cooking

Updated Review:
Ok so I finally went back over to Sumo and I'm kind of thrilled to report that all the stuff I hated about it has been fixed! They've got a fume hood and or they are cleaning the grease traps! They are chopping the seaweed a little finer! My hair doesn't smell! Whoohooo! I'm thrilled. I can now recommend you go there.

I used to love it, but now I hate it... Sumo Sushi is a Dubai sushi chain. It has a lot going for it, like not hideously unhealthy kids meals (rice, fruit, edamame, other cold veg and entree), fresh fish, and some innovative dishes like the sushi sandwich (a chopped spicy tuna layered in rice 'bread' with a seaweed 'mayo' inside. They have a cute logo and the one we go to, in Town Centre is a contained restaurant but entirely open and smack dab in the middle of the mall, which makes for fun people watching without it being a food court kind of experience. It also has some low tables where you sit on the floor, which is always fun for the kiddos.
Prices are fair enough. A family of five with the meal described below runs around $100 (but this is with the ubiquitous overpriced Dubai juice cocktails, which I'm trying to get the kids to avoid these days...).
We usually all start with a cup of miso soup. Sumo's miso seems to be made from a powdered mix. Its a little briny but it is redeemed by generous chunks of silken tofu and lots of seaweed. I think I'd prefer the seaweed chopped a bit finer, its difficult and a little silly to eat it.
My DH usually gets a salad called 'Avocado Maguro'. Its avocado and tuna with sesame seeds and a soy vinaigrette dressing. I ordered a Seaweed Salad once and instead of what I am used to (long strings of seaweed in a peppery-vinegar dressing) I got a garden salad with large, flat, hard-to-chew pieces of green seaweed standing in for the lettuce.
Usually I get a Tuna Lover's Bento or a Salmon Lovers Bento and the Husband gets something called a Rock and Roll. Sometimes we split a small sushi sandwich with it too.
The Rock and Roll is the origin of my problem with Sumo Sushi. Its a roll of tuna, avocado and salmon with the outside rice covered in crispy fried bits of panko. I fear, that like a lot of restaurants in Dubai, Sumo Sushi has fry-o-lators and no fume hoods. Over time, this is causing EVERYTHING in the restaurant to begin to smell a bit like fried food, including the tables and chairs and your hair when you leave because bits of grease become airborne as they cook with no hood.
For me, the effect is revolting. I cannot stand the smell of the place and am to the point where I avoid the Town Centre mall because of it. My enjoyment for Sumo would be immediately salvaged if they got a fume hood (if they have them they need to be cleaned desperately). And I'm bummed that we have to find a new sushi place...