Pictured here: Happy Bento’s spider roll.

Here is the fifth of seven installments about South Sound maki sushi.

Happy Bento
Where: 9909 168th St. E, Puyallup; 253-445-7909
Price: $ (Entrees under $14)

Happy Bento attempts to please everyone with its menu of ubiquitous Japanese and Chinese dishes. It doesn’t matter who is in your group –grandma or a toddler– they will find something to like on the menu.

You might not even guess the restaurant serves sushi until your server hands you the sushi ordering sheet. There, you’ll find 23 maki, including a few signature house specials. But the real specials are listed on a daily white board. Warning: you may have to search for the whiteboard, which was tucked next to the small sushi counter on my visit (I was chagrined I didn’t see it until after ordering, and my server didn’t mention it).

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Pictured here: Tama’s Dragon roll, salmon hand roll, ika ume shiso roll, spicy tuna roll. Also pictured, salmon and tuna nigiri.

Here is the fourth of seven installments about South Sound maki sushi.

Sushi Tama
Where: 3919 Sixth Avenue, Tacoma; 253-761-1014
Price: $ (Entrees under $14)

Sushi Tama seems one of those mysterious restaurants that looks deserted often enough that one wonders if they’re still in business. Sushi Tama may not do the bustling business of TwoKoi or Sushi Town, but the Sixth Avenue restaurant does have a steady stream of customers and fans aplenty. Ask an experienced sushi eater around town and they’ll probably tell you they’ve feasted on Tama’s sushi.

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Pictured here: Sushi Town’s rocky, Mt. John, Timmy and spicy tuna rolls.

Here is the third of seven installments about South Sound maki sushi.

Trapper’s/Trapper’s Sushi Town
Where: 20649 State Route 410, Bonney Lake; 253-891-2046
Also in Puyallup at 209 39th Ave. S.W. Locations also in Bremerton and Covington.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sundays.
Prices: $ (Entrees under $14)

Sushi Town’s chef-owner Trapper O’Keeffe has two sushi approaches: Contemporary and accessible.

He said his niche is with maki rolls for the average sushi diner. "A lot of traditional sushi can be intimidating for first-time (sushi eaters). In Bonney Lake … there’s not a traditional Asian population. I’m catering to the people who haven’t had sushi."

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Pictured here: Two Koi’s lava roll

Here is the first of seven installments about South Sound maki sushi.

TwoKoi Japanese Restaurant
Where: 1552 Commerce St., Tacoma; 253-274-8999; www.twokoi.com
Hours: Lunch served 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Friday; Dinner served 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday
Price: $-$$ (Entrees under $30)

Jackie Young Koh always wanted a fusion restaurant. And now he has that in TwoKoi, where he merges his Japanese and French culinary training with his native Korean palate.

"There were no fusion restaurants here, and I really wanted to try it," said Koh, who previously worked at Tacoma’s Fujiya.

Add one more culinary twist to Koh’s repertoire: Midwestern.

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