While exploring a section of the North Shore neighborhood and dodging raindrops I decided I wanted sushi for lunch and stepped into Totto Sushi & Grill.
This wasn’t my first time at this Japanese restaurant; however, it was the first time I stopped in during a weekday. Normally I’ve dined here on weekends, so I wasn’t aware they offered an all-you-can-eat sushi and hot bar from 11:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
Totto Sushi & Grill has been serving customers since 2012 and have been repeatedly voted best sushi restaurant by readers of the Chattanooga Times Free Press and viewers of WDEF TV. The interior is spacious and there are a few seats at the back where you get the view of Coolidge Park and the Tennessee River.
I looked at the buffet briefly and decided to give it a try. It’s $21.99 and it’s primarily pieces of sushi roll slices, not Nigiri or Sashimi, but it was quite an assortment to pick from, so I mixed and matched a few pieces. I got a few pieces of California roll, avocado, cucumber, and crab rolled up with rice and nori. I sampled their Totto roll which has the same ingredients as the California roll but also has fried shrimp, salmon, tuna and covered in eel sauce.
I had some pieces of rainbow roll which is a California roll but with different seafood like shrimp, tuna or salmon on top of the rolled piece. I tried their Las Vegas roll, which is salmon, cream cheese and deep fried and has spicy mayo and eel sauce. There were a few other roll options, but I was happy with my choices. I noticed they had Gyozas in the appetizer section, so I grabbed two of those luscious pork dumplings.
I didn’t touch the hot bar, but they had chicken teriyaki, beef, rice, and sauces like Yum Yum sauce and others. I grabbed some Wasabi from this section of the bar for my sushi and headed to the table.
Now before you think dang Patty that’s a lot of food!
These choices were on two trips to the buffet table and were no more than about10-11 pieces of sushi slices in total.
The best thing about the buffet is that it changes daily. I could go back tomorrow and find an entirely different selection of sushi rolls.
But if you prefer to order off their regular menu for lunch you can do that too. As I mentioned I’ve enjoyed a lot of Nigiri sushi at Totto. My favorites have always been salmon (Sake), yellowtail (Hamachi), tuna belly (Toro), and eel (Unagi). When you order Nigiri each item comes with two pieces. If you order Sashimi, meaning fish only no rice, each item comes with 4 pieces to an order.
Another item I like from their menu is the build-your-own-poke bowl. The regular size bowl allows you to pick from two protein choices and their large has three protein choices. You start by picking your base of either rice, noodles or mixed greens, pick your proteins, pick your toppings (up to 4) and pick your sauce (up to 2).
Of course, the menu contains a variety of contemporary Japanese entrees and Bento box options to pick from.
By the time I finished my lunch, the sun was back out, the street steam was evaporating making everything sticky hot and messy and I had the chance to walk around a bit more before the clouds reconvened.
Totto Sushi & Grill
- 330 Frazier Ave., Suite 124, Chattanooga, TN
- (423) 508-8898
- www.tottonooga.com
- $$ - $$$