(425) 454-8288
11:00am-11:00pm
Happy Hour: 4:00pm-7:00pm Daily
R: 4:00pm-Close
F&Sat 10:00pm-Close Friday & Saturday
--8/10-- on the Wes Simons Scale of Goodness
Blue C Sushi in the Bellevue Square mall features a comfortable environment to enjoy a large selection of sushi or to have a couple of drinks with friends, although if you're looking for something authentic with a bit of Asian flair, I would look elsewhere. Blue C Sushi is the perfect embodiment of the industrial style that has taken over so many new venues. Sparsely decorated and with an upper floor bar that features almost gloomy lighting, Blue C may not be the most inviting restaurant, but it serves up a decent happy hour and has a large enough menu to warrant a return visit.
The downstairs features a conveyor belt where patrons can view their choices before selecting what they want to eat. Happy Hour patrons must sit upstairs in the bar so I didn't get much of a chance to look at what was available, but there was ample seating and the prices were clearly displayed on the wall.
Moving from the well lit downstairs to the bar is a little like stepping into a cave after being out in the sunshine. The overhead lighting is turned down so low that it takes a few blinks for one's eyes to adjust. The bar is very trendy looking and I can't help but think that the low lighting is meant to draw the eye to the artfully arranged liqueur selection. We sat ourselves and despite there not being very many other patrons, service was a little slow. We looked over the happy hour menu and chatted for about ten minutes before our waitress finally stopped by. We order drinks, myself a beer and my companion a mixed drink, which were moderately Happy Hour priced. The beer was $3 and the specialty cocktail was $5. The beer seemed a little expensive, but it was imported Japanese beer so I wasn't going to complain. Our drinks were brought promptly and my compainoncomplained that her drink was too strong. I happen to like strong drinks and thought that it was excellent.
The waitress brought us a sheet of paper which features the menu on it and the customer checks how many of each item they would like to order. While this may give the impression that ordering is less personable than the old tell the waitress what you want, it seems that it helps to minimize mistakes. Order taking with sushi can be especially tricky because of the sheer volume of items ordered. With only two people eating we order six different things and the addition of additional eater would have greatly increased the work for the waitress. It didn't take long for our food to arrive, and we were both pleasantly surprised with the amount we received, especially for the price.
During Happy Hour a large number of the available dishes are discounted, some $1 off other $2 off. Not everything on the menu is discounted, but like I said earlier, the happy hour menu isn't skimpish. We ordered a few basics, tuna roll, California roll and an avocado roll which were all nicely prepared. The rice was adequately sticky and the fish didn't taste too fishy. We also ordered a spicy crab roll a salmon roll which were a little more complex. These rolls were also equally good and while they weren't the best sushi I've ever had, I don't have any complaints. Now for the good stuff. In addition to the traditional sushi fare, Blue C also offers a number of items for the adjoining noodle house. We didn't spring for any noodles, but we did order a healthy serving of edamame paste and calamari. Calamari isn't a rarity, but I found the Blue C variety to be delicious. The squid chunks are large so you aren't stuck biting into a big glob of batter with a little bit of squid in the middle, and at the happy hour price of $3 you can't really go wrong. The calamari came with a mayonnaise sauce that wasn't too rich and had a nice tang.
The edamame puree deserves it's own paragraph, not just because it was something that I haven't tried before, but because it was excellent tasting. The edamame puree was served as a big dollop in the middle of a plate along with a few veggies and sweet potato crisps for dipping. The puree looked very much like smooth as silk guacamole, but the edamame had a much cleaner taste. The flavor wasn't intense, but there was just a hint of the salty soy taste of edamame. Despite it's Asian roots, I would think that the edamame puree could easily replace guacamole at any fiesta, although I don't know how well it would go with salsa. The not too salty almost sweet sweet potato skins were an excellent compliment to the planer edamame flavor. We dipped several different pieces of sushi into the puree and it was a good accompaniment. If you're dining at Blue C, or at Boom Noodle, I would highly recommend ordering the edamame puree and trying it for yourself.
We ordered green tea ice cream for dessert, and while I was a little disappointed that it came in a paper cup, straight from the freezer at the grocery store it looked like to me, the packaging was different looking enough that I guessed that it was actually from a smaller manufacturer. If that was the case, kudos to Blue C for giving them some props. The ice cream was delicious, and featured a much stronger green tea flavor than other brands I had tried.
Despite the quirky atmosphere, I enjoyed eating at Blue C and if I'm ever in the area again craving some sushi I'll definitely stop by. Good food and an overly long happy hour makes Blue C the place to be (I didn't try to rhyme that, it just came out that way).
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