We ventured to Bay Shore to visit Sumou Sushi for our latest review. Located in a small strip mall right on Main Street, Sumou has grown in size over the past few years. Inside there is a nice decor with wooden tables and booths on one side and a large hibachi section on the other side. There are Japanese styled wall lamps and iridescent tiles adorning some of the walls and the area by the small sushi bar in the back. The hibachi section has a total of 5 grills and it is divided by a large piece of glass, allowing strictly sushi eaters to still watch the fun. For a Friday night, there is a great sized crowd and soft music playing. Lina, the manager and our gracious host, sits us in the back and Vicky our waitress, starts bringing us crowd favorites.

• 

  Lychitini We start with a Lychitini and a Sake Flight Sampler. The Lychitini is slowly becoming a favorite cocktail of mine. Lychees are wonderful little fruits that originated in Southern China, where there are some lychee trees that have been around for 1000 years. The fruit has a red bumpy skin on the outside but the inside is white and has a grape like consistency, with a sweeter taste. The lychitini we have is light and refreshing. It has more a pink hue than others I have had and stronger citrus taste. Very good.

• 

  Sake For the sake, we sample Akitabare "Koshiki Junzukuri", Dewazakura "Oka", and Kamoizumi "Junmai Daiginjo. They ranged in dry to sweet, in the order they are listed. The Akitabare has the highest acidity of 1.8 and a 14.5 percent alcohol content, and has a light, rich, mild texture. The Dewazakura, with an acidity of 1.2 and a stronger alcohol content of 16 percent, had a soft cherry tartness and was more of a floral sake. The Kamoizumi, has the same acidity and alcohol content, but is smoother and sweeter in taste.

• 

  Garlic Oysters Our first dish arrives and it is Garlic Oysters. Oysters are a very popular type of fish, having numerous festivals in their honor. New York used to harvest the most amount of oysters than any other region, however many of their beds were exhausted by a rising demand. Over harvesting has caused these fish to increase in price, when they used to be a food most commonly consumed by the working class. Either way they are still known for their freshness and sensuality. These oysters are pan friend in a garlic butter sauce. The oysters are very large in size and arrive in two large shells. They are topped with a sprinkling of rosemary and small chunks of garlic. They smell absolutely amazing. At first bite, you are hit by bursts of garlic and a crunchy texture. The sauce is light and perfectly seasoned, but if you do not like garlic this is not the dish for you. We do and found the dish is very enjoyable.

• 

  Seafood Soup Next arrived two bowls of soup for us to try. The first was Seafood Soup. It was clear broth with pieces of crab, clams, shrimp, scallops, white fish, mushrooms and snap peas. The mushrooms were huge and all of the fish was tender. Typically the white fish found in Asian soups are made from various forms of white fish (sole, butterfish, etc.) combined with cornstarch, chicken stock, ginger root and a little parsley, sugar and cucumber. The broth had a nice light flavor, little hints of garlic and chicken, and it definitely warmed us up.

• 

  Tom Yum The other soup was Tom Yum. This is slowly becoming another favorite. This soup had clams, shrimp, whitefish, snap peas, mushrooms and zucchini in a broth of lemongrass, chicken stock, kaffir lime leaves, chili peppers and coconut. There is a strong lemongrass taste which is delicious. At first the soup does not seem very spicy, but overtime the spice slowly starts to grow on you. By the end I have changed my mind and declared the soup wonderfully spicy. If you do not like heat, ask them to modify or stick with the seafood soup.

• 

  Yankee Sandwhich The Yankee Sandwich, one of their most popular appetizers, comes next. This dish is fried eggplant topped with spicy tuna, lobster salad and salmon stacked together like a sandwich and topped with a special miso sauce. There are four individual pieces to this appetizer. The dish has a great, rich flavor. It is soft from the texture of the fish and eggplant, but has a crunch from the vegetable being fried. All of the flavors, which may strike some as a little odd to mix together, work wonderfully and the tuna and eggplant really stand out. The sauce has the perfect touch of light and sweet. Miso sauces are made from miso combined with sake, oil, soy sauce and sugar. This dish is unlike anything we have tried and we can see why it is a favorite of their customers.

• 

  Chilean Sea Bass Another appetizer of Chilean Sea Bass arrives. It is served with a spicy mayo and sits on top of a bed of cooked vegetables composed of carrots, zucchini, snap peas, tomatoes and asparagus. It is plated with a drizzle of eel sauce and more spicy mayo. We have never seen Sea Bass and spicy mayo combined together before. In general Chilean Sea Bass is a lavish white fish. It is thick and has a firm texture, with a slightly sweet taste. It does not need much seasoning as it is very flavorful and the spicy mayo takes away from it. Though the sauce does play nicely to offset the sweetness, it is a bit much. However, the sauce does have a good flavor, which is enhanced by warmth of the fish.

• 

  Yellowtail Crudo We are brought one of their special appetizers of the night, Yellowtail Crudo. It is thin pieces of yellowtail sashimi laid flat, with the ends wrapped around a small block of mango. The end is then topped with a slice of jalapeno and a small piece of cherry tomato. It is then topped with tobiko and plated in a light sauce. Presentation wise (check out the pictures) this dish is very creative. The sauce tastes like a mixture of yuzu and sweetened vinegar. In general the taste of this dish is spot on. There is a great balance between the juicy, sweet mango and the spicy pieces of jalapeno. The jalapenos which can vary in spice depending on when they are cultivated and where they originate from, are very spicy in this case. Hopefully they will have this special available when you go to eat there.

• 

  Toro Tartar Toro Tartar is served next. It is pieces of chopped toro combined with an olive yuzu sauce. It was then topped with green and black tobiko and served in a bowl set over ice with blue blinking lights. Green tobiko are fish eggs which have been colored by wasabi and black tobiko has been colored by the ink of a squid. The toro was super fresh and a prolific flavor. Toro is one of the most sought after cuts of fish, coming from the fatty underbelly. Majority of the time it is harvested from the bluefin tuna. The dish is very flavorful, with a hint of salt and tart. We enjoy it very much.

• 

  Sushi Pizza Afterwards we try the Sushi Pizza. Sumou offers it two different ways and we get a sample of each. One half of the pizza is King Crab and the other is Tuna and Avocado, on top of a flat tortilla. The half with king crab has spicy mayo, wasabi mayo and pieces of jalapeno. This half is a spicier but a little more saucy than the other. The tuna half has spicy mayo, cilantro and small chunks of avocado. The avocado seems more like a paste, almost guacamole in consistency, and is rich and creamy. We enjoy that the pizza is on a tortilla that is not deep fried and that its cut into small, manageably sized pieces. The pizza has a good flavor but is a little bland. We enjoy the tuna side slightly more.
  
  We order two more drinks to try. The first is a special beer they have, Suntory Premium Malt. It is an amber beer, that is light with a hoppy, slightly bitter flavor. It is brewed in Japan and has an alcohol content of 5.5 percent. It is a nice change from the usual Sapporo that we have. (4)

• 

  Cocotini We also try the Cocotini, which was recommended by Vicki. The drink is coconut rum, white creme de coco and pineapple juice mixed together. White creme de coco is a coco flavored liqueur, clear in color and typically scented with vanilla. The entire drink is poured into a martini glass which is rimmed with lightly toasted coconut flakes. If a fan of coconut, you will love this drink. It is very rich and sweet, but the coconut flavor is amazing. The coconut on the rim is a nice touch and I have to restrain myself from drinking this one too quickly.

• 

  Crispy Duck Finally it is time for the sushi rolls and we start with the Crispy Duck. We have never had duck in a sushi roll before and are excited by the description of this roll. It is crispy duck, cucumber, mango and lettuce all wrapped in soy paper. It then topped with a special sweet chili sauce. Presentation wise it arrived on a large bamboo leafand mat decorated with orange wedges. When a menu reads crispy duck, it is typically referring to Peking Duck. Peking Ducks have a thinner skin that other breeds, allowing them to crispy nicely when roasted. Once properly fattened the ducks is killed, cleaned and pumped with air to separate the skin and fat. It is then soaked in boiling water, covered with maltose syrup and hung to dry. It then roasts to that beautiful shiny brown color. The duck in this dish is rich and has a nice smoky taste, which pairs well with the sweet mango. The other ingredients, along with soy paper over nori, provide a nice soft compliment to the crunchy meat.

• 

  The Saxon The Saxon, a special from that evening, is next. It is spicy scallops, scallops mixed with spicy mayo and tempura, inside. It is then topped with kiwi slices and a special sauce. Kiwis, which used to be called Chinese gooseberries, are a green fruit with a sweet, yet tart taste. They can be compared to a mixture of banana pineapple and strawberry. The special sauce on this roll has a sweet and sour taste, which enhances the flavor of the roll. Otherwise it is a little lackluster as the scallops are not that spicy. The kiwi does add a nice touch and they stand out more than anything else.

• 

  Bonzai Roll Next we order the Bonzai Roll. It is spicy kani and avocado inside. It is topped with black peppered tuna, wasabi mayo and scallions. The tuna has a very nice spice to it and the light kani salad is a good contrast to it. The roll is good, but would be better with less tempura flakes. While we enjoy some crunch, the flakes overpower the taste of the fish.

• 

  Fried Roll The Fried Roll arrives next. This roll is loaded with smoked salmon, kani, eel, avocado, shrimp and ginger. The entire roll is covered in tempura batter, fried and covered with the same sweet and sour sauce. The roll is a little on the heavy side, between the tempura and the sauce. There is a strong salmon taste and the torched salmon is actually quite enjoyable. Additionally strong in taste is the ginger. Ginger is a versatile spice and has many medical benefits, such as decreasing pains from arthritis, nausea and other stomach ailments. Taste wise ginger is spicy, but more in a zesty, tangy manner versus the spice taste you get from peppers. If you don't mind rolls on the heavier side, then this would be a good pick.

• 

  Magic Roll We venture on to the Magic Roll. The Magic Roll is shrimp tempura inside that has been topped with spicy kani, lobster salad and cajun spices. The roll has a nice spice to it, subtle and not overpowering. The kani salad has a great flavor as does the lobster salad and the two together are delicious. Kani salad is a mixture of shredded crab with mayo. If spicy, it has been mixed with some sriracha. Often times as an appetizer it is also mixed with mango, cucumber and some tempura flakes. This roll is quite enjoyable and though late in the night, we finish it.

• 

  Custom Roll Though we are nearly full we test the skills of the sushi chefs and have them create a custom roll for us. The roll we try has spicy kani, avocado and mango inside. It is then topped with live scallop sashimi, a piece of lemon and sriracha sauce. Though I love all of these ingredients separately I thought they may not blend together (Michael ordered the roll), but I was quickly proven wrong. The fish tastes very light and pure. There is a nice twist between the juicy mango and citrusy lemon. If feeling adventurous, I would definitely try this roll. Or perhaps you want to create one of your own. Either way they are accommodating.