Sushi el Sinaloense

When Mercado Gonzalez Northgate opened in 2023, one of the first things we did – after picking our jaws up from the floor – was to explore as many of the restaurants inside as we could. One of the most interesting was Sushi el Sinaloense, distinctively advertised as offering Sinaloan sushi, a fusion of Mexican, American, and Japanese influences that can best be understood as Japanese sushi rolls as interpreted by Americans and reinterpreted by Mexican and Mexican-American chefs. The basics are still there – white rice, nori paper, fresh fish, sometimes vegetables – but spices from Sinaloa (including jalapeno, chipotle, and chiltepin) are added either as cut or powdered peppers, sometimes with ceviche-style lime marinates. Moreover, the heavy cream sauces favored by American sushi chefs are here, too, so there’s a non-trivial chance your roll will arrive covered in a chipotle mayo or with cream cheese inside.

The concept behind this fusion sushi is actually pretty awesome to us; much as Peruvian/Nikkei restaurants such as Akashiro here or China Chilcano in Washington mix Japanese and South American elements, we find places such as Emporio Sushi y Mariscos super compelling. But the heavy use of mayo or dairy in sushi is a turnoff for us, no matter where it’s served.