Sumo Sushi is a Japanese buffet at 7402 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75231. They are open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and re-open for dinner after 5 p.m. Their lunch buffet costs about $11, and dinner is a steeper $17, so I'd recommend trying their lunch buffet first.

The dining room is open, comfortable, attractively decorated (no sumo wrestlers are involved in the decor) and decently lit, neither too bright nor so dim you can't see your food.

As the name implies, their main specialty is sushi. The restaurant review I read before I went praised the quality, but lamented a lack of variety. However, I was pleased with both the quality and selection when I visited Sumo Sushi this past Monday. They had a nice array of sashimi -- they definitely had some of my favorites, sake (salmon) and bonito (tuna) and tamago (egg), though they didn't have any unagi (eel). They had an even better array of sushi rolls, and I had the opportunity to sample some I hadn't had before, such as spicy comb rolls.

If you don't see what you want, wait fifteen minutes and go back for another look. While I was there, the sushi chef behind the counter was constantly making new rolls, and each time I went back to the buffet something new was on the plates. Alternately, you could always ask the chef if he can (or is going to) make a particular type of roll.

Having said that, this is a buffet, so don't expect to see anything very exotic. Also, you're bound to find sushi rolls that have been sitting out long enough for the rice to get a bit cold and hard. And, if you're used to sushi made with absolutely fresh fish such as the type you get in Japan, bear in mind that Dallas is hundreds of miles away from any coast; the quality here can't possibly be the same as what you're used to. But all this is par for the course for those of us who don't live near the sea; Sumo Sushi's offerings are still far better than the packaged sushi I've gotten from grocery stores.

Don't like sushi? They offer plenty of alternatives on their hot food and salad bars.

Their hot food bar offered a variety of Japanese soups and dishes such as teriyaki chicken, grilled beef, and shrimp and vegetable tempura. They also had some grilled mackerel, and a few Western foods. It was here that I found the only item I really didn't care for: a piece of breaded pork cutlet, which was tough and greasy (gn0sis tells me this dish is called tonkatsu; however, it and most of the other offerings were identified in English rather than by their Japanese names).

Their salad bar offers some regular American salad fixings, plus cold bowls of soba noodles, seaweed salads, and condiments such as wasabi. Their dessert section seemed to mostly have jello and fruit, so if you're looking for something richer, you might have to go to a separate restaurant for cake and coffee.

I'm not sure what they offer in the way of beverages, since I and the friend I went with just had ice water. In retrospect, that was a mistake, since the Dallas water supply has had an unpleasant earthy funkiness to it lately. I should have gotten tea instead.

Do be aware, though, that the management of Sumo Sushi does not look kindly upon waste. Sushi takes work and artistry to prepare, and if they see you wasting it, they reserve the right to charge you extra. In particular, they don't want to see people just eating the fish off sashimi and leaving the rice ball behind; they state up front that they reserve the right to charge you $1 per wasted rice ball.

Thus, don't take more than you expect to eat, and if you aren't sure you'll like something, only take a little to try it out. You can always go back for more. I left the remainder of the unappetizing tonkatsu on my plate, and nobody said anything.

Overall, lunch at this place was a very good deal. Based on the types of sushi and sashimi I had, my lunch would have cost at least $20 at a regular sushi restaurant.

So, if you're a sushi lover, be sure to give this place a try. If you want to call ahead to make sure they're open, their number is (214) 987-2333.

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