*** Convoy Sushi is now Sushi Yaro.
Meet my friend Abe:
Things have been kinda tough recently, we've been seeing lots of Abe's going out, with less arriving in return. Sheesh, in most cases you can't even get a bowl of Pho for five bucks anymore. Even Banh Mi's are topping out at over three bucks! Solutions? Sorry to say, I don't have any…..but maybe there are still a few reasonable options out there. I'm not asking for anything ridiculous. I just want to feel like I got my money's worth. You know what I mean?
When I first saw that Convoy Sushi and Fish Market had opened, I wasn't really moved. In fact, I found the $5 lunch to go sign, along with the mention of "Sushi Rolls, Fish & Chips, Ceviche, and Ahi Salad" for five bucks to be downright scary. Luckily, I have folks like FOY (Friend of Yoso), Trent, to set me right. A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from Trent telling me that while the food may be nothing amazing, it is fresh, prepared decently, and you feel like you get your money's worth.
Hey, if it's good enough for Trent…….
This little shop looks fresh and clean…and most of all smells, fresh and clean.
On one side is the fish market portion, with Catalina Offshore Uni, sides of maguro, dried squid, a tank of live prawns and abalone, and pre-packed sushi.
Next to the packaged items is a small table of whole fish. As you can see, some look fresher than others…..some are suffering from "cloudy eyes".
But I was here for the lunches. Deciding to "play it safe" I ordered the Fish, Ika, and Chips, parted with my "Abe" and change, and soon enough received a large styrofoam container with the cut out corner oozing steam.
Unpacked in the car, this is what it looked like.
Wow…this was five bucks? Three white fish filets…moist and fresh. Three pieces of Ika – squid, soft, and not bad at all. The fries were totally routine. I thought the batter to be rather "gummy", and these are best eaten right away, as they get soggy pretty quickly. One more reason for eating it at one of the tables in the market….my car still smells of fry-o-lated fish and squid!
Still, from the value standpoint, this was not bad. It was good enough for me to have the Missus check this place out. So armed with a couple of "Abe's" we made our way back to Convoy Fish…..
The Missus decided to order the Grilled Ahi Salad.
This didn't look bad for five bucks. Six slices of seared, lower grade maguro, slices of avocado ad cucumber, on mixed greens. Frankly, I expected iceberg lettuce. I don't know how this salad was since the Missus scarfed it all up before I had a taste. But to quote the Missus, "the tuna was on the dry side, but not bad, the sesame dressing was okay, the greens and avocado were very fresh."
She also wanted to try the Ceviche…so bye-bye Abe…..
The ceviche was really packed into this container. Now usually I'd hesitate in ordering this, but the Missus had just had some "pretty mediocre ceviche" when dining with Her "ladies who do lunch" group. It cost Her nine bucks, and "was only half this, and not even close to being as good." This was a fairly straight-forward ceviche, good amount of shrimp and fish. It came with a large container of chips.
As we dug deeper into the container, it tasted better and better. The jalapeno started kicking in. This was not bad…pretty generic, but worth the five bucks. The Missus enjoyed it.
So what did I get?
It was the Pound of Mixed Seafood…also five bucks. This was just dusted with flour, which made it lighter than the Fish & Chips. The seafood was fresh, with lots of good sized shrimp(unshelled), and tasty baby octopus. The bay scallops were pretty much an after thought, and I thought this could use a bit more seasoning. I'm not a big fan of the tartar sauce…but the ketchup-y cocktail sauce is okay….in a tastes bottled kinda way. This was well worth my hard earned "Abe".
So is this worth it? I think you need to ask yourself. What would you rather have, a $5 sandwich from Subway, or a pound of fried seafood? The food won't set the culinary world on fire, but we think it's worth it.
This Korean owned business is starting to get busy. Lots of folks buying sushi. You may want to give it a shot for yourself. Lunch is served Monday through Saturday from 11 am through 230 pm.
Convoy Sushi & Fish Market
7905 Engineer Road
San Diego, CA 92111
Mon-Wed 11am – 230pm
Thurs-Sat 10am – 7pm
Sunday 1pm – 5pm
Lunch Served 11am – 230 pm Mon-Sat(!)
Postscript: Earlier this evening I found the Missus just sitting, doing nothing, just sitting as if waiting for something……very unusual as the Missus is usually pretty much in constant motion during this time of the day. When I inquired as to why She was just kinda sitting around, I was told, "I'm waiting for the diarrhea to start…..it was so cheap, something must be wrong with the food!" What a pessimist!
Thanks again for the recommendation Trent!