Dear sushi virgins, it's time to stop that nonsense

Come on y’all, even Blake Shelton has tried it.

My love for sushi has grown since transferring to UNC this semester, thanks to Spicy 9 and Kurama Sushi and Noodle Express on Franklin Street.

For the love of journalism and sushi, I restaurant-hopped for lunch on Monday afternoon to make a definitive list of sushi restaurants on campus.

Little did I know, there are only two.

My first stop on this sushi-eating adventure was Spicy 9, where I ordered my usual — a buy one-get one free Veggie Roll and some edamame. This is a pretty boring meal in the realm of sushi-eating, but I can thank my diet for that one (gluten-free vegetarian problems, am I right?)

But, a major plus of Spicy 9 is that they have BOGO sushi all day, every day.

My Veggie Roll had avocado, pickled veggies and cucumber, wrapped in seaweed, rolled with rice and topped with sesame seeds.

It was delicious.

Sophomores Zac Lynch and Kayla Greenwood were eating at the table beside mine.

A fellow sushi-lover, Greenwood usually has the Rainbow Roll, a California roll topped with assorted fish, or the Sexy Girl Roll — shrimp tempura, cucumber and avocado topped with spicy crab mix. Today, though, she tried the Volcano Roll — a baked California Roll topped with spicy scallops.

For Greenwood, it was more of a Volca-No. From now on, she said she will probably stick with her favorites.

Lynch said he enjoyed his lunch, too.

“You cannot beat the lunch $5.99 Sesame Chicken special,” Lynch said.

My next stop was Kurama, because yes, I did eat all this sushi within a two-hour period. If that’s wrong, I don’t want to be right.

At Kurama, the sushi is made just like it is in Japan. Once it’s made, the sushi is put on a moving belt around the center of the restaurant, where diners can pick what they want and go. It’s like fast food but so much better.

And the best part? Kurama also has low prices. That’s right folks — you can get a sushi roll for two bucks, and it’s delicious as ever.

Sushi chef, Hiro Osada has been making sushi for 25 years, said his wife, Vickie, who works as a waitress at Kurama. He was making baked salmon rolls on Monday morning to prepare for the lunch hour rush.

Both of these sushi havens have delicious food, so it is really hard to choose which one I like better.

I’ll let you try them out for yourselves.

swerve@dailytarheel.com