An Ode to Food Court Sushi

Amidst the abundance of food options available in Damen Food Court, one meal gets an unwarranted bad rap. 

Often overlooked in favor of Bleecker St. bites, sizzling stir fry or a bangin’ burger, Damen Food Court’s true delicacy sits serenely on sequestered shelves, offering a myriad of flavors — sushi. 

This praise may be surprising to some. Pre-made sushi is notorious for its propensity to polarize, containing camps of both die-hard fans and adamant decriers. 

But pre-made sushi is the perfect snack for students on the go. Refreshing and ready-made, the meal offers a wide variety of savory sensations without the hassle of waiting or paying an absurd price. 

In addition to adorning Damen Food Court, pre-made sushi is also sold at other campus cafes, including Center Stage in Mundelein Center, POD Market in Simpson and Connections Café and Lu’s Deli at the Water Tower Campus. 

Loyola’s sushi supplier is Mr. Pak’s Sushi, a part of Chicago-based Wisepak Foods, which has served sushi to retailers and food service companies since 1998. The local vendor has been Loyola’s sole sushi provider for 20 years, according to Dine Loyola. 

This means students who indulge in some afternoon on-campus sushi aren’t just in for a treat for their taste buds — they’re supporting both a local business and a student dining institution, as Mr. Pak’s also provides sushi to neighboring Northwestern University and The University of Chicago. 

Loyola Dining even offers an annual sushi making class with Mr. Pak, allowing students to engage with the local business — and the food they’re eating — directly. 

The sushi offered on campus comes in six different roll variations — California, Vegetarian California, California Crunch, Shrimp Tempura, Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese and Southwest Salmon. This variety means students craving sushi can find a favorite regardless if they prefer their maki crunchy, creamy or somewhere in between. 

The classic California Roll — a popular introductory roll made from avocado, cucumber and imitation crab wrapped in nori and sushi rice — offers students unsure about raw fish a door into the enchanting world of Japanese cuisine. 

Mr. Pak’s also offers a vegetarian-friendly option so non-meat-eating students — or those just trying to cut down their carbon footprint — can still partake in the on-campus sushi sensation. 

Filled with shredded carrots, avocado and cucumber, the Vegetarian California roll is a crunchy and refreshing snack for students to graze on, especially when paired with the pack’s embedded ginger, soy sauce and wasabi. 

A related roll, the California Crunch, fosters an elevated experience to that of its prototype. Boasting the same imitation crab and avocado, but with the added crunch the name suggests. 

Dusted with crispy onions and drizzled with eel sauce, the sushi literally rolls up a number of flavors and textures into a single bite, filling each bite with a layered eating experience the company should really be called Mr. Packed-with-flavor. 

The other crunchy roll on campus is the Shrimp Tempura Roll. Filled with shrimp, cucumber and avocado, this roll’s crunch is a light and fluffy undertone, rather than the sushi’s spotlight. The minimal textural complexity of the Shrimp Tempura is more than remedied by its sauce-forward approach, as the rolls are drenched in both eel cause and spicy mayo. 

Mr. Pak’s take on a Philadelphia roll — known for its indulgent and delectable implementation of cream cheese — is the Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese roll. The roll lives up to its name, boasting full-blown creaminess with its salmon, cream cheese and avocado filling. All decadence, the roll is the perfect pick-me-up for a homework-heavy day. 

The final roll available for purchase at Loyola is the unassuming — but incredibly flavorful — Southwest Salmon Roll. Overflowing with salmon, ample avocado and a southwestern-style sauce infused into the roll’s filling, the simple-yet-succulent dish is Mr. Pak’s crown jewel. 

Despite the variety of options and Mr. Pak’s self-proclaimed mission to provide customers with top quality foods, many avoid pre-packaged sushi for fear of food poisoning. However, consuming any raw fish poses a risk of foodborne illness, regardless of if the sushi comes from a convenience store or a Michelin-star restaurant. 

More than this, Damen Dining Hall has received far more complaints of food poisoning than Damen Food Court. Fear of pre-packaged sushi — especially the ones on campus, which are always made fresh and labeled with the day’s date, signifying their freshness  — is misguided. 

It’s a shame campus sushi is so scorned. Fewer things give me more joy than my Monday afternoons in Connections Café, munching on a Southwest Salmon roll over my weekly reading.

Other students should be taking advantage of this opportunity to indulge in what is often thought of as a high-end treat. At least, until denouncers learn to put aside their paranoia and embrace Mr. Pak’s, I’ll never have to worry about stumbling into a sushi shortage.