I Tried Fresh’s Cup de Sushi

Ever crave sushi but your budget stopped you from purchasing those delicious fishy rollups?  Well, Fresh Market has supposedly offered a solution for the college student that’s short on cash.  That’s right, the enigmatic and cleverly named Cup de Sushi. 

At the request of my editors and (maybe?) the expense of my taste buds, I bravely volunteered to take on this curious little cup.  Understandably, the CDS (as I like to call it) was a couple bucks cheaper than normal grocery store sushi and much more affordable than most plates you can get in Madison. 

That being said, this $6.29 plastic cup was not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing item being displayed at the sushi bar.  Hilariously enough, it was semi-hidden behind the other products, and with a heavy heart I moved the spicy tuna out of the way and began a magical journey with my first CDS. 

To begin, the CDS’s convenience was not lost on me and I appreciated its mobility while I ate in a library lounge chair.  That being said, it was filled pretty high and it would’ve been nice to be able to dump the contents on a plate instead of carefully scoop from the cup. 

There was a pretty odd proportion of content, with only two bites of tuna, one baby shrimp and apparently some tilapia. There was definitely other fish (including ground eel and steelhead?????) but I couldn’t identify it easily and needed to reference the extensive ingredients list to figure it out. 

As for taste….eh.  The tuna, salmon and tilapia tasted relatively fresh, the rice was perfectly sticky and there were nice touches of cucumber and avocado that added freshness.  Even so, the eel was unmistakably fishy and there was some sort of unidentified paste that I couldn’t get myself to try.  There was way too much wasabi sauce in highly concentrated areas of the cup, weighing the flavor down with salty, sticky goo. 

Basically, one bite would be relatively delicious and the next would be:

My theory is that a sushi chef took one too many hits from a bong and couldn’t manage to create tight enough rolls, so he got frustrated and tossed it all in a cup. 

Overall, I get it.  It’s cheaper, mobile, and seems like a no-brainer for a college student on the go.  That being said, I would not recommend a CDS to anyone that enjoys quality sushi.  You’ll be disappointed with the taste, and much like real-life sushi, you’ll just be hungry in an hour. 

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• sushi