Triangle's favorite sushi restaurant serves a bento box like no other.
Here you'll find a sushi roll and salted edamame, but also fries and a small cheeseburger that pushes the boundaries of fusion cuisine.
Although not a traditional restaurant, Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar is a hugely popular place to be, and has been praised by readers of The News & Observer. In one of The N&O's closest finals, Cowfish won 51% of the vote, beating Raleigh's influential Japanese restaurant Waraji with 53 votes.
The ultimate clash between tradition and innovation where the balance is struck, Triangle's diners seem torn, unsure of what it means to find the best sushi.But it's clear that sushi is growing in popularity.
"It's honestly humbling," said Alan Springate, co-owner of Cowfish. “Everyone in our company works very hard. It's a great honor when people show you that they support you and appreciate what you do.”
Cowfish began operations in Charlotte in 2010 and the Raleigh office is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
The Springate co-founder says Cowfish is built on failure -- that two of his other restaurants, an Asian restaurant and a burger joint, are struggling. He said he couldn't help but think about combining the two.
"The joke is that my business partner (Marcus Hall) called me an idiot and hung up on me," Springate said. "But a few minutes later he called me back. Once you start figuring it out in your head, it starts to make sense.”
sushi burger?
's Cowfish menu is part burger, part sushi, but there's little in common between the two. You won't find a thin-sliced tuna smashburger, but you can order the All-American Bacon Double Cheeseburgooshi, which has elements of a cheeseburger served as a sushi roll.
"We rolled the dice, but we didn't know what people would do or think," Springate said. “We just knew that we had to focus on quality right from the start and not take everything too seriously.
Cowfish brings together two seemingly opposite ends of the culinary spectrum: the popular but unassuming cheeseburger, best cooked in fat and served with fries; and the refined sushi tradition, where flavors are often delicate and subtle, and raw fish is served plain and naked, with nowhere to hide.
Cowfish Takes Sushi Seriously
While the idea is meant to be fun, Springate said Cowfish takes sushi seriously.
“We've pushed some boundaries and there's no denying that we've pushed some boundaries and taken a slightly different approach, but one thing we take very seriously is the quality of the fish and rice we serve” said Springate.
“There are only a few things that make a difference in sushi and that is the quality of the fish and rice. We take both issues very seriously."
But modern sushi isn't always easy, and many restaurants serve rolls that seem to create a tradition of their own. Cowfish thrives on pushing those boundaries, and Springate said one of its most popular rolls is the Mark's Roll, named for the creator. It's made with tuna, jalapeno peppers, and cream cheese, then brushed with panko breadcrumbs and quickly fried.
Today's sushi is more accessible than ever, packaged for transportation to the supermarket and sliced into the corners of larger menus, not just sushi bars. Springate believes that health, creativity, and general enjoyment have led to its ubiquity.
"It's amazing to see sushi exploding everywhere," said Springate. “Now you go to a football game and they sell it. But one thing we learned: It's easy to eat sushi, but it's really hard to get it right.”
Runner-up in Sushi: Waraji Japanese Restaurant
One of the first sushi restaurants in the triangle is in recently a new era has arrived. Longtime chef and owner Masa Tsujimura sold Northwest Raleigh restaurant in 2021 and went into semi-retirement.Waraji's new owner is Reuben Rodillas, who worked with Tsujimura at Kanki over twenty years ago.
To keep the restaurant's 26-year tradition alive, Rodillas said he wanted Waraji to be much as it always was.
"I knew Masa and Waraji were ready to retire..."and we both knew that if I kept the name, the style and the techniques, I wouldn't change a thing," Rodillas said in a text message. "We're always adding new flavors, but we're not replacing the originals."
Waraji was opened in 1997 by Masa and Naomi Tsujimura. Masa moved to the United States as an engineering student in the 1980s, but began working in restaurants in Florida and later in North Carolina: "Cooking was more my passion than my job," Masa says."Then my passion became my job."
When Masa opened his sushi bar, he said it was the first time that he often taught his customers how to cook. Although sushi is everywhere these days, he believes there is a gap between good sushi and good sushi.
It starts, he says, with perfect rice that isn't overly compressed and needs aeration to loosen the grains in your mouth.
"If the rice is too hard, you don't feel anything," said Masa."When it's aerated, it breaks down and mixes with the fish. That's how it tastes.”
Today Masa works behind the sushi counter at the weekend and Waraji is taller than ever. When Rodillas took over the business, he bought adjacent premises, formerly a winery, and expanded the restaurant.
After the closure of Yamazushi in Durham, Waraji appears to be the oldest sushi restaurant in the Triangle. Masa said he is proud that the legacy is continuing.
"I'm really honored to receive all the awards and accolades, but at the same time, the restaurant wasn't founded by me alone," said Masa. “It was set up by all the employees and guests. They set the mood.
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