Sushi bar rocks for student budget

Angie Blair

The Chronic, the O.G. and the Mack Daddy — no they’re not the newest P-Diddy songs. They’re dishes being served up daily at Tokyo Fro’s Rockin’ Sushi Bar.

Dimly lit by flashing neon lights and loud Top 40 music, this little sushi bar is reminiscent of a bachelor pad apartment. It’s a great atmosphere to gather friends at for a tasty meal and delicious drinks.

Located in the Fair Oaks Boulevard shopping center, next to Safeway, Tokyo Fro’s is Sacramento’s second “Rockin’ Sushi Bar,” and is quickly becoming students’ favorite pre-party hot spot.

I decided to round up three friends and go check it out. When I walked in the restaurant, I was overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of the bar crowd screaming at the last minute of the Kings’ game displayed on six flat screen televisions around the venue, and the clamor of voices at the sushi bar. The atmosphere was rowdy and energetic, even on a Wednesday night.

My three guests and I were seated in the middle of the restaurant, amidst a clash of intimate couples dining and small groups of people partaking in family-style meals. Looking at everyone else’s plates, we were excited to make our selections.

We started with cocktails. In addition to having a full bar, Fro’s also has many different sake cocktails for the adventurous drinker. We played it safe and stuck to beer and margaritas.

Next, we moved on to appetizers. We ordered calamari, breaded and deep-fried with lime wasabi ketchup sauce, which was absolutely delicious.

For our second course, we ordered three different types of rolls. The sushi rolls are colorfully named: the Princess is stuffed with salmon, cream cheese and cucumber, and Da’ O.G. roll is a tempura prawn topped with five different fishes. The rolls all came out on one plate, which is placed in the middle of the table to share amongst everyone.

For people who are not so keen on raw fish (like me) there is a variety of beef, poultry and vegetable dishes to please your pallet. I ordered the Grilled Korean Ribeye, marinated in a spicy sauce and served with shoestring potatoes. It was tender, juicy and cooked to perfection. What can I say? I love a good steak.

Even after the plentiful portions of the meal, there was still room in our stomachs for one last thing — dessert. The dessert menu is what they call “word of mouth” at Fro’s, which means your server has to tell you about it. So don’t forget to ask.

Among the selections is a New York cheesecake and Fuji apples served on top of a puff pastry with caramel sauce. We had to have something way more sinful than that, so we choose the Chocolate Decadence. It is a flourless chocolate cake served drenched in fudge and strawberry sauce, with whipped cream and fresh berries. It was worth the extra day at the gym just for one bite! Who would have thought that a sushi bar could have such delectable desserts?

Tokyo Fro’s is a great college hangout, especially if you are on a college budget. The portions are fair and so are the prices. You can also stop by for an after-school snack at Fro’s happy hour, which runs Monday-Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. During happy hour, appetizers, sushi, draft beer and mixed drinks are all 50 percent off.

Fro’s other specials include Sunday 80’s night, where you can enjoy 80’s flashback music and 50 percent off sushi rolls and nigiri. Also, they don’t call it a rockin’ sushi bar for nothing; every Thursday night, a disc jockey plays music to get you pumped up for the weekend to come.

Tokyo Fro’s is open Monday-Friday from 11:30 a.m. to midnight, 5 p.m. to midnight on Saturday and Sunday.