Our latest adventure was to Azuma in Greenlawn. The restaurant was small and homey. It was more traditional with Japanese styled art and curtains and large fish decorating the walls. The place had an inviting scent. There was a small crowd, but you could tell many were regular customers or locals. They have a large menu, offering Pan-Asian dishes and a large selection of specials to choose from.

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  Soup We take a table in the back and Ivy, the very accommodating manager, starts our meal with some warm house sake and soup. Keep reading for the specifics.

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  Thai Curry Seafood Soup We thought he soup could not get any spicier or tastier, but we were wrong. The Thai Curry Seafood Soup, another native Thailand dish, blew us away. The soup had a similar spice but was sweetened by coconut milk, a stable in Thai cooking. The soup had a lovely orange hue and was filled with shrimp, scallops, basil leaves, mushrooms, onions and jalapenos. Both are homemade recipes and even though we begged Ivy, she remained tipped lipped. You'll have to try this one for yourself.

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  Thai Tom Yom Soup
  
  The first soup we tried was Thai Tom Yom Soup. The soup is native to Thailand and known for its hot and sour flavoring. The soup is well spiced and brings some heat. There is a light taste of lime and lemon, hot peppers and a touch of salt. The soup is filled with vegetables and succulent shrimp. It definitely warms us up.

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  Spicy Crunchy Tuna Avocado Bowl Our first appetizer was the Spicy Crunchy Tuna Avocado Bowl. It was spicy tuna and tempura flakes inside and the entire dish was encompassed by thin slices of avocado. It was topped with tobiko, spicy mayo and eel sauce. We have seen similar dishes but none were delicately and completely wrapped the way this one was, kudos to the chef. The taste matched the level of expertise. The tuna was fresh and spicy and the eel sauce gave it a touch of sweetness. This dish was very enjoyable.

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  Another angle of the Tuna Bowl.

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  Pan-Asian Dish: Four Seasons Next we had a dish from their Pan-Asian menu called Four Seasons. The dish had jumbo, shrimp, chicken, pork, beef and vegetables mixed with a light teriyaki soy sauce. All of the meat is well cooked, the shrimp and beef stand out and the vegetables are crispy. The sauce is flavorful and does not drown the dish. If you cannot make up your mind about what you are in the mood for, this dish offers a little of everything. We are however unfairly biased to sushi though.

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  Tuna Sashimi Salmon Sashimi Yellowtail Sashimi Octopus Next we are brought Tuna, Salmon, Yellowtail and Octopus (sashimi). The tuna is thick and slightly bland. The salmon is full and tasty. The yellowtail is smooth and the best of the bunch. We do not care for the octopus. While cooked fine, we do not enjoy the chewy texture. Often octopus is cooked when served as sushi or sashimi. A good indicator that octopus has been cooked is that it will have a purple hue.

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  Out of Nowhere Roll We try our first sushi roll, called Out of Nowhere. It is one of their special rolls. It has avocado and seared tuna on the inside. Outside the roll was colored with salmon, seaweed salad and different types of roe or fish eggs. There was green, red and blacktobiko and what is known asikura. Ikura is the egg masses of salmon. They are orange in color and larger and softer than tobiko. Ikura nearly burst in the mouth, while tobiko is quite crunchy. The roll itself has a wonderful crunch from both the tobiko and the seaweed salad, which is nice as often rolls are made crunchy with tempura. The pepper tuna inside is well seasoned and all of the flavors together made this roll very delicious.

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  Another shot - just for fun.

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  Greenlawn & Specialty Rolls Here's a nice shot of our next two rolls.

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  Greenlawn Roll Next we had the Greenlawn which was spicy crunchy tuna and fried banana inside with wasabi tobiko on top. The roll was warm and gooey. We have had variations of this, often with shrimp tempura and we liked the tuna inside much better. The banana was sweet, the tuna spiced right and it was another enjoyable roll.

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  Speciality Roll Next we had another specialty roll. It consisted of a basic California Roll, crab, cucumber and avocado, inside with salmon, avocado and scallions on top. The roll tasted fresh and if you are just easing into sushi this a good roll to try.

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  More Sashimi Next we had more sashimi. We were treated to a spicy trio of Black Pepper Tuna, Cajun Tuna and Cajun Salmon. All the fish was incredibly thin and perfectly spiced. The Black Pepper Tuna had a strong taste to it, but was not over bearing. The Cajun Tuna had an incredibly soft texture and strong spice. It was lightly covered in a light wasabi mayo. The Cajun Salmon was equally as smooth and soft. It was covered in light spicy pepper oil.

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  Black Pepper Tuna

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  Cajun Tuna

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  Cajun Salmon

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  Sushi Pizza Another special dish followed and we tried our first Sushi Pizza. The bottom was a tasted rice cake. It was layered with spicy tuna, sliced avocado and shredded kani salad. It was topped with tobiko, scallions and sweet eel sauce. Well not traditional pizza, this creative dish can hold its own. It is warm, slightly sweet and crispy. The ingredients are thick and it is quite filling. The light kani salad stands out and balances all the flavors.

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  Sushi Sandwich A Sushi Sandwich is our next treat. It is rice on the outside with a thin sheet or rice paper, tuna, avocado, kani and spicy mayo. The sandwich, while having similar ingredients to the pizza, is thinner and served as two little wedges. It is a unique dish and tastes almost as good as the pizza. Michael claims his piece did not have enough tuna and was overpowered by the avocado.

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  Clark Roll With almost full bellies our last dish of sushi rolls arrive. The Clark Roll has crabmeat and shrimp salad inside. It is then wrapped in pieces of shrimp, with no rice. While quite simplistic in flavor, I find myself enjoying this roll very much. The fish is incredibly tasty, proving how fresh it is, and the roll is light and clean. Even without the rice or any paper, this roll stayed together. Usually we gravitate towards creative rolls and wild mixes of ingredients, but this roll proves sometimes less is more.

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  Horizon Roll Out last roll of the evening was the Horizon. It was lobster salad inside and large pieces of sea eel on top. Sea eels reside in salted water, compared to the more commonly used freshwater eel or unagi typically found at sushi restaurants. Comparatively sea eels are lighter in color, softer in texture and slightly sweeter in taste. Michael even compares the sea eel to more of an "eel pancake". However, the sea eel does make this one delicious roll. The lobster salad inside has just the right amount of mayo and is equally as soft as the eel on top.
  
  For whatever reason, many of the restaurants we visit do NOT serve sea eel. Bravo to Azuma for being one of the few.

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  Here's a shot from the top of both rolls above.