By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

The Sushi Samurai, located in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, features an extensive menu of vegan sushi rolls, appetizers, nigiri, and sashimi. Some of the creative offerings include vegan prawns (made from konjac root and potato starch), shrimp, “krab,” salmon (made from konjac root and tapioca starch), and eel (made from a type of gourd). Icons on the menu indicate which items are spicy, raw, or gluten-free.

After a lengthy deliberation, four of us shared an appetizer of edamame, five different rolls, and a serving of avocado nigiri. We had take-out and the presentation was lovely with flowers garnishing several of the compostable containers of food.

Our consensus favorite was the Yoga Roll which included tofu, cucumbers, and cilantro in a sweet chili sauce. The combination of flavors in this roll made it our top pick. The Green Goddess Roll and the Seattle Tempura Roll tied for most attractive. The Green Goddess Roll was topped with avocado and sesame seeds and filled with green onions and pickled carrot. The Seattle Tempura Roll was topped with thinly sliced, coral pink vegan salmon and filled with avocado and cream cheese. We also enjoyed a vegetable roll with generous amounts of asparagus, cucumber, avocado, and mixed greens and a cucumber roll. We requested that gluten-containing items be packaged separately from those containing gluten and the restaurant was quite accommodating, even including gluten-free tamari in our take-out order.

You can find The Sushi Samurai at 1817 Queen Anne Ave. N., Seattle, WA.

Visit their website at https://www.thesushisamurai.com/

To find a list of veggie restaurants in the USA and Canada visit: https://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php