Rock N’ Roll Sushi

Review No. 186: Rock N’ Roll Sushi

975 S. Amity Road

Conway, AR 72032
(501) 358-6820

The Situation

She Said: I had been watching Rock N’ Roll Sushi’s progress on Amity Road since its signs first went up, and as a sushi-lover, I was very interested in how things were going. I thought we could kick off our 2023 reviews with a sushi lunch so I told He Said my decision, and he agreed.

He Said: I always agree. I know who’s the boss here. As for Rock n’ Roll Sushi, this is a franchise chain that had its origin in Mobile, Alabama, where husband and wife Lance and Gerri Mach Hallmark married their love of rock music and Japanese food to create the brand and open the flagship restaurant in 2010. Thirteen years later, there are nearly 70 locations, almost all in the southern United States. The franchise in Conway is one of the newest of the lot.

Ambience:

She Said: We arrived to Rock N’ Roll Sushi just before 1 p.m. on a Friday, so it wasn’t hopping with diners, but I still enjoyed the energy when we rolled in. It’s not a huge space, but the bright colors on the concrete flooring gives a club vibe. When we were seated, I noticed the ’90s playlist because the videos that play on huge screens were very familiar to me as a Gen Xer. It felt celebratory and entertaining, and I was ready to have a delicious lunch with a side of fun.

He Said: The menus we were given looked like the covers of classic Rock albums. I got a Led Zeppelin menu, and She Said got a Bruce Springsteen. Unfortunately, neither of these were playing on the giant screen TVs that surrounded us in the restaurant. As for the videos, I personally did not recognize any of them, but then I believe that rock music died on December 8, 1980, so I’m pretty clueless about anything since. I will say that it’s a pleasantly stimulating atmosphere, even if you don’t recognize the videos.

Drinks

She Said: It was a Friday fun lunch, so I went with rosé. I’m cleaning up some of my holiday habits, but I still leave room for occasional vino for your benefit, dear reader. I asked if they had any sparkling rosé, as that is my favorite lunch wine; they had either Prosecco or rosé, so I went with the latter.

He Said: Coke products. Hence, Coke. 

Food­

She Said: I had looked over the menu a bit before we arrived, though I hadn’t completely settled on my choices. In order to sample more things, I started with the seaweed salad, and for my entrée, I selected the Experience Roll and the tuna tataki. Rock N’ Roll Sushi conveniently lists the calories for all its dishes (and I also found them in My Fitness Pal, where I track my meals, which I found incredibly convenient). I deduced from the menu that this chain doesn’t sell nigiri sushi (the little pieces of fish on rice), but just rolls, so I couldn’t sample my usual sushi suspects, tamago or salmon. 

The seaweed salad was very tasty, with just a bit of heat mixed in to the seaweed, which is served on spring mix (I skipped that layer, as it was boring compared to the delicious wakame). I really struggled to make my final roll choice, but selected the Experience Roll because it was fewer calories and I wanted to try more things (and leave room for wine). The 518-calorie roll was gorgeously plated and delicious with a great mix of flavors and textures from the tempura shrimp, cream cheese, cucumber, mango and sweet chili and eel sauce. It was filling, savory and fruity-sweet. The perfect roll. I didn’t end up finishing the tuna tataki (419 calories), which was seared red tuna still very rare, also drizzled with sweet chili, ponzu and eel. It was delicious, but as I filled up, I strategically chose the roll for the remaining room in my stomach. I’m already fiendishly plotting when I can apply that Experience Roll to my face again soon.

He Said: If, like me, you prefer your food cooked, there is the option of the Hibachi items on the menu. These include chicken, filet mignon, shrimp, or lobster. I was a bit disappointed there was no salmon option for the hibachi, since that’s my favorite, but when I didn’t see that I opted for the chicken. Many of you would probably go with one of the other options, but I wanted to see what they would do with the most boring option, the chicken (which was also the most caloric, at 1417 calories). This was served with a choice of soup or salad, plus fried rice, vegetables, and yum-yum sauce.

But I started with an edamame appetizer. This was very tasty, adorned with just enough salt, and came in a generous portion. I was glad I’d ordered it. Then came the miso soup, which was a part of the entrée order but came earlier. It was fine—most miso soup tastes pretty much the same to me, and I like it, so I was pleased with this, too. The chicken itself was about what you’d expect of hibachi grilled chicken, and I have to say that the yum-yum sauce was very tasty, and really turned what, as I said, could have been a boring meal into a really enjoyable one. I thought the fried rice was quite tasty too, and the vegetables, which consisted of grilled carrots, broccoli and zucchini, were tender and delicious. Of course, those are three of my favorite grilled vegetables, so you might feel different if they’re not yours. 

So let’s review: If you are used to eating Japanese cuisine, this dinner included edamame, miso soup, grilled chicken, fried rice and vegetables, all of which were good but not necessarily better than what you can get elsewhere in town (well, maybe the yum-yum sauce). Then we had dessert: 

We picked the “Hall of Fame Brownies.” These are described in the menu as “a towering stack of golden-fried brownie slices, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate and caramel swirls—with a cherry on top.” Now this, dear readers, was worth writing home about. All those tastes together were there, and the golden brownie slices were basically tempura fried brownies, and there were literal groans of pleasure coming from the vicinity of our table. I’m pretty sure that was She Said’s side of the table, but this was definitely the high point of the meal. She Said snatched the cherry on top, so I can’t give you a review of that. At 912 calories, though, you might not want to order this too many times. At least not too many times in one day.

Service

She Said: The service was friendly, professional, prompt and pleasant. I was impressed and pleased.

He Said: I definitely have no complaints about the service. It was courteous, prompt and good-humored without being intrusive.

What We Got and What We Paid: Two glasses of rosé, one seaweed salad, one Experience Roll, one tuna tataki, plus one Coke, one order of hibachi chicken, miso soup, fried rice and vegetables, edamame, and one tempura brownie, all for $79.54.  

Elapsed Time from Our Arrival to Food Arrival: 
We arrived at 12:53 p.m., seaweed salad came at 1:04 p.m., the tuna tataki at 1:10 p.m. and the entrees at 1:16 p.m.

Of note: We were so pleased with Rock N’ Roll Sushi, we returned Saturday night for dinner before the adult prom we were going to hosted by Red Curtain Theatre, but alas! No room at the inn… the wait was up to an hour. This was rather frustrating to us because we had tried to take a reservation, but they don’t accept them. I know there are reasons restaurants don’t deal with the reservation process, but I really dislike that policy; I know I want to eat there. I’ve planned ahead, but I’ve got to get in line for 45 to 60 minutes? That’s convenient for the restaurant, but not the patrons.

Rating:

She Said: I really enjoyed this restaurant experience, from the big-screen music videos with the Gen X playlist to the tasty food and pleasant service. The menu has so many great options, I’d like to try more of them. But I won’t be dropping by on Saturday evening!

He Said: Ditto, Jones. It was a nice place to dine. I sensed that if it were crowded, it could get noisy and maybe not so comfortable, but when we went, in the afternoon, it could not have been more pleasant.

Is Rock N’ Roll Sushi good at what it’s good for? If you are looking for a fun, energetic sushi-roll or Japanese-food experience (and one o Conway’s best desserts), Rock N’ Roll is for you!

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