Restaurant Review: Zushi Zushi on Fort Myers Beach

Don't you just love a positive restaurant experience?  For non-Celiac people, all that requires is good service and good food.  For Celiacs, a great experience requires trust and understanding, on top of good service and good food!

I had one of those experiences last night at a new restaurant on Fort Myers Beach called Zushi Zushi.  What's even more exciting about this is that I forgot to call ahead of time, because I had a safe meal without having to go through all the warnings.  Usually I will call a restaurant to let them know I can't have any gluten and I will be in at such-and-such time, just a bit of a heads up.  The perks of this are that not only do you usually get a reservation, even if the place doesn't take them, but you also have a good chance of being paired up with a knowledgeable waiter/waitress.

With Zushi Zushi, I totally forgot to do this.  I also completely forgot my restaurant cards from Triumph Dining.  The only thing I managed to remember was my new little spray bottle of Bragg's Liquid Aminos.  This is a great natural alternative to soy sauce, but what really drew me in was the spray bottle.

Now I don't have to carry a mini tupperware of tamari with me, and have the surprise at the end of the night that it leaked all over my bag.  With Bragg's, I can just throw it in, and spray my sushi instead of dipping.  It worked like a charm, and this size (6oz) was only $3.89 at my health food store.

Back to Zushi Zushi!  The restaurant itself is very modern, with an industrial vibe.  We were seated by our waiter, Ray, who was extremely helpful the whole meal.  We ordered drinks (hot sake! It's the only way to go) and an appetizer of edamame.  While Matt ordered a green salad (he is in love with carrot ginger dressings), I ordered the Tom Kha Goong, a Thai soup with shrimp, coconut milk, mushrooms, and a lot of aromatics.  But first I asked our waiter to check if there was any flour or gluten in the soup, which he immediately did without hesitation, and then I remembered to ask if there was any soy sauce.  He checked for me and there wasn't! 

Then a manager came over to me, and spoke with me about all the soup ingredients.  He also was interested in my bottle of Bragg's, and said that they were going to get some at Zushi Zushi due to the amount of gluten-free customers they have had.  Awesome!  Gotta love that.

Yum!  It was one of the best soups I have ever had.  Sweet and tangy, lemon-y and creamy.   Kinda wishing I hadn't ate it all, so I could have brought some home and had it for lunch again today!

I ordered a pretty simple roll, the Hamachi, with yellowtail and scallions.  I love getting yellowtail at Asian restaurants because it's such a clean taste that it is almost a palate-cleanser.

That is the JB roll, and behind that is the Alaskan King Crab roll (both were Matt's).  The reason you don't see mine is that I inhaled it before I took a picture.  But it was fresh and tasty!

I don't know how I was able to order dessert, but I did it.  And I ate it.  All of it.  And then I came home, put on stretchy pants and went to bed, because I was that full and that grossed out by myself!  I'm still wondering how I managed to fit so much food in my poor tummy, but it was so worth it.

Sooooo worth it.  Green tea ice cream with azuki beans on the side.  If I could have this in drip form, I would be hooked up to a green-tea-azuki-bean IV all day.

Thanks so much to Zushi Zushi for being awesome, helping gluten-free customers eat safely and well, and for considering adding gluten-free soy sauce alternatives.  I can't wait to go back!