The Dish: Shiki Rolls Out the Flavor With the Red Lobster and Pink Lady

Smithtown is full of fine Japanese dining, , a quiet and warm restaurant with a menu crammed with flavor-packed, adventerous sushi rolls. While flipping through the menu, two rolls you should not look past are the Red Lobster and Pink Lady.

The Dish: Red Lobster ($12) and Pink Lady ($12.95)

What is it: The Red Lobster has fresh lobster, mayonnaise and cucumber inside, with spicy tuna on top. The Pink Lady roll consists of lobster, shrimp, crabmeat, seaweed salad, cucumber, avocado, spicy mayo, and is wrapped with a rice skin.

How’s it taste: While spicy tuna is incorporated in the Red Lobster roll, the flavor is anything but spicy – in fact it is one of the more mild rolls on the menu with a minimal bite. But don’t get it confused, that doesn't mean this roll far from flavorful. The Red Lobster is one of the more unique rolls on the Shiki menu – while the menu is full of flavorful items, this roll has a very different, contrast in flavors, and you taste each flavor in every bite.

For the Pink Lady, the unusual texture of the rice skin, not the taste, that will get your attention first – but the taste is sure to grab you as well. The texture of the rice skin is vastly different from any other roll on the menu – it is very soft, thin, and slippery, which makes it easier for the food inside to escape, so make sure you have a tight grip with your chopsticks. The rice skin is a nice touch to the roll as it doesn’t have an overbearing flavor and allows the food inside to provide the entire flavor you need.

Sides: What makes the Pink Lady flavor pop is the sauce that comes on the side – a combination of vinegar, hot sauce, sesame seeds and scallions. It has a very sharp bite and will keep your mouth warm until you take a sip of your drink, but the sauce is far from overbearing.

Beverage: With the many flavors being mixed from the two rolls, why not add another very distinct flavor? Shiki offers Ramune Japanese soda ($2.50), and for this mean strawberry was the flavor of choice. Picture a strawberry lollipop in carbonated liquid form and that’s what you would be drinking.

You should eat this because: If you like lots of flavor, if you are an adventurous eater, if you like to and aren’t afraid to experience new food, then the Red Lobster and Pink Lady rolls are the way to go.