Buffalo Rising Online

Sep 3rd 2007, 9:47am By queenseyes

It’s been a while since I’ve tried my hand at a YUM post, but I was asked to fill in for this Labor Day Monday spot. When I first found out that I was going to be contributing I decided to prowl around to see what was new and exciting on the city’s food front. Of course when I ask people that know me about food news they immediately think about a couple of my favorite types of food… sushi being one of them. And that’s how I got my lead that there was a new sushi preparer in our midst.

The Lexington Co-op has joined the ranks of sushi shops. Two weeks ago they dedicated a corner in the prepared food department to rolls, pieces and a special or two. That sounded pretty exciting to me, and even though I normally save my sushi experience for a bar with sake, I couldn’t help but make a trip to The Co-op to see whom the knife wielding, sushi-slinging chef was.

Our chef turned out to be none other than Kyaw Hlaing who stated that he couldn’t be happier than to make sushi in an all-natural type of setting. “The food is fresh,” he said. “No unhealthy ingredients, no MSG, nothing but natural.” By judging the size of the enormous number of filled and stacked take-out containers I assumed two things. Either the Co-ops take-out business was slow, or they were expecting a rush. I asked Kyaw how business was and he answered, “We sold can barely keep up with the orders.” Orders? I wondered (out loud) if customers could place special orders and he replied, “Yes.”

It turns out that one of the things that has made Co-op take-out sushi such a success is the fresh ingredients at hand. Kywa told me that he has a wide selection of ingredients that never run out. This gives him the ability to change up pieces and rolls whenever he wants, or at the same time he can accommodate a customer’s special request (within reason). When I sampled Kwya’s creations I decided not to take them all the way home. Instead I took them out onto the patio on Elmwood to people watch while eating. I must admit that the sushi was good (like I said I rarely get take-out). The prices were fair and the quality of the ingredients was as Kywa said it would be. There were no artificial colorings in either the ginger or the wasabi, which was a clear indication of the all-natural route the Co-op was heading.

The only thing I would change would be to lose the tacky, green, fake plastic grass that is added for separation and ornamentation. And if eating on the patio becomes popular I would offer a recycling container for the plastic take-out boxes. Otherwise the meal was great. Kywa told me that the two top requests were the spicy tuna and the vegetarian roll.

Kywa is rockin’ his sushi from 6am to 6pm. That means that sushi will be available as long as The Co-op is open. It’s good to see that The Co-op has entered the world of sushi preparation. I hope that Brian’s new market at the former Chef Deli location stocks some good sake (it is in the beer category for all intents and purposes) for those of us who like to throw back a cup along with our raw fish.

Lexington Real Foods Community Co-Op

230 Lexington Ave Buffalo, NY 14222 (716) 884-8828