Costco Sushi: Meh

After my head surgery yesterday (it was a quick, outpatient thing) we decided, "Let's go shopping!" We were in Almaden, just around the corner from (a) a TJ Maxx/HomeGoods Hawk really likes to shop at because it's a two-story store, and (b) a Costco that's slightly larger than the two near us and thus often has a few things, especially in the frozen food section, the others don't. We shopped at both. We might also have added (c) the Total Wine on the other side of Hwy 85, but I'd already slipped in a trip to another TW on Sunday and now have plenty of booze.

One thing I picked up at Costco was a tray of nigiri sushi



I've been curious to try Costco sushi for a while. This is the first time I spotted trays that were all nigiri— as opposed to trays that were mostly rolls made with lots of mayo. Plus, this was ideal timing: I was getting hungry for lunch, I figured I was going to run out of energy and/or want to stay home because of pain soon, and so why not treat myself a little. Nevermind that I'd read recently that Costco sushi is bland; I find those crowd-sources articles on what's hit or miss at Costco to be quite hit-or-miss themselves. The cuts of fish looked generous so I sprung for the $22 tray.

So, how was it? Well, that article that called it a miss was, in fact, a hit. Much like the crowd sourced review said, the rice was flavorless and squishy. ("Squishy" matters because the enjoyment of sushi is about texture as well as flavor. This rice tasted, and felt, like it's not even sushi rice.) The fish was similarly bland.

I'm not sure that freshness, or more specifically the lack thereof, was the issue. The sushi I bought was marked as having been prepared that morning. That's one of the things that gave me hope the article I read recently was inaccurate. Alas, having been freshly prepared was no indicator of fresh flavor. I got nowhere near $22 of enjoyment from my purchase.

Costco Sushi is Weak, Macaroons are Good

Earlier today I shared my experience with Costco sushi— it's weak. On the same shopping trip I picked up a package of another food item that's consistently good: macaroons.



Actually I picked up not just one of these packages of macaroons but two. That's because Costco only carries them a few weeks a year, ahead of Passover. They're kosher for Passover— and, interestingly for a chocolate dish, also parve/non-dairy. Perhaps because they're non-dairy they have a surprisingly long shelf life. The package is marked "best by" Feb 2027. Thus I bought two when I saw them... and may buy another in a few weeks if they're still around.