Sympathy for Sono – Raleigh

Every sushi house harbors its secrets. Oishii has a vision, Yasuda-San is a master of omekase, and Avana is fresh, generous, and cheap. Sono’s secret is sauces. But good sushi shouldn’t need sauce. My friend sagely suggested sauces on the side as Sono has a reputation for piling them on. After one bland bite of each bland roll, I started to see why they pile on the sauce. Even my mix of sinus-obliterating, nosehair-burning, wasabi-saturated soy sauce did nothing to better the bland.

The VIP was by far the worst thing at Sono. A hot-mess mélange of fish, this overstuffed roll had to be banded by a ring of atrocity, also known as pickled daikon. I think daikon is the shredded stuff under sashimi that no one eats. There is a reason no one eats it. There’s a reason no one should eat the Victorian Roll either. It’s a gimmick older and more uptight than its name, a blunder of bland crab mixed with even more bland crab.

After these two terrors, I was about to scream in frustration until I got to the Screaming O. The seared tuna was fresh and well-supported by spicy tuna. I didn’t quite scream O, but sometimes we can only get close enough.

After a few more bites, I wondered if tuna was the only thing Sono did well. The Oishi featured more spicy tuna topped with seared white tuna, and honestly, I love white tuna so much I wonder if I’m a tuna racist.

On a brighter note, even the most unpleasant barrages of stormy rain end with a Rainbow. And though these alternating slices of colorful avocado and fish didn’t disappoint, when four types of fish are dueling for roll space, all of them will lose.

In the midst of these ridiculous rolls, I asked for a classic Salmon Avocado so I could actually taste my favorite fish. But I could barely taste the salmon amidst the avocado, which was rock hard and acidic. Seriously Sono, the roll has two things in it. How do you screw up half?

I actually felt sorry for Sono after re-reading my own review. Sono may be simple with a sorry selection of sushi, but I’m not sure they really deserve this much of my snip and snide. But my sympathy isn’t enough to override the lack of quality and the disturbing desire to cram every piece of fish in their kitchen into a maki. So sorry Sono, but if you were my carafe of sake, you wouldn't be the one with the heat.