McCall Winter Carnival.  It's one of the two times a year I question whether or not I'm going to have a liver next week.    In order to properly take part in the McCall's Beer Garden, you've got to have some food in your stomach...and if you love sushi this is the place for it!

The Sushi Bar is the passion product of Jordan and Jennifer Ragsdale, two sushi chefs that met in 2007.  Jennifer was going to BSU and replaced Jordan at a local sushi restaurant while he traveled to Japan to learn more about sushi, sake and the culture.  They met the day he got back to the states and the rest was history.  The two fell in love, married and opened their own sushi restaurant in McCall in 2009.  Fun fact about Jordan?  He's Idaho's first sake professional so McCall is home to the largest sake selection in the state.

The Sushi Bar is a 3-Star Certified Green Restaurant too.  So what's that mean?  It means they recycle everything Valley County accepts and sends your uneaten food scraps to a local chicken farm.  They're also big on water conservation (water's only served by request) and use local/organic food whenever possible.

Last year we weren't lucky enough to score a table during Winter Carnival, so make sure you get there around 4 PM when they open. Since it was Happy Hour and sake cocktails were just $5 I had to try a Sake Mojito.  Made with sake, fresh lime juice, mint simple syrup and muddled fresh mint served over ice, this was the perfect drink to kick off a long holiday weekend!  It provided the vacation starting punch without tasting like it.  It was extremely smooth compared to other mojitos I've enjoyed around the Treasure Valley.

We weren't in a real hurry to eat dinner quite yet, but were both fascinated with the concept of "Sashimi Fusion."  It combines the fresh, thin cut fish of a sashimi dish with a twist.  In this case that twist as asparagus. The salmon wrapped asparagus came served with locally grown mustard greens that rocked in soy sauce.  For dinner we picked a Rainbow Roll with real crab, ahi tuna, salmon, hamachi and avocado.   After my journey with Nutrimost I question anything named "krab" and try to pick real foods as often as I can.  It was worth the extra $3 for real crab was worth my peace of mind.  We also got a Green Dragon made with salmon, cucumber and avocado with citrus sauce and wasabi sesame seeds.  I'm not sure exactly what was in the green citrus sauce, but it was to die for!

With most rolls priced $7.50-$12, The Sushi Bar you get way more than you should for that price!  The only drawback about this "must eat" is they don't take reservations for parties as small as two.  Like I said, we were lucky we got there when we did.  Every other time I've tried to eat there I wasn't able to get seated or a take-out order in less than an hour.

If you're headed to McCall for Winter Carnival make sure you make The Sushi Bar a stop! You can find them 414 Railroad Ave, behind the Toll Station. Check out their menu HERE.

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