In truth, the only thing keeping me out of Kenny Sonoda’s old-school sushi bar was the cloyingly annoying radio jingle for the four-store, family- owned chain. I gave in to bad feelings about the ear worm and ignored the little voice that told me something interesting was going on in the basement of one of the last stands of historic buildings in downtown.
My mistake.
Kenny Sonoda’s is a cool, blue sliver of a restaurant downstairs from Croc’s Mexican Grill. The tiny place is decorated in colors aquatic (emphasis on the aqua), and its near-submarine feel is helped along by huge tanks behind the sushi bar, where silvery fish not destined for the table seem to keep an eye on the expert knife-work going on below them.
You can belly up to the sushi bar on the right, or hide out at the tables on the left. Either way, you’ll be immediately tended to by a flurry of staffers who know their way around the extensive menu and are happy to help you pick from the sushi menu or from the roster of cooked dishes, from tempura to udon noodles and every grilled thing in between.
On a bitter cold Wednesday, the only starter we could contemplate was a steaming bowl of miso soup ($1.25), a serviceable, not-too-salty version light on the scallion flavor. We also tried the house soup ($1.25), a fine clear broth with tofu, green onions and paper-thin slices of mushrooms, bolstered by the subtle flavor of fish, and quickly decided we would go back just for that.
We trolled the 100-item sushi menu and settled on nigiri salmon ($4.30 for two pieces) and unagi ($4.50), perfectly grilled fillet of freshwater eel dressed in a sweet sesame sauce. We also tried spicy tuna roll ($4.75 for six pieces) and broke the bank with negitoro ($10.95), Sonoda’s near-
top-shelf fatty tuna, bound with slivered shoots of green onion. Although the raw fish was softer than we thought it should have been at a place this busy, all of it was sweet and tasted only of the sea.
With an eye toward what everyone else was having for lunch, we ordered the tempura udon noodle combo ($6.95) and were presented with a true feast for the eyes. A huge bowl of dark, slightly spicy clear broth – different from both the miso and house soups – swimming with fat noodles and scallion, with two slices of kamaboko (fish cake served to celebrate the new year) floating on top looked like it was ready for a photo shoot. The accompanying tempura was a golden crispy selection of shrimp, onion, mushroom, squash and sweet potato, best dressed with a dash of clear ginger dipping sauce.
For a colleague on injured reserve, we brought back the chicken tempura lunch, a $6.95 value that includes the house soup or salad and rice. Like the restaurant, it hit the spot.
Staff writer Dana Coffield can be reached at dcoffield@denverpost.com or 303-820-1954.
Kenny Sonoda’s
Japanese|1620 Market St., 303-595-9500|50 cents-$13.95|11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-midnight Friday; noon-midnight Saturday; 4-10 p.m. Sunday. Park next door for a fee, or ride the bus and get dropped off across the street at the Market Street Station.
Front burner: Extremely friendly, helpful service.
Back burner: Front entrance belies the groovy restaurant downstairs. And seriously, leave the house salad alone. The ginger-infused dressing rocks, but we can’t be convinced that winter tomatoes and romaine lettuce are Japanese staples.
