in Maryland.

Soho cafe on fort avenue is my favorite!! Always fresh!

I found Chiu's to be unimpressive and aggressively phony. I hated the vibe. Subjective? Yup. And my ex-girlfriend was there with her husband Evan. What a tool. Seriously, popped collar? What next, parachute pants? Blurg. Sabor de Soledad for breakfast? Sure, I need some synthetic Mexican testosterone today, I'm making industrial potpourri with my wood chipper. Let's activate!

How could you not include the sushi bar in the Cross St. Market ?! They actually use REAL crabmeat. They are by far the best sushi bar in Baltimore.

Chiu's - Horrible. You are better off going to Wholefoods.

Best sushi in Baltimore City is Kiku in Federal Hill (1017 Light St). Simple sushi presentations that accentuate the freshness of its fish. No over the top rolls drowning in sauce.
Best novelty sushi (i.e dragon, raindow, spider rolls) is Sushi San in Canton Sushi Hana in Towson. Lots of contenders for this category, But both places always good quality.

As for EL's list, I not a big fan of matsuri (all hype, no substance) and Chiu's is by far the most expensive sushi restaurant in the city, like New York City. The sushi is good at Chiu's, but the quality in presentation and fish does not match the price.

Though it is not a Sushi restaurant, if you like great fresh Sushi try Magerk's in Federal Hill. You will thank me later

As always, I'm going to have to reccommend Asahi Sushi in Fells Point. Been going for seven years and have never had a bad meal. JC rolls the best sushi. AND it's BYOB. Look for his new place to open up soon.

Tell us more about the new place. Also, thanks for actually reading the instructions and eliminating one to make room for the new recommendation (in her next comment). EL

Forgot to mention that I would drop Matsuri from the list...I agree with nestee, it's "all hype."

I am a huge fan of Chiu's Sushi. I think the staff is very friendly and the food is fresh and tasty. I also enjoy Kiku when I in Federal Hill which is rare because the parking situation is awful. My friends all swear by Matsuri, but I find their rolls are too big and can not be eaten in one bite.

My two cents: Drop Chiu's and Matsuri. Add Sushi Hana in Towson and Tony's in the Cross Street Market.

Anybody who recommends a place where they "roll" good sushi should immediately be disqualified. I've heard the same thing over the years about every place ever, just like chiropracters. John Stevens - great! Uh huh, if you want a dirty hippy chick to roll you some sushi and handle money with the same hands that never get washed. Standards matter. Magerks? Please. You can't judge the freshness of fish by their spicy cream cheese mayonaise roll death bomb. Sushi should be judged by sashimi first, rolls never. Chiu's really is a joke. They didn't even bother to give it a Japanese name, but they have Chinese women in kimonos. Smells like the criminally fake, stale and apparently criiminal Kawasaki. No more!

Ever been to the rotating sushi bar in Towson? It's before the traffic circle, across the street from the Recher Theater and the Melting Pot. Gooooood stuff, great atmosphere.

Dahlink, dahling, or someone else, more please on sustainability issue. Thank you.

I second Kiku as the best! May not be where the 'beautiful people' go to be seen, but flavor, quantity and prices are the best. We'll drive from Homeland to Fed Hill just for them.

I like Yamato in Lutherville (or is it Timonium?) and Yokozuna in Ocean City at the Gold Coast Mall.

Best Sushi in Baltimore:

Rich's at Magerk's

He runs out of food every day. It is by far the best sushi (limited menu) in Baltimore, yet alone South Baltimore(Federal Hill).
Matsuri and Cross Street Market are good but Rich's Sushi is GREAT!!

To qualify as a top sushi restaurant, one must be able to do something exceptional. Never having a bad meal someplace? Isn't that a recommendation for Subway? Watch the knife skills of the sushi chef and it will tell you much. Go to Minato's and get the chef to slice you some salmon belly that's not on the menu. Or kill and slice a live scallop. Just okay or not bad shouldn't be considered for any best list. Come on, look at the picture above, you're never going to get anything like that at a pedestrian place like Asahi or Kiku. Sorry. You don't judge steak houses by their sandwiches.

Owl Meat said: Sushi should be judged by sashimi first, rolls never.

Technically, sashimi isn't sushi (no rice). Sushi, in my opinion, should first be judged by nigiri, as the quality of the sushi rice is almost as important as the quality of the fish.

I agree with Owl about rolls.

Rotating sushi bars are considered to be very low class in Japan. Here too. It needs to be cliced to order.

I'm very surprised no one mentioned the former Kawasaki Cafe (now called Namaki) in Fells Point, right on the water. What a gorgeous harbor view, a pleasant waitstaff and my favorite sushi in town. It's the kind of place whose location does justice to its outdoor seating.

Sushi Hana in Towson

Try Chiyo's in Mt Washington. Excllent sushi and they treat you like family. Try the Not Easy roll and any of the weekly specials are wonderful.

San Sushi in Cockeysville deserves to be up there. Even tho it's expanded greatly and attracted a huge non raw fish eating clientel - they still have some fantastic fresh fish prepared with skill. SushiYa in Owings Mills/Pikesville is also quite good.

Since Matsu opened up in my sleepy little town of Linthicum Heights, I don't go anywhere else. Support your local sushi house!

Fresh sushi and sashimi at H-Mart on Route 40 and Rolling Road. Good and not too expensive. Cash only though.

Oh God Hal, I can't go around about what is and isn't sushi again. See my old post.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/reviews/blog/2008/01/i_got_this_email_this.html
Sashimi most certainly is sushi, the original sushi. Again, see post above.

"Technically" sushi isn't anything specific, really just a catch all slang word for Americans. Rice won't kill you nor can it ever be better than correct. While it is only an opinion, a first timer who judges the place by the sashimi will be treated lke a king because all sushi chefs know that that is the proper test and they will respect you. So it's not my opinion so much as it is the opinion of the master chefs. On this I am not flexible.

Sushi King is absoulutely delightful. It is tooo fabulous definitely tops in Maryland. Naptown and Lax for life!!

Time to bust out the ninjas. Owl Meat is getting all ronin on us again.

You suburban people better stay out there in your dystopian nexi of asphalt arteries because urban ninjas patrol downtown areas just waiting to knock that spider roll out of your meat paws. Ha cha!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2kJZOfq7zk

Does anybody know where I can get sushi rolls with brown rice and vegetarian ingredients?

We are reminded that "sushi" means freshly vinegared rice". One's initial interest is not the fish or other toppings, it is the rice that most strongly guides our judgement. Also, as this is a matter of taste, opinions vary wildly as with those who like wine. Some may savor a California cabernet '93 more than the '95. The rest of us may enjoy the March 2007
fresh from the box.

Ditto Pigtown's vote for H-Mart. I'm spoiled for anything else - it's always outstanding and substantially less expensive than a bona fide restaurant. The seaweed salad in the refrigerator next to the cash register is great, too.

Following instructions: I would probably ditch Edo just because it's in the Inner Harbor. Nothing personal.

I haven't seen make with brown rice since visiting the Sunflower in Vienna, Va. and Vegetable Garden in Rockville, Md. Maybe Cafe Zen would sub brown for white on request?

I have to say I love the vegetarian make at Midori in Fullerton. The knife skills on the avocado are enchanting, creating a blissfully creamy roll. Plus the carrot and cuke in the veggie make are the tiniest little matchsticks - paired with umeboshi, it's very nice. The inari has a good rice wine flavor, too. Not upscale by any means, but always careful and fresh.

First, unless you are the Queen of England, you might want to lay off the royal we Mr. Johnston. Your post is silly and probably meant to get me going, but it won't work today. See the post that I reference above for the meaning of the word sushi. Alas indeed. Your wine analogy is silly; it implies that the glass is what we are really interested in, not the wine. I will not participate in this silliness again. We are out! My facial mud mask is hardening and I'm late for my eyeball whitening session. Toodles.

Another enthusiastic vote for Kiku on Light St. It's simple and fresh with reasonable prices. Others can keep their superfluous presentations. I go for pure food quality.

I'll knock Edo off the list for it.

Whole foods now offers maki and nigiri with brown rice, for whatever that's worth.

It's been a year since I was at XS (1307 N Charles), but the sashimi I had then was very fresh and delicate. The chef offered small samples of fish I hadn't tried before, and I wanted to order them all. So I'd put XS on the top 10 but I don't know what to remove because the only place I've been on the list is Matsuri (which definitely belongs there). Looks like I have some fish eating to do!

I've haven't had sushi in Baltimore that can compare with Morimoto's in Philly.

That being said, I think Edo Sushi puts out a good product. That place is the only decent thing at Harborplace.

SUSHI KING - is traditional and exceptional

Giant Clam, Salmon Belly with a sliver of fat scored on the top, Oshinko Very special food.

I owned a sushi bar for years, and whenever I am in town I make the effort to eat at this great restaurant with a bad name and ok decor because the sushi is top notch!

Take away Matsuri and put in either Ra or XS.

I second the recomendation for SushiYa on Reisterstown Road. Extremely high quality, and the service is always pleasant and attentive, even when they are getting slammed. As far as Federal Hill sushi, i would definitely take off Matsuri and replace it with Magerk's or Nichiban. The atmosphere and outdoor tables are nice, but I always place quality of the fish over aesthetics of the restaurant when judging a sushi joint.

RA in Harbor East! Best Sushi-worst service!

Rich at magerks is amazing. Ask about the "employee roll"

Owly said: Rice won't kill you nor can it ever be better than correct.

Unfortunately, too many places have sushi rice that is less than correct. I consider good sushi rice to be a required (but not sole) attribute of a good sushi place.

Hmm, now I'm craving a bowl of chirashi.

For me - the best sushi is the kind you order in. Asian Taste in Hampden delivers right to your doorstep and is always tasty.

Oh, and "brown rice sushi" is just so wrong!!! (Exclamation points included to annoy the easily-annoyed).

"Owly said: Rice won't kill you nor can it ever be better than correct."

What about that urban legend that you shouldn't throw rice at a wedding because the birds will eat it and then when they drink water the rice will plump and burst their wittle, birdy tummy's?

I know Owls are birds of prey...but I figured you'd be looking out for your other fine feathered friends...

Fuji Sushi in Bel Air is pretty good, but they sometimes play Backstreet Boys cds..

I agree with Fuji Sushi in Bel Air, although I have only gotten carry out so didn't get to experience Backstreet Boys.

As for the Eastern Shore O.C. Wasabi in Ocean City is awesome.

Since moving back to Baltimore after a stint in San Diego I've been consistently disapointed by the sushi.

I'll say that Matsuri's is both overrated and overpriced. I don't have anything good to say about the place.

Sushi Hana in Towson is a much better option.

Pull Chius and add Whole Foods.

Both in Columbia are excellent.

Drop both Kiku (we don't need asparagus in every roll) & Matsuri (far too cramped).

The best sushi in town is Nichiban. Excellent freshness & presentation.

hands down, Asahi Sushi on Broadway in Fells in the BEST!
amazing food, cozy atmosphere and BYOB!
scrap Matsuri, Asahi is delish!
great prices and i have never been unhappy in the over 3 years I have been eating there

OMG,

I think you're mistaken, and that "sushi" does in fact refer to the rice. In the post you link to, you mentioned inarizushi as an example proving your point, saying it has no rice. But what inarizushi doesn't have is fish! It's vinegared rice (aka "sushi") in a fried tofu pouch.

Had 4 out of the top 10. I would have to put the sushi at Magerk's in the top 6. Best rice, freshest fish in town. Fairly priced, small menu but he keeps it simple.

I'd remove Matsuri - it sometimes don't mind pretentious if the food lives up to it - Matsuri does not!

I would add Sushi Hana in Towson to the list instead.

Sushi Sono is awesome!

This topic makes my brain hurt. As for rice at weddings, it's great, because it attracts mice later and swoosh, owl snacks.

I swear I will eat my own liver if Whole Foods ends up on a best sushi list.

All further sushi talk from me is restricted to Raptor Night at Minato's. And I know Voodoo Pork threw that brown rice comment out there to tweak me.

SERENITY NOW!
(Insanity later)

The rest of my week is dedicated to sitting on the corner munching Sabor de Soledad, drinking Robitussin®-tinis from an old Mr. Pibb bottle and making fun of people in sandals. I have no time for negative thoughts.

Restaurants with menu items that do not appear on the published menu get on my last nerve. If you offer something then put it out there for everyone. None of this 'ask for the' stuff. Is my money not as good as the 'regulars'? Okay, no more ranting from me.

You forgot a very prominent, cozy restuarant called Asahi Sushi located on Broadway in Fells Point....the owner and chef Jay is wonderful!!!

Yamato Sushi in Timonium isthe best by far. Very nice presentation, high quality fresh and reasonably priced. BYOL is an advantage as well.

MZ

Yamahana in Marriottsville. (although the actual town it's in may vary. It's that part of Western Howard County that's somewhat ambiguous.)

I've had good sushi at the following:
Edo - but overpriced and pedestrian. Not a favorite because of that.

Whole Foods - Decent stuff, easy to grab for lunch. Not your grandma's Grocery Store sushi.

Chiu's - horrible sushi menu with strange abbreviations. WAY overpriced. But the few times I've eaten there, the food itself has been quite good, and they have quite a bit of variety and creative rolls/sauces/ combinations.

Asahi - Not going to blow you away with creativity, but reasonably priced and tasty.

Olive & Sesame in Towson - Decent sushi, a couple of creative rolls that I liked a lot (roasted red pepper and tuna was quite good)

San Sushi Too in Towson - Good stuff. I like it.

H-Mart for carryout - Quite good. I probably go there more often than the others because it's close and cheap.

My favorite in the area -
Yuraku in Germantown. It's a bit of a drive these days... live in Catonsville, work near Fell's... actually in the same building as Chiu's and Whole Foods (Exit 13 on I270 I think) but I think it's worth hitting the road every few months. When I was living in Mt. Airy and working in VA, I'd often wait out traffic while eating awesome sushi. Fresh, inventive, tasty, and won't break the bank. They've won best in the DC area a couple times. They supposedly have a buffet of some sort, but when I go, I sit at the bar and order whatever my heart desires. Have often been given complimentary tidbits, and their cucumber/crabstick/masago salad is really good. (have tried to recreate it at home... close, but not as good as Mr. Lee's).

On the bad side:
Matsuri - have been there a few times, and while it's been mostly okay, twice the fish seemed 'off'. Doesn't take me much to bin a sushi place.

Kawasaki on Charles - Not a fan. (are they still around?) Just didn't taste right to me.

XS - Used to work almost right across the street from them, so went a couple times. Fish didn't seem fresh, and the combinations of flavors in some of their rolls were not pleasant in my opinion.

Blu Bamboo - I know... not remotely a sushi place, and I should have known better. But I was hungry and one of my lunch companions wanted their Mongolian. Ewww. Worse than the worst of Grocery Store sushi. Inspired me to write a long letter to their parent company, which isn't my style.

Well, I'm looking forward to trying some of the places you guys have suggested. Thanks!!!

Went to Ra on Monday with a friend. Asahi was closed for the day... sign in the window thing... and didn't really have another close choice.

Food was good, they made a custom maki for us, and the prices weren't completely horrible. I also liked how they brought out each thing we ordered one at a time instead of all at once.

Atmosphere though... hipster mid-range bar feel, music too loud, TV in the bar area... just not the normal serene-ish atmosphere I prefer for sushi.

Price seemed a bit steep for what we got, but not completely out of line.

One thing though... the Ra valet staff parks cars in the "2hr or Resident sticker" spots on the streets. My friend lives in Fell's point just a couple blocks from Ra, and she says since they've opened, she sometimes can't find anyplace within blocks of her house to park, and she sees Ra valets parking cars over there all the time. I think that's pretty screwed up.

So... if it weren't for the parking thing I 'might' go back if nothing else was open in the area, but as of now, I can't see myself giving them money.

Do you have Great Sushi bars in other cities... We are sushi holics...thanks

Andy
www.recipebuddys.com

I would recommend Yuki Sushi at Owings Mills, the restaurant is in a hidden but the best sushi I have ever eaten. I never seen a restaurant have so many specialties roll. My favorite roll is the Volcane roll and Rachel roll.

Hana japanese cuisine in odenton should be one of the 10 best sushi bar on the list. The best sushi ever. Their address: 8743 piney orchard pkwy, odenton, md 21113
Phone: 410-695-1666

Sushi Ya - Owings Mills
Very creative and fresh menu! Eric is the best sushi chef in Maryland! I have had sushi all around the country and this is one of the best!

PERSONALY I LOVE THE "RA' BUT,
Ikan sushi in belvedere square is the best!!!