11/21/2024
6/24/24 - Well hello there my foodie frands, i have finally returned to Reviewville after 4 weeks on my diet and have partook in my first cheat meal of the carbohydrate variety. Ive had to travel a lot for work lately and i was good the entire time, so naturally when i got back i was dying and needed some rice. In the words of Mitch Hedberg, rice is great for when youre hungry and want to eat 2,000 of something. But i wanted something with my rice, like sushi.
So after deciding with my boo-thang on where to acquire such a delicacy because i didnt wanna waste a cheat meal on mediocre vittles, we decided on Arigato Sushi in Casselberry. Their website says Winter Park, but dont let anybody lie to you, its firmly within the city limits of Hassleberry i mean Casselberry, on SR-436 just south of Howell Branch. Ive been going to Arigato for 12-13 years, and its consistently been quite delicious. Its honestly pretty slept on, but its always been one of the best relatively affordable sushi spots in the Central Florida area.
As we waddled into the former Pizza Hut, i kid you not its an old Pizza Hut, windows, roof and all, its phenomenal, the server/host guy immediately sat us and provided us with menus. This server dude has been the same one ive had every time ive gone and he is phenomenal, he memorizes your order and nails it every time.
As we perused we started with edamame and seaweed salad, or as my wife calls it, “Ariel’s Spaghetti.” We then put in an order of sushi 5 rolls because when i have a cheat meal i dont f around. We ordered a Su***de Roll, Tango Lover Roll, Spicy Tuna Roll because thats how i judge all sushi spots, Philadelphia Roll, and Salmon Roll.
Apps came quite fast, wifey loved her steamed soy beans saturated in salt, she even licked the remaining salt off the plate, photo below. The seaweed salad here has always been phenomenal, its flavorful and has a bigger sesame punch than most, but still retaining its tangy flavors. Ariel probably dinglehoppered this up like a beast.
About 10 minutes later our rolls came, and good golly miss molly i forgot just how beautiful Arigato makes them. The Spicy Tuna Roll was as always, delicious- We got it without cucumber because cuke ruins spicy tuna and unlike most spicy tunas, this one is actually a little spicy. The Philadelphia Roll was huge, full of fillings, “thicc” as the youngins may call it these days. The Salmon Roll- Im not sure how or why, but the plain salmon and tuna rolls here are the absolute best, i think its because theyre rolled fat-ways instead of thin-ways and contains more protein than most, actually all of the rolls here are packed with fish. Combined with a little soy sauce and wasabi paste, heaven. The Tango Lover Roll was something id never ordered before- the textures were fantastic. The cream cheese and the sweet tender protein with the slight chew of the seaweed just worked. And it has some sauces on it, but not overloaded with them, you can still taste all of the ingredients individually. When sushi spots drown their expensive rolls in sauce is always disappointing, im paying you for fish not for spicy mayo. The Su***de Roll, absolutely outstanding. I wouldnt shwack myself over it but its filled with fish, topped with thiccc white tuna and drizzled with a sweet spicy sour kimchee sauce, unbelieveable from the flavors to the mouthfeel. The wasabi paste here is also worth noting- its sharp, spicy, and flavorful, then quickly dissipates. Its not like some of them that linger or are just horseradish heat. Ill list all of the rolls ingredients in the picture comments cause itd be a whole nother paragraph here and i know youre all probably like COME ON DUDE TL;DR ALREADY.
The wife scarfed it all down (photo below), she forgot how great Arigato is too and I cant believe im opening a secret honey hole to the masses, but even though theyve been around probably 15 years, they never seem to be busy.
TL;DR Version: Amazing sush in falsely-stated Winter Park, go destroy it.
