Sushi Central’s $10 Lunch Special Gives You a Taste of Their Throwdown Winning Spicy Tuna

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If you live or work in the Culver City/Palms area (or spend as much time at Scoops Westside as I do) finding lunch around Overland and Venice has become a constant mission. After all, one cannot live off ice cream and Intelligentsia coffee alone (although a few people I know are certainly trying).  If you’re in the mood for Indian, there are a ton of options.  Mexican?  It’s Angelica’s Cemita truck FTW. Indonesian?  Simpang Asia is right around the corner. And I’ll be very excited when the Westside Food Truck Central lot opens back up.

But what about Japanese food?  Yamadaya just opened on Sepulveda and Washington, but what about sushi?  Finding decent sushi for under $10 is practically impossible, but when paired up with some cheaper items in lunchtime bento box form it becomes a bit easier. And when I heard that Sushi Central (on Overland & Palms) does exactly that, for only $9.95 I got pretty excited.

Sushi Central’s big claim to fame is beating Bobby Flay in a spicy tuna Throwdown on the Food Network, an accolade that is laughable on any number of different levels.  But being a closeted lover of spicy tuna (you know I’m not the only one!) I was admittedly intrigued by the spicy tuna roll that dispatched Sir Bobby… and lucky for me, it’s part of their $10 bento lunch special!

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For $10 you get rice, edamame, salad, and steamed broccoli, plus your choice of a half spicy tuna roll or half california roll (is that really a choice!?), teriyaki chicken or BBQ short ribs, and vegetable or beef gyoza.  Unlike their signature dish the bento was very Japanese, which is code for “damn, these portions are small.”  The sauce on the short ribs was extra sweet, and unmistakably teriyaki (aka not Korean), but you only get four small pieces.  Maybe you get more meat if you order the chicken? They do give you a lot of edamame though, and the salad was tasty as well. But I suppose the real reason to get this lunch special is the four pieces of spicy tuna, which were (shockingly) mayo-less.  I mean, WTF?  If you’re going to slum it in spicy tuna land you might as well go all the way, right? After all, isn’t spicy tuna just an excuse for sushi dieters to sneak mayo into a meal that they want to convince themselves is healthy?

Complaints aside about the mayo-less spicy tuna roll (I’m probably the only fat-ass in L.A. that prefers it with mayo), the bento is a quality Japanese lunch for $10.  It’s not a shit ton of food, but it’s a deal considering how much their regular menu costs.

Got another favorite $10 bento in the area?  Let me know about it in the comments.

Sushi Central, 3500 Overland Ave, 310-202-6866

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