Sumo Express

I recently had a chance to try Sumo Express for dinner and was impressed. The restaurant is in the old Sam’s Sandwich location on Franklin Blvd. Parking is right up front and seems adequate for the location. They gave the building a total face lift inside and out. Inside is very well lit, but still quaint and cozy. It’s decorated in warm tones with an obvious, yet subtle Asian theme with seating for about 30. The staff was very friendly from the moment we walked in and the service was very good without being overboard. The food was made to order and served as it came out. There were 7 of us and I tasted everyone’s dish in our party, but the menu is pretty large so it’s hard to rate all the food.
For starters, the Hot and Sour Soup was served in a plastic togo bowl (turns out everything is served on plastic plates with plasticwear). It had a moderately spicy kick with an overall good flavor, maybe just a bit salty. The Eggrolls were just the way I like them — light and crispy and stuffed full of a mostly cabbage filling. The house Lo Mein and Vegetable Fried Rice portions were huge. Both dishes were very fresh and full of veggies. The Lo Mein had a substantial amount of chicken, pork and shrimp also. We also had the Sesame Chicken, Bourbon Chicken, and Hibachi Chicken. The Sesame and Bourbon Chicken dishes were both pretty sweet, but the chicken pieces really made the difference. They actually use real white meat; and I mean cuts of meat that you can actually tell what you’re eating. Both were lightly battered and both came in decent portions with rice. The Hibachi Chicken was the only Japanese dish we tried and it, too, was a sizable portion. Lots of white meat chicken mixed with zucchini, mushrooms, rice, and of course, shrimp sauce.
I will definitely go back to Sumo Express. The food was very good and the service was excellent. And don’t let the «Express» in the name fool you; this is not fast food.