A new sushi-hand roll restaurant has recently opened in West Valley. Tonkotsu Sushi is a recently opened sushi restaurant located on 1898 W 3500 S building #11. Right next door they have a ramen restaurant, which is their partnering restaurant. They serve hand rolls (temaki), which is sushi rolled up, but not cut. Some restaurants roll it into a cone, but Tonkotsu keeps it rolled in a cylinder shape.
Walking in, the restaurant played fun music. There are tables, and a bar area as well for guests to sit. Service was very quick, and I was greeted immediately. David Pham, one of the owners, took our drink orders. This included a small selection of soda pop, Japanese soda, and water. They first offer complimentary miso soup. I then ordered a salmon hand roll, spicy salmon, spicy tuna, a toro donburi (rice bowl), and a salmon tartare appetizer. The toro rice bowl contained the fish, seaweed strips, fish eggs, cucumber strips, ginger, green onions, avocados, and rice. The salmon tartare was plated with about 5 prawn chips, cilantro, jalapenos, and then a pile of raw salmon bites with cucumber strips and fish eggs on top. The salmon also has a bit of sauce on it.
The soup was incredibly warm, with a good amount of tofu, green onions, and seaweed. The fish was incredibly fresh tasting. The spicy salmon and tuna were crunchy and warm. Both the salmon hand roll and salmon tartare had chilled, fresh fish, which was refreshing and extremely filling. The toro donburi also had a unique blend of flavors that were able to complement each other greatly. The toro was soft, while the vegetables and fish eggs were crunchy.
I also had the opportunity to speak to both owners David Pham and Laarni Hernando. As you don’t see many hand roll specific restaurants in Utah, I wanted to discover their inspiration behind opening this restaurant. David explained a bit of his backstory in the seafood industry, “I was already doing sushi catering in California, and I felt like Salt Lake City needed a new concept.” David also feels that the restaurant pushes culinary boundaries in such a diverse community. “I feel like our restaurant is a neighborhood restaurant that the neighborhood doesn’t have yet.”
When establishing the prices both David and Laarni claimed that they want affordable pricing for the quality they will give customers. “We want to have a price that everyone can afford for the quality and service” (David). They would also both like to open more locations in the future. After asking where their next goal is for a location, Laarni said she would choose the airport.
Both owners feel that although they are newly opened, they do have an excellent reputation. “We have really great Google reviews,” (Laarni). David enjoys getting to meet all the new people that come into the restaurant. Tonkotsu has a 5-star rating on Google.
Although seafood is a unique stretch of cuisine, they feel it’s important to at least try hand rolls. Laarni rates the rolls at the restaurant a 10/10, and says she encourages people to stop in and try the rolls.