We ended our Florida trip at Sushi Jo. They have a few locations and we visited their restaurant in West Palm Beach. The restaurant is large and divided in two, with tables on one side and the sushi bar and high bar tables on the other. The restaurant has an earthy, laid back feel with minimal modern Japanese art and large decorative mirrors. It is raining outside, thanks Florida, and we hurry in and grab a table in the back. Our lovely server Jenny seats us and starts us with some sake samples.

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  Sake We try three different sakes. The first is Wakatake. Wakatake is Junmai Daiginj-shu sake made from pure koji rice. It is composed of Sake that is made up of water, koji mold, yeast and rice milled 50% with 50% of each grain of rice remaining. It is semi-sweet sake and goes down smoothly. The next is unfiltered Nigori. Instead of being filter Nigori sakes are passed through a loose mesh to separate it from the mash. This one is bold, pure and rich. It is our favorite of the three. The third is Oka. It is a Junmai Ginj?-shu, meaning it is Sake that is made up of water, koji mold, yeast and rice milled 40% with 60% of each grain remaining. It is the sweetest of the bunch but still soft and balanced with a hint of melon. Sake is Japanese rice based alcoholic beverage, made through a similar process as beer.

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  Hamachi with Jalapenos We jump right into food and try the Hamachi with Jalapenos. The dish is thick pieces of Hamachi with sliced jalapenos on top. It is served with a homemade ponzu sauce and dusted with pepper flakes and sesame seeds. The Hamachi is thick and tasty. The sauce is light, with spicy from the jalapenos. This dish has a great flavor and light crunch. Next we try a dish I had my eye on, Sushi Pizza. The dish is a choice of tuna, white tuna or salmon served on a grilled tortilla with avocado, chopped onions, tomatoes, scallions and cilantro. It is then garnished with tobiko, spicy mayo and eel sauce. Our pizza comes with fresh tuna. This may sound like a lot, but the dish is not overly heavy or overly sweet as we believed it would be. It is creamy and soft. You can taste the cilantro and it has a Mexican flare to it. It is a great appetizer to share.

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  Closer up.

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  Sushi Pizza Next we try a dish I had my eye on, Sushi Pizza. The dish is a choice of tuna, white tuna or salmon served on a grilled tortilla with avocado, chopped onions, tomatoes, scallions and cilantro. It is then garnished with tobiko, spicy mayo and eel sauce. Our pizza comes with fresh tuna. This may sound like a lot, but the dish is not overly heavy or overly sweet as we believed it would be. It is creamy and soft. You can taste the cilantro and it has a Mexican flare to it. It is a great appetizer to share.

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  Closer up.

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  Bangkok Baby We go dive into sushi and try the Bangkok Baby. The roll is toro, king crab, avocado and scallions inside. It is then topped with eel, tobiko, sesame seeds and sriracha sauce. The roll is incredibly soft and the combination of fish is exquisite. There are large chunks of toro inside and you can tell that it is fresh. The crab is flavorful and balances the fatty toro tuna.

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  Closer up.

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  Holy Toro!

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  Dragon Roll Next we have the Dragon Roll. It is shrimp tempura, eel, masago and cream cheese inside. It also looks like there are pieces of asparagus too. Masago, one of the ingredients here, can often be found in sushi rolls. it is roe of the Capelin fish and is similar to tobiko but smaller in size. The two however do look and taste quite similar, so restaurants often time use masago instead. The roll is topped with avocado and eel sauce. The roll is warm and the tempura is light. It is flavorful but nothing overly unique, a solid choice.

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  Closer up.

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  Release Roll We continue with sushi and have the Release Roll. This one sounded inviting and we were eager to try. It had eel, avocado and cucumber inside. It was topped with strawberries, avocado and nuts. The strawberries were cut paper thin and added a little sweetness to the already sweet eel. The roll is soft with slight crunch from the nuts but a little heavy on the cream cheese.

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  Hawaiian Roll We continue on the fruit kick and order the Hawaiian Roll. This roll is coconut shrimp, avocado and chunks of pineapple and papaya with cream cheese inside. It is topped with nuts and eel sauce. The fruit inside is incredibly juicy and adds sweetness to the roll. It is one of the best uses of fruit we have seen to date and the only time we have found papaya in sushi before. Papaya is a tropical fruit and an acquired taste. Its skin has am amber color to it and they fruit is best to eat when it is slightly soft. Papayas are juicy and comparable to a cantaloupe but juicier and sweeter in taste. Heres a fun fact about them too: the stems from the fruit and bark from the tree are used in rope production, but I wouldn't recommend eating rope if craving a papaya.
  
  The roll is flavorful and a little on the sweet side between the fruit and the coconut shrimp. Typically we shy away from tempura rolls and cream but we easily polish this one off.

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  Dynamite We try two slightly different volcano style rolls. The first was the Scallop Dynamite. It was a California roll on the inside (avocado, crab and cucumber) with spicy baked scallops on top. It was lightly drizzled with eel sauce. The scallops are delicate and take to the spice of the roll very well. The roll is spicy and bursting with flavor.

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  Fire Conch The Fire Conch is similar but has a different topping. Again, it was a California roll on the inside (avocado, crab and cucumber) but this one was topped with spicy baked conch. The conch is very spicy as well but has a firmer, slightly touch and chewy texture. The chewy texture is due to conch being a member of the snail family. Typically conch refers to a wide variety of medium to large sized sea snails. Compared to the scallops the conch is thicker. Both are delicious it is up to your palate which one you would prefer.

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  Red Light We order the Red Light next. It is spicy tuna inside with sliced tuna and black tobiko on top. The tuna was very soft and super fresh, but the spicy tuna inside lacked a little spice. While this may be preferable to some, we found it a little bland.

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  Havana Roll We soldier on with sushi and tried the Havana Roll. As mango lovers we were excited that this roll had mango inside, as well as eel, cream cheese and shiso. The roll is topped with avocado slices and eel sauce. Shiso is a Japanese mint with a strong, clean, mint taste. I enjoy it much and even add it to my water sometimes for a little flavor. Jenny informs us they are out of the shiso and will use avocado inside instead. The roll is served and at first bite the avocado and cream cheese jump out, slight masking the sweet eel and mango. I am sure with the shiso, the roll is more balanced.

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  Salmon Tartare Appetizer They have an amazing selection of tartare appetizers and not being able to decide on just one, they bring us a sample of toro, hamachi, salmon and tuna tartare. The tartare is mixed with bits of tobiko and a light spicy sauce. In its simples form tartare is a cooking style where finely chopped raw meat or fish is typically flavored with seasonings and sauces. It is served with sesame crackers. It is a very creative dish and comes across like a "sushi dip" with the crackers adding a little flavor and being preferable to us over wonton chips. All of the fish is simply delicious, but here is a quick run down of each.
  
  The salmon tartare is incredibly soft and has a light flavor.

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  Tuna Tartare The tuna tartare is a bit thicker. It has the boldest taste of the bunch and seems to have the lease amount of sauce. The hamachi tartare is pure, simply and incredibly tasty.

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  Hamachi Tartare The hamachi tartare is pure, simply and incredibly tasty.

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  Toro Tartare The toro is the most tender of the group. It nearly melts in the mouth and has such a light, delicious flavor. I loved that we were able to sample each and perhaps it would be a great idea to offer a sample platter to patrons.

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  Sashimi We ended the evening with a light sashimi plate of toro, hamachi and snapper. The snapper was subtle and pure as it is more of a bland fish The hamachi was thick, soft and distinct. The toro, once again, was amazing. The fish was perfectly oily, fatty and luscious.

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  Morimoto Black Obi Soba Ale Beer was dark and delicious.

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  Ice Cream We notice some mochi ice cream on the menu, I ask what it is and next thing I know we have a plate before us. Typically we are way too full to eat dessert and often pass on it, but this was something new and interesting. Mochi is a Japanese rice cake that is flattened and stretched into shape. In Japan mochi is commonly used in desserts as it has a soft, sweet flavor. To make mochi ice cream, small balls of whatever ice cream flavor you choose are wrapped in the rice cake and then frozen. The mochi we tried has green tea ice cream inside. It was then drizzled with a chocolate sauce and served with whipped cream. The mochi is soft and chewy. It is sweet and compliments the light flavoring of the green tea. The dessert is also the perfect size and I would recommend it.