On the corner of Sherbrooke and Saint Denis there is a little shop. It’s a sushi shop just like the thousands of sushi shops before it. It’s called Sushi 999. But there is a huge difference when it comes to the quantity of food. For a measly fifteen dollars around lunchtime, you can get everything on the menu as many times as you desire.
However with the constant attacks of water from passing waters and the dishes upon dishes of rice and raw fish, one’s belly fills up rather quickly. But in that hour (if you’re lucky), Sushi 999 challenges you to stuff your face with as much delicious and interesting food you can handle. From sweet and tangy honey topped rolls to fried bananas on cool scoops of homemade green tea ice cream, this place has just about everything you could want from your local Japanese shop.
When I first checked off boxes on their mock menus, a thrill went through me. All of this food, as much as I want?! I greedily checked off as much as I could, and over the next thirty minutes, over 20 rolls and 16 pieces of sashimi came to our table. Each time a tray came out our chopsticks would reach out and lift the pieces off of the tray before it even touched the table.
And there are ways you can eat this sushi. Whole, bit by bit, topped with ginger, or dunked in a bit of soysauce. I personally prefer the latter, but added with a little bit of wasabi mixed in to give the otherwise plain rice that secures most sushi pieces an added kick. Each roll has its own unique flavor, distinctively sweet and tangy, crunchy and bready, or plain and meaty.
After some more plates my belly had filled near to bursting, but I happily pressed on and ordered their signature roll: the Sushi 999 roll. I still don’t know if it was a good decision or not for my stomach, but I do know it was absolutely delicious. It took longer to come out than we expected, and when it did we quickly realized why. Our waiter came out with a single tray, with six single pieces on it. But these were some of the largest pieces of sushi I had ever seen before. Filled to the brim with every type of meat and vegetable I could think of, the whole thing had then been deep fried and came out looking like some kind of carnival dessert. We quickly took one and after our first bite it was clear this was no ordinary sushi. While incredibly delectable, this was one heavy roll. We all took our time and slowly nursed the roll, dipping it in different things and doing anything we could to fill our mouths with one last final bite.
Soon our plates were empty and we walked out with our bellies round and our faces singing of satisfaction. A long nap was the only antidote to cure our slow and stifled walks back to the dormitory. Obviously, that night no dinner was needed. We had filled our stomachs with enough rice to last the winter.
– Ryan Leslie, Game Ar Major and Montreal RA, Fall 2013