A 2-hour, all-you-can-eat extravaganza at Sushi Ring

EVERETT — Take a healthy appetite and plenty of time to dine at Sushi Ring.

The Silver Lake neighborhood sushi restaurant offers all-you-can-eat specials for lunch and dinner. The dinner order cost $28.95 and seemed a bit expensive for lunch — at first. But factor in that the world’s oceans become your buffet under the skillful slicing and dicing of chefs Marc and Lupe, and lunch becomes a delectable treat for someone looking to slam through more than three rolls (which range between $6.50 and $12) of raw fish. The lunch option is $23.95 and loses some of the appetizers and the special long rolls.

Bunsong Pumma, a North Creek/Bothell resident and real-estate agent, recommended the place on the east side of the lake on 19th Avenue Southeast, not far from Emory’s. He’s a sushi specialist who happily cruises around Bellevue, Bothell, Everett and Seattle for quality hand rolls and nigiri.

I had not indulged in an endless supply of sushi before, so I was happy to have Pumma lead the way and order up roll after roll after roll after roll after roll after… . Our trio put the chefs through their paces with at least a dozen rolls and nigiri orders, a few hand rolls and five quail egg shots to cap the two-hour experience. Honestly, I lost count as Pumma and his pal Louie Hokin, an employee at BECU, took charge as Sushi Ring regulars.

“I don’t think there is a right or wrong way to tackle the all-you-can-eat, but I prefer to start out with my miso soup — extra hot — and some calamari,” said Pumma, who has eaten there frequently over the past five years.

I opted against sampling the many appetizers included in the meal, except for the calamari. It’s great, but probably not for everyone. Those looking for just a quick, crunchy fried bite of squid will be disappointed. The cephalopod-initiated, like myself, seeking a lightly fried, sparsely crisped, hearty bite of squid, are in for a treat.

A Pumma pro tip: Sit at the bar/counter farthest from the door for easy access to the sushi chefs.

Another: Pace through the all-you-can-eat extravaganza by deciding the first few dishes you’d like. As the first plate is set in front of you, ask for the next one. While eating the first, think about the next couple of orders. That keeps the bites coming and, in our case, the flavors changing.

After the calamari, Pumma thoughtfully ordered an eel-based roll in my honor. Eel, “unagi” in Japanese, is one of my favorites. The off-menu roll combined rice, shrimp, eel and avocado drizzled in sweet eel sauce. It was superb, and that combo will likely be one I seek out at Sushi Ring and other Japanese restaurants.

An upside-down roll had a butterflied shrimp base, rice, scallops and tobiko (flying fish roe). A creamy sauce helped hold the scallops, roe and rice atop the shrimp and accentuated the overall smooth texture.

Hokin picked the el presidente, a spicy tuna roll with a shrimp tempura center. The crunch of tempura and slightly sweet taste of shrimp worked well with the light heat of the spicy tuna.

The salmon skin hand roll was one of the truly special orders. Dried seaweed rolled like an ice cream cone serves as the vessel for rice, beautifully warm, crispy, salty salmon skin with plenty of bits of salmon fillet, and a balancing bite of carrot and cucumber spears. It’d be easy to sit and re-order that one a few times in a sitting, though getting off the chair afterward could pose a problem.

Pumma suggested smoked salmon nigiri (fish on a bed of rice; sashimi is just the cut of fish, sans rice) with lemon juice squeezed onto the pieces. The citrus sharpened the briny salmon, making the whole thing bright.

Opting for a bit-of-everything dish, Hokin asked for the sex on the beach, an off-menu roll with just about every fish on top of a tempura center. It was an audacious order so late in the game for me, and the one piece I had was too many things at once to make much of a distinction.

Topping everything (because none of us ordered a dessert, also part of the deal), was a quail egg shot for each of us. The raw quail egg is dropped into ponzu sauce (a citrusy kind of soy sauce), with fish roe and sliced green onions. It was incredible — just make sure you bite into the egg to pop the yolk for the full flavor and texture. Pumma and I each had two.

Sushi Ring won’t be an everyday, quick lunch stop for me. But the all-you-can-eat offer is perfect for when my raw-fish craving rages. I’ll make sure to block out the necessary hours for it.

If you go

What: Sushi Ring

Where: 11419 19th Ave. SE, Everett

When: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Closed Monday.

More: 425-385-2702 or eatsushiring.com

Calamari at Sushi Ring is a fried but lightly battered squid that leaves plenty of the mollusk left to be tasted and chewed. (Ben Watanabe / The Herald)

The skyscraper roll is an off-menu order of rice, shrimp, eel and avocado with a sweet eel sauce drizzled on top. (Ben Watanabe / The Herald)

Sushi Ring’s upside down shrimp roll starts with a butterflied shrimp, then towers with rice, scallops, and flying fish roe. It’s held together by a light cream sauce for a smooth taste and texture. (Ben Watanabe / The Herald)

The salmon skin hand roll features twice crisped salmon skin, rice, and carrot and cucumber spears inside a seaweed handle at Sushi Ring. (Ben Watanabe / The Herald)

Adding some squeezed lemon on top of the smoked salmon nigiri helps brighten the briny salmon flavor at Sushi Ring. Another way of getting the citrus accent is asking for thin sliced lemon on top. (Ben Watanabe / The Herald)

Red snapper nigiri comes garnished with green onion slices and a slightly spicy chili oil at Sushi Ring in Everett. (Ben Watanabe / The Herald)

Pepper tuna with green onions and a sweet soy sauce is a flavor-balanced nigiri option at Sushi Ring in Everett. (Ben Watanabe / The Herald)

A special option at Sushi Ring in Everett is the quail egg shot with a raw quail egg dropped in ponzu sauce and garnished with fish roe and green onion. (Ben Watanabe / The Herald)