A few weeks ago, Bites of Bull City shared a Q&A with Michael Lee, chef and owner of M Sushi which, at the time, was getting close to opening in downtown Durham. Though scaffolding still surrounds the building on E. Chapel Hill Street, M Sushi’s modern upscale interior awaits in the lower level, accessible from the quaint alley alongside The Durham Hotel.A beautiful wooden bar stretches all the way down the long narrow room where you can sit, interact with and admire the skills exhibited by Chef Lee and his team. We marveled at the sheer beauty of each plate before tasting it. If it’s true that we eat first with our eyes, we were instantly in love with the food at M Sushi.
Sushi is already one of our favorite cuisines, but Chef Lee turns it into a complete sensory treat—from the colorful plating to the combinations of sauces and flavors to the integration of different textures, it was a delight to dine at M Sushi.
For a visual sample of the variety of dishes on the menu, see our gallery below. While a la carte sushi is always a solid choice, we also recommend exploring the extremely creative small plates and rolls as well.The bright and savory small plate above is the Scallop Aji Amarillo with melon and crispy prociutto ($9).If you love salmon as much as I do, you can’t go wrong with the seared salmon small plate above. It has arugula, small charred tomato, delicious garlic chips, avocado, crunchy corn, and aji rocoto. The sauce is perfection. ($7).There is so much to enjoy on this beautiful hamachi plate with serrano, cilantro, shallots, micro, radish, sorrell, and mustard ponzu ($13).Unlike anything I’ve had before and delightfully creative, the tuna on crispy rice small plate has tako wasabi, tobiko and truffle ($12).Sushi fans will also love the Uni on toast small plate with lardo, blue crab, and ikura ($12).Of course, you can’t go wrong with high quality a la carte sushi options, like the salmon (sake) pictured here. Two Pieces ($5)Another creative and new flavor was the Unagi Maki Roll with BBQ eel, tamagoyaki, shiso, fried garlic, soy glaze, micro, cuc, and kaiware ($9).
Don’t be afraid to go out of your comfort zone at M Sushi and trust the talent and creativity of the chefs behind the bar. You won’t be disappointed.
Photos: Tommie Watson Photography
April Cook says
I’m planning my friend’s birthday party, and she would love to go to a sushi restaurant! This bar is beautiful, and the food is too! the seared salmon small plate is definitely on my to-eat list! Will I need to make reservations for this restaurant, or do they take walk-ins? Thanks for the great idea!
Ichi Tokyo says
These dishes look absolutely amazing!