Folds of Food Restaurant Review - 541 Sushi

Yesterday, two of my friends and I found ourselves looking for a place to eat sushi. The requirements were simple (and college-student friendly) - it had to be tasty, inexpensive, and within walking distance of campus.

Enter 541 Sushi, located on the corner of Pearl and East Broadway in downtown Eugene. We happened upon it by accident while in pursuit of another sushi bar (which we never actually found) and decided on a whim to look at the menu.

The hostess told us that every plate, except for the salmon roe, was $2. That sounded good enough for our college student-sized budget.

We were seated immediately at a corner of the bar, where several sushi chefs were constantly preparing new dishes directly in front of the diners.They informed us that the restaurant had only been opened since December 29th, so that explained why we hadn't stumbled across it yet.

 The interior was a lot nicer than what you would expect of normal sushi bar...the soft-blue back-lit wall art  and bar back-splash was reminiscent of higher-end Asian restaurants.

We all started with bowls of miso soup ($1). The miso paste flavor was strong in the soup and it reminded me a lot of the miso I had in Japan, so I enjoyed it a lot. After that, my group decided to get several plates and share them among ourselves.

Some (but not all) of the plate we tried were the avocado salmon roll, the deep-fried Las Vegas roll, the salmon and cream cheese roll, salmon sashimi, and imitation crab, sashimi-style. They were all yummy, and I must mention that the salmon sashimi (my favorite sushi in Japan) was pretty well-prepared for American sushi.

 I should also mention that one of my friends is vegetarian, so that added an additional challenge. She had the asparagus and avocado roll, the vegetable spring roll, and a dish of house-made, spicy kimchi, all of which were delicious.

Before leaving, we decided to split a plate of sesame balls for dessert ($1). They were soft, warm, and filled with azuki (red bean) paste, which was a total throwback to the azuki-laden sweets I had a in Japan.

I must also mention that one of the best parts of our meal was the service. The wait staff was attentive, friendly, and accommodating. The sushi chef who was working in front of us was knowledgeable, attentive, and very engaging.

Overall, the experience, food, atmosphere, and location was wonderful...and we left full, only spending about $7 a person. We will definitely be returning in the future!


541 Sushi
898 Pearl St.
Eugene, OR 97401

Sayonara,

Zoe