Sushi Zen in Coronado

El Paso is actually replete with sushi restaurants, and I think the only parts of town where they are not in abundance are the lower income areas near the International border where it is also hard to find such amenities as grocery stores (other than neighborhood convenience stores). I am not one to start a crusade saying that the people there should demand that something be done about the situation, because it is a matter of economics whether anyone has what could be considered a necessity such as a grocery store or a luxury such as a sushi restaurant. Although both of these are unequally distributed throughout the city’s neighborhoods, market demand dictates that both are in abundance in the area. I think that many people who have the money to go out to eat have sushi high on their priority list, judging by the number of restaurants that have opened.

In El Paso the sushi restaurants are not only all over the map geographically, but this also applies to the quality of the food. Many are not even owned by Japanese people (I would say this is true in the majority of cases). Sushi in El Paso usually refers to the California roll branch of this cuisine rather than trying to import fish that is fresh enough to make a decent nigiri or sashimi. I do not want to get into the argument right now about whether California rolls and other rolls are actual sushi, although the same argument is even made for sashimi.

From reading other web sites I understand that Sushi Zen is owned by Japanese people and that it has some of the best sushi in town, if not the best. I did not try anything from the sushi menu, so I will not attempt to give a rating to a place for which I am unable to evaluate their most popular and best rated dishes. Even though the sushi here is supposed to be the best in town, I will say that I would not expect it to be like places on the west coast, Florida, etc. Still, though, I only want to report on the food I have tried.

A very good miso soup and Japanese green tea are served

What I did find out about Sushi Zen is that they give customers a quality product for their money. A la carte items are fairly inexpensive, and you can arguably get an even better deal with a lunch combination plate consisting of three items for $10.95 (this was the price when I ordered it). Of course I also felt that it was my duty to readers to be able to report on as many items from the menu as possible, and I found the lunch combination plate a good way to do this.

Lunch Special
The A La Carte menu is effective for both lunch and dinner, and is divided into Appetizers (about $3 to $5), Kitchen ($5 to $6), and Sushi ($4 to $8). These prices are for 2018 when I visited. For the lunch special ($10.95) you can pick any three items from any of these categories. I picked two from “Kitchen” (Salmon and Tofu Veggie Plate), and one of the appetizers (Shrimp Tempura).

Shrimp tempura from the “Appetizer” menu

My favorite was probably the Shrimp Tempura, although all three had elements of them that I liked better than others. For instance, I liked the shrimp tempura very much, but I thought the eel sauce that came with it was very thick, very sweet, and not very flavorful.

Salmon is one of the “Kitchen” items

The Salmon was very fresh (it did not have a “fishy” taste) and it had a good flavor, but the color was not anywhere close to the red that I associate with high quality salmon. The sauce was also somewhat lacking in flavor. For El Paso this was very good salmon and I would order it again, especially compared to what I find in other restaurants.

Tofu vegetable plate from the “Kitchen” section of the menu

The Tofu Vegetable Plate was certainly good quality, but just lacked flavor. I would rather it be this way than the other way around, and like the other two dishes I would order this again. It is a good value for the money, especially if you get it on the lunch combination as I did.

Dinner Menu
For dinner you can also order anything on the three menus I mentioned except the lunch combination special. Dinner also includes some much more expensive items such as special sushi rolls and grilled steak (these items are also available for lunch but they are not available on the lunch combination special).

In short, except for the lunch combination special they serve the same items at lunch and dinner, and they are at the same prices.

Other Observations
The restaurant was quite busy when I went, and I think if there is anything El Pasoans know it is a good bargain. I believe Sushi Zen certainly gives people their money’s worth on the lunch special, and individual items are not expensive compared to other restaurants.

I have not tried the sushi, but I hear that it is good. The menu lists only rolls, though, and there is no traditional nigiri listed. I do not know if any of the rolls contain traditional sushi fish, and if this is true I would question the restaurant’s use of the name “Sushi” although that does not diminish the quality of the food they do serve.

I complained about the flavors of some of the dishes, but the restaurant does not have a sweet Americanized flavor–I think it is real Japanese but perhaps modified because of the ingredients available in the Southwestern desert and also the tastes of the people in the region (which would make it “Americanized,” if true, but I just do not believe the food here is what I would normally classify as being Americanized).

There is another Sushi Zen at 2400 N. Mesa Street (I believe this is the original restaurant). I think that both of them have the same food, and the one at 7040 N. Mesa would certainly be easier in terms of finding a parking spot.

RATING: N/R

Asian Food Details

Tea:	Green
MSG:	No
Buffet:	No

 

Special Ratings

	Shrimp Tempura
	Salmon
	Tofu Veggie Plate

Kiki’s Restaurant & Bar

2719 N. Piedras St.
El Paso, TX
(915) 565-6713

Kiki’s

Kiki’s has been around so long it is an El Paso tradition, yet even though the items served are similar to the ones found at just about every other restaurant in the city, they are done with a unique twist. Kiki’s has solid Mexican food, and I especially like the fact that everything is cooked in vegetable oil (it was one of the first Mexican restaurants in El Paso to cater to El Paso’s small vegetarian community). For years it was also home to live blues music on Sunday nights, but I have not heard about this being the case recently.

The building shows obvious signs of age, and although the restaurant is not quite at the stage that it would be considered as a historic landmark, that honor might be bestowed upon the large bar if such a designation existed. A history I read about Kiki’s said that the building has been in continual use since 1928, and was home to several businesses until it became the Manhattan Beer Depot and Bar in 1937. The bar had two more names before the Keg and Fork opened in 1974 (which seems to be the first time it could be considered a real restaurant). In 1976 it became Kiki’s (named after the owner’s two year old daughter), and in 2012 the restaurant’s long time manager bought it. Thus it is clear that the attraction here was the bar before the food attained equal popularity.

When the city’s first anti-smoking ordinance was passed the non-smokers were afforded a small dining room with about eight tables, while the large dining room and bar area remained smoke friendly. With all restaurants being forced to be smoke free under the current ordinance, I think the atmosphere has changed somewhat and I would say has become more family friendly than previously when it mainly had a bar atmosphere. If anything, though, Kiki’s seems to be more popular than ever leading to even worse wait times for a table and having to park even farther down the street as the parking lot becomes perpetually full.

I can understand its attraction, though, because it serves “real deal” border Mexican food. It does not seem to me to be typical of El Paso or Ciudad Juarez Mexican food because it makes such liberal use of chile con queso as a topping rather than the more ubiquitous red or green chile (although Kiki’s does have dishes with red chile and the chile con queso is their version of the green sauce). Even though the style is a little different, the flavors are very much in keeping with the fresh and local style food served in restaurants throughout El Paso.

Some of the highlights of Kiki’s include the superbly flavored Spanish rice, the refried beans, and a huge, homemade, and always fresh flour tortilla served with all of the combination plates and some of the “Specialties” (I think they adjust the prices upward to pay for such a work of art, but what you don’t eat you can take home and use it for breakfast the next day). I sometimes tend to take these normal accompaniments to a Mexican dinner for granted, but when you come to Kiki’s you will likely realize how important they can be to the overall quality and enjoyment of the meal. If anyone thinks Mexican food has to be cooked with lard to taste good, I challenge them to come to Kiki’s to see how good food cooked with vegetable oil can be.

Appetizers

Chips and salsa

The green chile Salsa here is much spicier than any of the food they serve with green chile, and is excellent as is the norm in El Paso. It seems that they serve a small amount of chips, but it usually seems to be enough to be able to enjoy the potent salsa (and I believe you can get more chips if you request them).

Kiki’s “Specialties”
For the most part my favorite items here are the ones listed as their “Specialties” on the menu. While I like exploring the menus at many restaurants, I have also wished that others would do what Kiki’s has done and tell customers what they consider to be their specialties. I have a few favorites at Kiki’s that are not on their list of specialties, but for the most part I think their list is right on the mark.

Here is the entire list of Kiki’s Specialties as listed on their web site and menu:

• Machaca
• Green Crab Enchiladas
• Caldillo
• Chicken Mole
• Fajitas
• Caldo de Res
• Burrito Special (with green sauce)
• Picadillo

Chile colorado was on an older list I had but is not currently listed as one of the Specialties.

Kiki’s green sauce is a key component in many of the Specialties. From my research and past experience it seems that their green sauce and chile con queso sauce are the same thing (or at least the flavor is very similar). One thing I have found to be true, though, is that Kiki’s green sauce is the reason that many of their dishes are so enjoyable and stand out from the ones at other restaurants.

Beef burrito with green chile con queso sauce

I think the dish where I most enjoyed Kiki’s “legendary Green Sauce” (the terminology from their web site) is the Burrito Special which is listed as one of the restaurant’s “Specialties.” This is one example where I think following the restaurant’s suggestions will in fact give you their best food.

Another one of my favorites is the Crab Enchiladas (served as the Saturday lunch special but available any time at the regular price). For these I recommend the green sauce because the crab gives an extra flavor component that for some reason seems to bring the green sauce to its full potential (I am not really a crab lover but I think having it on this dish is something a lot of people are going to want to try).

Chicken mole

Chicken Mole is one of the specialties that does not have green sauce but which I think is very good (it  is their Sunday lunch special in addition to being on the Specialties menu and available all the time at the regular price). The mole served here was spicier than most I have tried in El Paso, and it was also very much on the sweet side (these two attributes together make a good combination, and this definitely was a very good mole).

Many of my friends and co-workers have talked about the machaca over the years, and there are others I have yet to try but which I am sure will prove to be very good.

Other Chile con Queso Dishes

Hamburger steak con queso

The Chile con Queso Hamburger Steak is the Saturday dinner special (although it can be ordered any time at the regular price). The now defunct La Paloma Restaurant had a chile con queso hamburger steak that was spicier and a little more flavorful than the one at Kiki’s, but I think Kiki’s is still ahead of most every other restaurant in town that tries to serve the same thing. Probably the key to the preparation of this dish is the inclusion of large chunks of green chile that make this a large flavor component of the dish.

Huevos rancheros

Kiki’s is not the only restaurant in town which tops Huevos Rancheros with chile con queso, but this is a very good version of it. Kiki’s opens at 10:30 daily and offers several breakfast items such as this one (or the machaca) for a late breakfast or for any time of the day.

Other Items
Items that are my favorites at most restaurants are not so here, with the Red Enchiladas being a case in point. They do not have a lot of red chile spice, although I think their toning down has been a fairly recent development (the flavor is still good, though).

Green Enchiladas are similarly not my favorite although the sauce is still good. The use of Kiki’s unique chile con queso as their green sauce on the enchiladas gives a fairly bland version of this dish in my opinion, although the same sauce on other dishes gives a quite satisfying contrast of flavors.

The Chile Relleno is something that I found to be tough and somewhat lacking in flavor, although I liked the Spanish sauce they serve on top (this sauce is not very spicy because you get enough spice with the chile itself). Chili Rellenos (as the restaurant spells it) are the Thursday dinner special, or you can order the same plate from the regular menu or get a chile relleno as part of a combination plate.

For a change of pace you can order Black Beans instead of the refried–both are very good (and vegetarian).

An Overview
The “Specialties” listed on the menu are definitely worth considering, and I think they are generally the best items at the restaurant.

For items that are not the “Specialties,” I think my favorite is the chile con queso hamburger steak. Not to be discounted, though, is the fact that the rice, salsa, and flour tortillas are some of the best in El Paso (flour tortillas come free with the combination plates and some of the “Specialties”).

The green sauce may be the most distinctive feature of Kiki’s, and is one of the reasons I keep coming back. The Burrito Special and Green Crab Enchiladas are two of Kiki’s Specialties which I think especially showcase the restaurant’s green sauce. The green cheese enchiladas, though, are something that did not quite hit the mark for me here.

Not all of the dishes here come with a free flour tortilla, but this is another item that I think is especially worth seeking out.

RATING: 24

Mexican Food Details

Chile Index:
Cooking Oil:	Vegetable

 

Special Ratings

	Burrito Special (Beef Burrito with Green Sauce)
	Hamburger Steak con Queso
	Green Crab Enchiladas
	Mole
	Red Cheese Enchiladas
	Green Cheese Enchiladas
	Chile Relleno
	Flour Tortilla
	Rice
	Refried Beans
	Chips
	Salsa

Sunny’s Sushi on Redd Rd.

To me the national restaurant review web sites do not help much for restaurants such as Sunny’s Sushi. The information they give is that this is a Japanese restaurant, but my friends told me that the owners are Korean and that Korean food is really its specialty. I know that the name indicates that it is Japanese (and it does have some Japanese food, including sushi). There is a sushi craze in El Paso that I know restaurants want to use to their advantage, including this one. I only had a small sample of the sushi that came on the lunch special, and I do not know how their sushi ranks with other restaurants. What I can say, though, is that the Korean food is pretty solid.

For lunch they offer Lunch Box meals as their specials. I really do not think that you save any money eating these or coming at lunch, but what you get is a sampling of numerous items with a total quantity of food that was almost more than I could eat and was definitely more than I should have eaten (although sometimes I know it is all right to splurge).

Sunny’s has three locations in El Paso, and two are on the west side. My friends are familiar with the restaurant on Viscount, and judging from their comments it sounds as if the food is the same at all three locations.

My long time favorite Japanese restaurants in El Paso are Matsuharu and Riyoma, and for Korean food I like Han Il (some other Korean restaurants in northeast El Paso are also very good). The bulgogi was good, but otherwise Sunny’s did not serve anything that would rank it among these top restaurants for me. I have only tried it one time, though, and everything is always subject to trying new dishes and having different experiences.

Lunch Special

Miso and house cucumbers

The two items pictured above come with all lunch specials. The Miso soup was very good, and tasted as if it was made from scratch (some in El Paso taste like they are made from a mix).

House Cucumbers have a red sauce that looks like kimchee, but I did not think it was nearly spicy enough. It may be the restaurant’s own version of kimchee, but in any case the cucumbers are good, and anyone can enjoy them even if they do not want to go anywhere near something spicy like kimchee.

Bulgogi lunch box

I am not sure if I got the Bulgogi Lunch Box because the waiter recommended it or because I did not see anything else I wanted to order, but I would say this makes a good choice. The meat is marinated and has a very good flavor, and its other qualities (tenderness, lack of gristle, etc.) are similar to those found in the Dyer Street Korean restaurants. The meal here is packaged differently than at the standard Korean restaurants, with this one concentrating on Japanese side dishes.

I thought the mixed vegetables and salad were the best side dishes on this plate, relegating most of the Japanese side dishes to “disappointing” status (not that I did not want to eat them, but only that they are better at some of the city’s Japanese restaurants). In my mind this is a pretty good Korean restaurant but a not very serious one for Japanese food (but my time spent in Seattle eating at some excellent Japanese restaurants enters into this).

The tempura was not disappointing in its flavor as much as I thought they should have given me some sauce to go with it.

The sushi and gyoza (dumplings) that came on the plate did not seem to be anything notable, but they were enjoyable.

Other Observations
Although the bulgogi on the lunch box special was as good as I have found at most of the city’s Korean restaurants, I also have to consider how it is packaged. The side dishes were not really disappointing as much as I have had better at many Korean and Japanese restaurants in various cities. Also I thought the price for lunch was pretty steep, but this is a disturbing trend I find at the city’s “Sushi” restaurants (as opposed to the traditional Japanese or Korean ones). Also the quantity of food on the lunch box special was more than I really wanted.

My bias is that I like traditional Japanese or Korean restaurants rather than fusion ones that serve both. I especially have very little desire for the “California Roll” type of sushi that is popular in El Paso. I should note, though, that I did not order the sushi at Sunny’s, and I am basing my comments on items that I like to order at other restaurants.

I looked at Sunny’s menu on their web site and it appears that the only choices at lunch are sushi or the various lunch box specials. Based on this it looks as if they have good food but everything comes in large servings (or at least expensive ones). I am not sure about the serving sizes at dinner menu but it is more expensive than lunch.

For those not familiar with El Paso, though, the Dyer Street Korean restaurants are on the other side of the mountain from Sunny’s and might as well be in another city. It is great to have good Korean food on the west side, and I am glad Sunny’s has not only one location but two in the area.

RATING: 22

Asian Food Details

Tea:	N/A
MSG:	N/A
Buffet:	No

 

Special Ratings

	Bulgogi
	House Cucumbers
	Miso
	Tempura
	Mixed Vegetables
	Salad
	Gyoza