by Jeremy Iggers | August 24, 2009 • What kind of sushi do they eat in Kansas? Cream cheese sushi, of course. I stopped for lunch the other day at Wakame Sushi & Asian Bistro, the new Japanese restaurant that replaced Three Fish in Calhoun Village. I asked our very friendly and attentive server whether the proprietors also owned other restaurants locally, and was told no, but they did own another restaurant just like Wakame in Kansas.

Iggers Digest is the blog of Jeremy Iggers, the TC Media Alliance’s executive director. Jeremy is also the creator of TCFoodies, a local food networking site.

I opted for the shrimp tempura bento box, and Carol chose the sushi roll special – two rolls of your choice. Carol tried to select rolls that did not contain cream cheese, and quickly discovered that this wasn’t easy. The Alaska roll, Boston roll, Philadelphia roll – all made with cream cheese. “A lof of our rolls are made with cream cheese,” our server informed us. Even my shrimp tempura bento box came with cream cheese wontons.

I don’t know whether all that cream cheese is a Kansas thing, but it certainly isn’t a Japanese thing. But neither are any of the other exotic rolls that have become popular in US sushi restaurants, and besides, with Mt Fuji, Tango Sushi, Fuji-ya, Tiger Sushi and the sushi counter at Lund’s all within a stone’s throw of Calhoun Village, it makes sense for Wakame to offer something different.

Actually, they offer a number of dishes that you won’t find on most sushi restaurant menus, including Thai curries, crab cakes, “Tokyo-style” lamb, and a whole red snapper with a Thai-style sweet and sour vegetable mix ($26.950.

At any rate, the shrimp tempura in my bento box were very crispy, generously portioned, and came with miso soup, a bit of green salad, white rice, and a crispy fried spring roll with a curry-flavored filling. Carol opted for the spicy tuna roll and the shrimp tempura roll, which tasted about the same as they do everywhere else.

I would like to go back and try some of the Thai specialties, such as the red snapper or the chicken in green curry, stewed in coconut milk, green curry, Asian eggplant, bell pepper and fresh Thai basil ($10.95). If I understood our server correctly, those dishes are prepared by a chef who learned Thai cooking from a real Thai chef back in Kansas.

3070 Excelsior Blvd. #206, Minneapolis, (612) 886-2484.

Author: Jeremy Iggers

Jeremy Iggers is a journalist, university instructor and social entrepreneur with interests that include food, philosophy and global-local connections. Previously, he was a staff writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and publisher of the Twin Cities Daily Planet. He lives in south Minneapolis with his wife Carol and two cats.