On Friday night my roommates and I went on a sushi hunt. It started all the way back in our apartment, where we googled places to get good sushi/Japanese food. I had been sick for the past couple of days and because of that I hadn’t had a real meal in a while, so I was excited to go out to dinner and finally eat! My body was craving some kind of seafood, and once we decided to get sushi, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

We dressed up pretty nice, all feeling excited to go out to eat. Last weekend we had gone to Oktoberfest, and had spent an embarrassing amount of money, so we were all trying to save as much as we could, and we hadn’t gone out together all week. In our search we found two Japanese restaurants that looked pretty good, one was called Miya, and the other was called Iyoiyo. We decided to try Iyoiyo (because it was the cheaper option) so we set out on our journey for sushi.

After walking fifteen minutes we could not find the restaurant. We walked up and down the street trying to find the place, but ended up giving up and decided to go to the other option, Miya, instead. As we were on our way to Miya we actually passed Iyoiyo, so we tried to get in. Unfortunately it seemed that you needed to make a reservation three months in advance to get a table at Iyoiyo (which they did not include on their website).

So, we continued on our journey to Miya, getting a little hangry on the way. After another fifteen minutes of walking, we could not find this restaurant either! Google maps was not our friend that night. At this point all three of us were getting upset, and just wanted to eat. The next sushi place we knew of was Wasabi, a restaurant that we pass almost everyday on the way to class, so we decided we would try that.

Another ten minutes of walking and we found the restaurant! And we got a table! It wasn’t until we sat down that we realized that we had to pay 23 euros for our meal, regardless of if we chose to do the all you can eat buffet. Being poor college students, we decided that we could not spend that much on one meal, so we left the restaurant to search for another. Both Bella and Joji were close to giving up and wanted to go home, but I needed sushi at this point.

So, I cautiously went back to google maps to search for sushi near me and found a restaurant called Sushiland Florence. It looked kind of bland from the pictures on google maps, but all the reviews raved about this place-how the customer service was amazing, and the food was delicious. I convinced Bella and Joji to go to this restaurant instead of going back to our apartment, and we walked another ten minutes to Sushiland.

We were actually able to find this restaurant, but when we walked in, I was afraid that it was closed. Surprisingly, the woman who was working eagerly welcomed us in and assured us that the restaurant was open. The woman working turned out to be one of the owners, and is honestly one of the nicest people I have met. She was welcoming, friendly, energetic, and very helpful. She introduced herself to us (her name is Gia), and explained how to order and what possible combinations we could get.

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After such a long night of not being able to find the right restaurant I was so excited that we had finally found the perfect place. Bella and Joji decided to get sushi, but I changed my mind when I saw that I could design my own pokè bowl. And for only nine euros! When designing my pokè bowl I filled out a piece of paper and selected what I wanted in it. This shop was extremely accommodating, and had menus in both English and Italian.

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You could choose one base, two proteins, three toppings, salsa, and a crunchy topping . I chose to get a base of sushi rice, fresh salmon and tuna for protein, cucumber, avocado, and mango as toppings, teriyaki sauce as the salsa, and pickled ginger as the crunchy topping. Because the shop was served Japanese food, but was owned by an Australian couple they served a combination of unconventional toppings, and a variety of pressed juices. Originally I wanted to order the immunity juice because I had been sick, but the owner told us that the immunity juice had been very popular that day, and was sold out. Instead I asked her what her favorite flavor is, and got it-the refresh juice.

The refresh juice represented its name. It was a combination of oranges, lemons, and peaches. Although there was still a lot of pulp in the juice, it was delicious and seemed to help my cold.

During our wait we chatted with the owner. She asked us if we were students, and tried to guess which school we go to. When we told her that we go to Marist she was surprised. Apparently they get a lot of customers from NYU and Kent State, but had never had Marist students come in before. She asked us questions about where we are from, where we were planning on travelling, our experience at Oktoberfest, and what we think of Florence so far. We were the only customers in the shop at that point, and it was the end of the day, but she did not show any signs of tiredness and kept the conversation going until our food was ready. She even gave us her chair so we could all sit down and eat together (there were only two chairs in the shop).

The restaurant seemed a little empty, there wasn’t much in there except for a mostly empty display case, a drink fridge, and two small tables and chairs. The shop appeared to give off a healthy vibe-going for a Japanese and Australian fusion, which I would say is uncommon in Italy. It was also very quiet, I think the rush had just ended, and the restaurant was about to close judging by the emptiness of the store. The food however tasted very fresh, as if it was prepared on the spot, not like it had been sitting around all day.

My pokè bowl was everything I wanted it to be. The salmon and tuna were indeed fresh, as they were described on the menu, and there was a perfect amount of teriyaki sauce drizzled on top. The rice on the bottom was not too sticky, and not too dry-just right. The mango and the pickled ginger were experiments for me, I was unsure of how the combination would taste, but the mango provided an occasional sweetness to the dish, and the ginger provided a refreshing feeling to the umami from the teriyaki sauce and fish. The cucumber added a nice casual crunch to the meal, and the avocado balanced the intensity of the ginger and teriyaki sauce. I would rate this meal as a four out of four because the flavors were perfectly balanced, and it tasted very fresh, and very healthy.

Overall I fully enjoyed my experience at Sushiland. Although I only ended up going there out of a moment of desperation, and I had low expectations thinking about the restaurant a day later makes me appreciate it so much more. Gia made our crappy, hangry moods go away and got us excited to eat again. I would give this restaurant three stars out of four. I really loved the food, and the customer service was exceptional, but the inside of the restaurant seemed a little empty, and didn’t match the energy that the owner was giving. The food was well priced-I only ended up spending twelve euros on a pokè bowl and a pressed juice (which are usually pretty expensive). This is a restaurant I can see myself including in my weekly schedule because I am able to afford it, and they have many different options for sushi and poke bowls, that I can’t imagine running out of combinations. I have even been back to Sushiland, and I would say that everything is consistent. Gia remembered who we were, what we were planning on doing over the weekend, and gave us the same energetic kindness as before. The food was still fresh and healthy, and this time I tried one of the spicy tuna rolls, and it was perfect.

If you would like to try Sushiland Florence (which I would strongly recommend!) it is located at Via Nazionale 158 in Firenze Italy, a short walk from Via San Gallo. All you have to do is walk down to SimBiosi and turn right, keep walking and there you will see the glowing sign of Sushiland. The restaurant is open from 11:30 am to 9 pm Tuesday through Sunday. For prices, sushi rolls cost anywhere between 2.50-3.50 euros, the pokè bowls cost either nine euros (for a medium) or eleven euros (for a large), and the pressed juices costs 3.50. Please go try this restaurant if you are looking for an inexpensive, healthy option for dinner.