New site for Sushi Lovers

Located off of Erwin Road, Sushi Love is the newest Asian venture to hit Durham. Its menu offers dozens of sushi rolls, Thai curries and noodles, soups and many other entrees. But true to its name, the restaurant delivers its best food with the actual sushi, which in celebration of its recent opening includes a tempting "buy one, get one free" offer.

With a list of rolls including "Black Widow" and "Insane Eel," I found it difficult not to try essentially the entire sushi menu. But be wary of the special offer-instead of actually getting one sushi roll for free with the purchase of another of the same price, the server will charge for the more expensive half of the items ordered. So to get the most out of the deal, stick with the specialty rolls.

A TNT roll containing salmon, scallop, eel, avocado, shrimp and crab was delicious but had so many components that it was difficult to identify any distinct flavors. The Sunset Roll had thinly sliced lemon on the top that gave a distinct, almost overwhelming twist to each bite. The combination of eel, cream cheese, soft shell crab tempura and pineapple in the Hawaiian Roll actually proved to be the best. The crunchiness of the tempura provids an excellent contrast to the softer texture of the other elements.

Food other than sushi was served steaming hot but sometimes failed to deliver unique flavors. A plentiful serving of salted, warm edamame was a great prelude to the meal, but the Pad Thai could have used more sweetness to balance the spice generated by red pepper flakes. The shrimp curry with pineapple contained a generous serving of shrimp, but only a few pineapple chunks. Its thick sauce had a pleasantly piquant aftertaste but certainly would not impress anyone looking for a spicy curry.

For sushi fans, however, Sushi Love is the perfect place to share a meal with friends, and with the current offer, you can easily feast on the experimental rolls for an extremely reasonable price.