Trapper's Sushi Co. — Restaurant in Surprise

Trappers is the least authentic sushi restaurant I've ever been to in my lifetime. I am from Hawaii and have lived in Japan and many other places in the Far East. I guess you can say that I know my fish!

To start, the service was marginal and the food was not prepared like you might expect in an authentic Japanese restaurant. The fish was old, the sushi was heavy on the rice, the rice was dry, the salad consisted of marinaded cucumbers, the miso soup was watered down resembling instant soup, the ginger and wasabi was served "together" on a mini bowl, and the AYCE offering is only available at the sushi bar.

We ordered the sushi combo and it had ten pieces of thinly cut portions of fish on top of dry rice. When I say "thin cuts", I really mean THIN! The manager indicated that the sliced fish were normal sized cuts and that they were "precut" from its shipment origin - JFC (Japan Food Corp) presumably from Califonia. One could suspect that those normal sized sliced fish had been re-sliced to double its number? The sushi rice was dry and not moist as it should be. The salad consisted of sliced cucumbers marinated in sweetened mirin (rice vinegar) sprinkled with sesame seeds. It had a watered down taste to it and was unappetizing. The miso soup closely resembled Kikkoman Instant Miso Soup mix with tiny bits of tofu. The taste was also somewhat watered down. The ginger was served in a small bowl with a ball of wasabi literally on top of it. These should be served separately, not stacked on top of each other. At the very least, they should provide a small saucer to use the wasabi with the soy sauce. Moreover, we observed a couple next to us who ordered various sushi rolls. The rolls were heavy on the rice with minimal amounts of fish, veggies, or other accompaniments in the center. I would have attached a photo but didn't think of it at the time. For some, more rice might be preferable, but this is not consistent with your authentic sushi restaurants with your discernable clientele.

AYCE is available but only at the sushi bar. This could be a great value for the price of only $30. I can see why the sushi bar would be the only logical place for the AYCE. Prompt service could only be achieved by being almost directly across from the sushi chefs.

I am not trying to be overly critical of Trappers. The manager was nice and understanding why we were so disappointed. I stated that I merely wanted to provide feedback so they can correct those deficiencies and survive in this tough restaurant business. Sooner or later, patrons "who know" will eventually dwindle until the restaurant can no longer sustain their business. I hope management will visit other "popular" sushi restaurants to fully grasp what I am talking about. As more customers become more critical of dining out because of inflationary costs, it will pay dividends to consider free advice/feedback to analyze and improve services and products within their ability to do so.

The bottom line is that this restaurant has potential but only with MAJOR revisions to its service and quality of food served. I would love to see this restaurant thrive and become a go-to place in Surprise. We need good Asian cuisine here. We are not...

The Surprise location of trappers sushi needs a little work. They are newer and the sushi bar seems to be working out some kinks still. Our rolls were very rice heavy. The chef making our rolls was very kind but you could clearly see she was stressed from the amount of orders coming in. Not very talkative but still in high spirits when she asked us if we were ready for another roll. The tall male in the black coat behind the sushi bar seemed to share the same stress. He had advised he worked there [assuming he ment with trappers since this location is fairly new] for 17 years. When I replied "17 years, you must love what you do?" Our eyes locked and he said in all seriousness "NO". Though that maybe funny to some,but as a customer who enjoys the trappers experience, it was more sad to hear then anything. Back to the food. Most of my rolls were very loose, falling apart when I attempted to pick them up. Cucumber falling out when a roll would manage to make it in my chopsticks in tact. It was just very... unappealing. The cucumber salad appetizer did have some bad cucumbers in it. The bitter bite did take away from appetizer and a few of the rolls. My self and my father both had a roll where we took out the cucumber as it was unraveling its self. Quality is definitely not a main focus at this location yet and it shows in their food. The sushi bar fish storage area was dirty when we were sat infront of it. There was tons of scraps of octopus and tuna in the case that could have fallen off in error but did make it seem like they were to busy to care for the cases appearance though that is the highlight of sitting infront of the bar. There was confusion with Togo orders and orders from the bar so were were waiting 15-20 minutes between the time we ordered our next roll and actually receiving it. The location seems tightly packed with a chair and table any where you can fit one. Beautifully decorated, my only wish was that the neon sign was on against the back wall and that there was a little more space. It would have made this sushi lover excited at the photo opp. The music is a little loud but the play list is great. More for the younger crowd, but definitely very upbeat. There was something I seen at this location that peaked my intrest. Maybe can be a highlighted special in the future? I seen they have those wooden boat shaped platters against the wall. I would love to eat a boat of nigiri off that!! I paid 100 bucks for 3 people to eat at the bar, I'd pay 100 bucks for a boat of nigiri!! Especially since trappers gets their fish shipped from Japan over night it could be a selling point!! I know this location is still getting on its feet so I will return later on in the year to see if there is any improvement. For now, I will continue going to the avondale location any time we crave sushi. I look forward to giving another review...

This is our 4th visit to Trappers and it continues to be delicious.

We had the whole family time so we ordered Yacht #1 which includes the California Crunch, Bonney Lake, Puyallup, Trapper rolls and two orders of Goyza!

At the top of the picture is the California Crunch (Spicy crab, teriyaki & avocado rolled in tempura crumbs.) Very light and a nice balance of flavors.

The next one down in the picture is the Bonney Lake (Crystal shrimp with cream cheese, fried in tempura, covered with spicy crab, teriyaki & hot sauce.) The group was divided on this one. The spicy crab seeming like BBQ pork and then a simple hot sauce. I actually enjoyed the texture differences and the familiarity of the hot sauce.

The next one down in the picture is the Puyallup (Salmon, avocado & cream cheese fried in tempura topped with a special sauce, teriyaki & green onion.) This was my least favorite of the food tonight with the special sauce being very mayonnaise heavy, in my opinion. It just overtook the other flavors.

To the far left and far right was the Mt. Si, (ordered separately and not a part of what is included with the Yacht; Smoked salmon, apple and cream cheese, topped with avocado and sweet chili sauce.) We order the Mt. Si because it was and is our favorite. The balance between the sweetness and tart of the apple, followed by the sweet chili sauce is just excellent.

Lastly is the Trapper. (Crystal shrimp covered with spicy cooked scallops, teriyaki, green onion & masago.) People were divided on this as well saying the scallops over powered the other flavors. I enjoyed the texture differences again but would ask for less scallops as the other flavors are lost, in my opinion.

The shishito peppers were and are still a big hit. The kids also loved them with the sauce. A perfect amount of breading providing a great little crunch. The Gyoza, were fried perfectly with a perfect crunch. The edamame were simple but good and well salted.

The kids teriyaki chicken meal with rice and apples was perfect for our toddler.

The atmosphere was friendly and welcoming. Whether it be for a date night or dinner with the family, you will be good to go! The service and staff were all kind and professional.

3* = Good but no separation from similar restaurants 4** = Set themselves a part and their food is different and I want to go back. 5*= You have to go out of your way and make a special trip to try the deliciousness...