Vick Aroon and Nathan Tech
Owners of Octo Sushi
1621 12th Ave, Suite 102, 805-8998

So you're the owners of Octo Sushi. I hear you previously ran a sushi restaurant in Houston. What brought you to Seattle?

NT: We decided to move to Seattle because we'd never been here. So far, so good.

VA: The summers are so pretty.

There's so much sushi in Seattle you can hardly walk out of a sushi place without finding yourself in another sushi place. It's kind of like an M. C. Escher drawing. But Octo Sushi uses certain ingredients I haven't seen anywhere else. What inspired you to put things like jalapeños and mayonnaise in sushi?

NT: The jalapeños are a Texan thing. Fresh and spicy is a good combination.

VA: We have a spicy sauce made from mayonnaise, chili oil, and fresh jalapeños.

Speaking of things I haven't seen anywhere else, what is a "soy bag"?

VA: It's the wrapping we use for the Lucky Bags. Lucky Bags are snow crab and tobiko in a white, flexible soy-paper wrapping.

You offer mashed potatoes as a side dish. Do you prefer your mashed potatoes peeled, or do you leave the skins on?

VA: We peel them. We also add wasabi. You'll notice the kick.

You serve a dish called "Deep Fried Madness," as well as one called "Crazy Rolls." The vegetarian dinner menu is labeled "Veggie Mania." Should I be concerned about my mental health after dining at Octo Sushi?

VA: No—after you dine here, you should have sweet dreams about the delicious veggies we serve.

As a person who makes sushi professionally, what would you say makes prepackaged grocery-store sushi so awful?

VA: Oh, I don't want to say grocery-store sushi is awful...

NT: Traditionally, you don't put sushi rice in a cooler. It changes its texture and flavor.

Internet reviews mention you serve a dish that includes fried shrimp heads. Is it the whole shrimp or just the heads?

VA: Yes, the Sweet Shrimp. The bodies of the shrimp are raw, but the heads are fried. You can order the shrimp with or without heads.