Toudai Sushi & Fusion — Restaurant in Mill Creek

This hidden gem combines delicious Japanese and Korean food with excellent customer service. My family had a wonderful dinner at Toudai yesterday. I can’t say enough good things about this place, and it was such a lovely surprise to find such good food and service in a strip mall. I think it’s underrated!

PROS: The Ichi Roll was the best recipe for spicy tuna we’ve ever had. It contained both whole tuna slices and chopped spicy tuna. And you can tell the influence of the Korean owners and chef because the spicy tuna was truly deeply flavored – the spiciest tuna we’ve ever enjoyed. Another great thing about this restaurant is the serving sizes are massive; some of the rolls were 50% - or even 100% - larger than usual! They’re generous in other ways too; they gave us miso soup and salad without us asking and it was free. The edamame was especially fresh and was somehow cooked through yet a bright, lovely green color instead of the usual dull green. The tempura rolls were so finely cooked that the shrimp tempura batter was completely crunchy in every slice – usually they get soggy toward the middle of the roll. The ambience is also simple and relaxing; lovely instrumental music, live potted orchids or fresh cut flowers on every table, and cute details in the interior such as Hello Kitty themed soy sauce bottles.

CONS: My only criticism is so mild that I barely consider it a con. The rice was perfectly cooked; it had the right plump but firm texture and was well blended with the seasoning. But it was under seasoned. It would be nice if the chef adjusted the balance to have a little more seasoned vinegar in the future. Everything else was seasoned exactly how I liked it.

SUMMARY: We really enjoyed the various special sushi rolls, nigiri, and maki. Edamame and salads were very fresh. The menu is quite large and had some things on it I’ve never seen and I look forward to trying in the future - especially some of the Korean entrées and desserts. I loved everything about the place and enthusiastically recommend...

Nice clean place. I've dined here 3 times. Always good service, yesterday was young guy, very friendly. We need more sushi but I don't think Toudai will make it. It was empty (just me at 6:25) You have to serve high quality fish. I search out the best. Dark tuna, almost purple is the best. Here, it's a faded red color. That's cheaper, low quality tuna. Look at all the 5 star, best sushi ever review pics. The tuna is a faded red color. The farm raised salmon is faded orange, almost yellow. Quality salmon would be a bright orange.

The rolls taste okay. But they aren't great. Prices are good. If you can't buy the best fish at this price level, I'd raise the price. Most sushi lovers that know hi quality fish arent price shoppers.

In response to owner:

Strongly disagree with most of your professional insight on grades and quality of sashimi. A simple check with google images vs. pics of your review pics shows you are not accurate. But lets go another step... In my review my hope was to encourage you to survive by serving better quality fish, not be given inaccurate info explaining lower grade sashimi. Saying you are getting sub par salmon and can't find good salmon isn't an honest statement when the other 6 sushi places I dine at have great salmon. Find another supplier. You are not required to buy from the low quality supplier.

The best sushi restaurants in the area (in my opinion) are Katana (Everett), Shimas (Stanwood), Washabi (Lynnwood), Fatty Fish (Everett). I've tried all multiple times. Look at their review pics vs yours and see the difference. I think you are going for a less expensive option (with lower grade fish, like sushi belt in smokey point) and your prices and portions are very good. I was hoping the quality might go up (Id prefer a higher price and better quality), so I could continue visiting your nice restaurant with great service. I'll post pics if you would like to continue this...

Extremely fresh sushi rolls and nigiri and such a clean restaurant!! I really appreciated how friendly they all were, and the rolls were some of the best I've had. Everything from the miso soup, the karaage and potato coquettes, the sushi rolls, and the seared salmon nigiri were all seasoned so well. (Definitely suits asian taste.) I would highly reccommend for a chill lunch or dinner with friends and family, especially if you want your money's worth. You are definitely leaving full!!

What we got (and will def get again): ☆ Small (Not small at all) Karaage - super juicy (the juiciest chicken karaage, i would come back just for this!!) and crispy without being too salty. The 2 sauces were perfect to go back and forth. ☆ Potato Croquettes - really big so gotta share!! It was so creamy and crispy ☆ Seared Salmon Nigiri - smokey, and extremely fresh, I am still thinking about this one. So simple but even the char on the rice was perfect. ☆ Fire Engine Roll - highly recommend if you love spicy tuna, i knew this would be my favorite ☆ Tiger Roll - was like a better version of a dragon roll, with eel, spicy tuna, and shrimp tempura ☆ Tempura Shrimp Roll - If you're not feeling raw fish, this roll was so good, especially with the fried onion on top! I actually think this was my second favorite roll, it really took me by surprise! ☆ California Roll - classic but unlike other restaurants, it was creamy without feeling heavy and stuffed to the brim. They definitely did not skimp just because it's not a special roll, the size was...