Ko Sushi
https://www.kosushi.es
Sushi is a challenge in Spain. For those from the United States or United Kingdom the ritual of sushi is much different. Most great sushi restaurants in those countries have a sushi bar with the chefs making sushi, sashimi and hand rolls live —- up close and in person.
The second difference is the menu and ordering. While a lot of sushi restaurants serve other Japanese dishes and there is a menu for those selections, there is also a (generally) tall sheet of paper with the nigiri, maki, hand rolls and sashimi listed. Most of the time the prices are per roll or for two nigiri sushi. One sits down at the sushi bar or a table and uses the pencil provided to tick the boxes with sushi bar selections. Other dishes such as donburi, noodles and the like are ordered from the menu just as one would in any restaurant.
It’s not a big deal not having the self-directed paper sushi bar menu. Ordering your rolls and nigiri from a menu is OK but the difference is the volume of sushi items available on menus in the US and UK. There is generally a minimum of a dozen nigiri choices and an equal or greater amount of rolls on offer. The limited selection means that a lot of sushi choices are simply not widely available in Valencia.
Ko Sushi is not only better than most sushi restaurants the Valencia-International team has, it also has more selection than most. But we will get to that in a bit…
Rice is the key to good sushi and the other restaurants the V-I team have tried are good but not great (Sunn was ordinary, Hokkaido pretty good). Kosushi delivers, however. The rice is well made, just a bit sweet and perfectly cooked being a bit sticky but not gummy and not grainy.
Consider starting with a set of hosomaki. The tuna and salmon rolls are quite good. The cucumber (pepino) roll is excellent with a sprinkle of sesame seeds that are super fresh and flavorful.
Nigiri should always be the star of the show and we tried the tuna, salmon and pez mantequilla. Very fresh fish and generous (but not overly so) portions make for great sushi. If there was any complaint, the rice to fish ratio is a bit high. There is adequate portions of seafood but a bit much of the (very good) rice.
The uramaki are equally excellent. The volcan roll is great with crab stick, avocado and topped with seaweed salad. However, the spicy tuna roll is the star of the show. This roll was originally offered by sushi chefs as a way to use the day old tuna.
Most of the rolls on offer are chopped tuna with a bit of chili oil. At Ko Sushi the center of the roll is a combination of fresh tuna and avocado and the maki is topped with a thin slice of tuna and then the spicy sauce. This is super fresh and spicy but unlike many spicy tuna rolls, the tuna is the star of the show and not the spice.
Service is great and there is sidewalk seating.
Ko Sushi is the complete package — great variety, very good rice, fresh fish and creative takes on classic rolls.