Neighborhood Sushi: Eastern Fusion in China View

I'm always happy to have a decent neighborhood sushi bar on hand, and the new Eastern Fusion in China View, at least for the most part, fits the bill.

Sushi's a touchy subject in this town, given that we're landlocked. Sure, there are some long-running beloved places like Hatsune, but it's dang hard to get a table there if you haven't planned ahead.

If you're the kind that likes to splurge on your sushi, you'll probably just want to head to the higher-end places, but Eastern Fusion is a good option for people who want sushi without too many extra trips to the ATM.

It isn't anything worth getting too excited over, but it is solid. I tried their assorted nigiri set (RMB 98) and found it better than most places I've been. The set came with single pieces of salmon, tuna, whitefish, prawn, octopus, ark shell, surf prawn, eel, avocado and tamago (egg).

The fish, which supposedly ranges in sourcing from Norway to Dalian, was suitably fresh and the textures were pleasant. We did find the rice to be a tad warm and loosely packed, though.

In addition to the more traditional nigiri, hand rolls, maki and sashimi, Eastern Fusion also carries a stock of "special" rolls. You know, the kinds that got popular outside of Japan. I thought I'd have some fun with it and try the Guoan Roll (RMB 68), since we were across the street from the stadium. Filled with eel, cucumber, egg and avocado, it seemed like a pretty safe choice.

And it would have been good, except for the mayonnaise. I apologize in advance if you like a latticework of mayo on top of your rolls, but I've never met anyone who does. So why do these sushi joints keep squeezing it on? Anyway, all that to say I'd recommend that you ask them to hold the mayonnaise. I would have, but I let it happen in the name of field research.

In case you were wondering, the bar part of the name does include alcohol. They've got over a dozen choices of sake, a few beers, whiskey and wine and a handful of cocktails.

Another plus is that they're open fairly late, so you can drop in for a hand roll after the next Guoan match. Or am I kidding myself? Do any of you actually go to those things? I guess you could duck in there to dodge the mob of people who actually do.

Eastern Fusion (珍寿司)
Daily 11.30am-2pm, 5-12pm. 107, Building 4, China View, 2 Gongti Donglu, Chaoyang District (across from Gongti east gate, north 50 meters) (8587 1877)
朝阳区工体东路2号中国红街4号楼107室 （工体东门对面往北50米)