Orlando Food Blog 007: Seito Sushi at Baldwin Park

Orlando Food Blog 007

Seito Sushi Japanese Restaurant
Location: Baldwin Park in Orlando, FL

Holy crap! I looked down into the huge bowl that awaited for me below: a generous mixture of fresh romaine lettuce and salad leaves, luscious morsels of sashimi: tuna, salmon, white octopus, yellowtail and more, orange masago fish eggs sprinkled on top a bed of sushi rice. The Spicy Korean Chirashi bowl had just been whisked to my table and positioned in front of me as if challenging me to defeat it. The bowl was gigantic, a traditionally Japanese dish with a Korean spicy red pepper paste sauce to mix with on the side. The spicy korean chirashi bowl melded two of my favorite cuisines together into a delectable and scrumptious dinner masterpiece. I was glad that my friends chose Seito’s Sushi at Baldwin Park for tonight’s occasion.

The Spicy Korean Chirashi Bowl ($19)

The Spicy Korean Chirashi Bowl in its glory

Seito Sushi restaurant is located on Broad Street in the “downtown” area of Baldwin Park,one of the surprising pockets of communities that dot the Orlando landscape. A distinct slightly-eerie pleasantville atmosphere resonates in this area, a recreation of the American small town center and a call to return to the values and hometown community togetherness of yesteryear that had been so long forgotten by the advent of the suburban sprawl.

Seito Sushi is sleek and modern, a mixture of new city sophistication and Japanese influenced design and decor. A matching soundtrack of light jazz/electric/lounge music plays in the background.

We were without a reservation for a party of 10 but the hostess and staff at Seito’s readily and kindly accommodated us and we were quickly seated. Tonight we were celebrating a few friends’ graduation from UCF and a friend’s departure to the next part of her life as she trades Orlando for northern Virginia.

It must have been girl’s night out because I was the only male in the restaurant at one point. Young women in tables of ten filled the restaurant this evening, like a scene out of Sex in the City. I asked my partner why she thinks it is and we came to agree that its because sushi is all in all a seemingly sophisticated, exotic and at the same time healthy food choice . Fish are known to be high in nutrients and low in fat, and since most of it is raw, theres little frying involved. The raw food craze going on now thats been popularized was practically invented and perfected to a crisp by the Japanese.

Various rolls of Tasty Sushi from Seito

In addition to the spicy korean chirashi bowl ($19), I ordered the spicy volcano roll ($9), a crab roll topped with a blend of spicy minced crab, crawfish, lobster topping, baked and topped with a red masago called tobikko.

The Spicy Volcano Roll ($9) – CHOMP.

My partner orders the Bento box ($18) which comes with miso soup, salad, gyoza dumplings, two entree choices and rice. For the entrees, she orders the kal bi (soy-ginger-garlic blend marinated and chargrilled beef ribs) and the shrimp tempura for the entrees. Typically Bento boxes are served for lunch menus in lunch portions, but the bento boxes at Seito for dinner are enough for two to eat healthy. The kal bi beef was voluptuously tender and tasty and the shrimp tempura was also fresh and delicious. It was a great value for the quantity and quality of food.

Huuuge Bento Box dinner with Shrimp Tempura and Kal Bi short ribs

My other friends order various rolls of sushi including the dragon skin roll, winter park roll, torchamaki roll, and more, all enjoying their orders with satisfaction. The prices are also all very reasonable ranging from 6 to 15 dollars a roll.

Satisfaction!

Tasty Chompin!

The service was good. The gentleman who waited on our table was sincere and attentive and the food arrived relatively quickly for our rather large dinner party.

Dessert was tempura-fried cheesecake with ice cream . Scrumptious. Our friend Christina, the one who is soon departing from Florida, described “the yummy cheesecake was fried in a rich dough complemented by the icy coolness of the sweet ice cream and a slight drizzle of chocolate syrup.” That is definitely a sweet way to go out.