Photo courtesy of wikipedia.org

I taste-tested many restaurants this fall, but its Sogo, Easton’s famed sushi place, where I really fell in love.

The object of my affection is the Double Dragon roll. While Sogo offers a traditional full Japanese and Chinese menu, where this Northampton Street restaurant really reaches its sublime best is with it’s sushi menu.

Not realizing the best was yet to come, I began the evening the old-fashioned way, with a classic appetizer of edamame and stir-fried rice. While the edamame lived up to its salty, tasty standard, it was the vegetable and basil rice that I licked off the plate within minutes. The fried rice’s enticing and rich flavor did not even require soy sauce, a mark of a good dish.

Then I got down to the real reason people go to Sogo: the sushi. We dwindled 70 variations of sushi down to four specialty sushi rolls; the Spicy Yellow Dragon, the Tiger, the Double Dragon, and the Unbelievable (which is an understatement of a name).

Sogo’s menu cannot stand against the Double Dragon roll – a dish that induced us to drool over each bite. Underneath the roll, the entrée reveals shrimp tempura, crabmeat, and avocado. But the crunchy middle is the roll’s true treasure.

The Double Dragon was so good, in fact, that I ventured back down the hill the next night for another taste. This time I added a Phoenix roll and the Fantastic roll. The Fantastic roll proved to be almost as good as my first Double Dragon love.

My least favorite was the Phoenix roll, which resembled a round mummy wrapped in crabmeat with shrimp, eel, and mango. The whole roll was a tad over the top, and its taste was sacrificed.

When ordering at Sogo, the texture of the roll makes or breaks the experience. For those who enjoy crunchy, the Spicy Yellow Dragon roll incorporates tuna, salmon, yellow tail, crabmeat, and vegetables with crunchy fish flakes, together creating a perfect combination of crispy textures.

Other notable dishes included the Tiger roll, which I highly recommend for those who savor spicy flavors. This Sogo specialty has punchy salmon and asparagus topped with avocado to balance the fiery flavor. The Unbelievable roll is also one for spicier eaters, combining eel and tuna with vegetables and crunchy shrimp tails.

Before I left, I indulged in a grand finale of green tea ice cream, leaving me in the most blissful of food comas.

Sogo offers its guests a distinct taste that kept me coming back for more all weekend. Although the stark exterior may not elicit the most palatable reaction, once I was inside and seated, leaving was difficult. I feel certain that before I graduate, I will have had tried all 70 of Sogo’s sushi assortment.