The strange thing about Mr. Sushi is that although it arguably has the best sushi in the Oklahoma City metro (at least I would argue that it does), I had never heard of it or read anything about it in periodicals or restaurant review web sites. I found it by accident when I visited House of Hunan for the first time (both restaurants are in the same shopping center on the northeast corner of Edmond Rd. and Santa Fe Ave.). This is not a "full service" Japanese restaurant with a wide range of cooked dishes, in fact the miso soup and gyoza dumplings are about it for anything that is served heated.

The best sushi restaurants are probably those where customers can watch the sushi being prepared and talk to the chef about what is recommended. Mr. Sushi brings this to a level that is unusual even for sushi restaurants; the dining room is so small that all the tables are within sight of the sushi bar and just about anyone in the restaurant is within conversation distance of anyone else (including the sushi chef).

In the case of sushi restaurants small is probably good, since it is easier to maintain quality control. I found the quality at Mr. Sushi to be at a level that I am sure would be acceptable in any large city. The main limitation in the Heartland is that there is a limited variety of sushi that would meet the chef's quality standard, thus the menu is relatively small.

"Sushi" does not mean just fish, and Mr. Sushi also serves vegetarian rolls and vegetarian seafood substitutes. Some sushi is made with cooked or smoked fish rather then the more common raw variety, and all is in keeping with the idea of sushi being a "snack" where several orders of various types would make up a meal.

Salmon sushi, unagi, and miso soup

I know that the most important thing at any restaurant is the food, but I also found here something that I think is important for any sushi restaurant-- friendly people and a sushi chef who gets a feel for what the customer wants and who makes the appropriate recommendations.