The rainbow roll, A.S. roll and lobster roll at Osaka Sushi Bistro.

This is the seventh and final installment of South Sound maki sushi.

Osaka Sushi Bistro
Where: 3806 Bridgeport Way W., University Place; 253-564-3300
Price: $ (Entrees under $14)

You might drive right past Osaka Sushi Bistro without taking notice. It's tucked into the corner of the same strip mall as Trader Joe's and Cake, an arty home and apparel store.

Osaka came recommended as a place for good sushi, but the menu is as much noodles and Japanese entrees -sukiyaki, teriyaki, katsu and donburi - as it is a restaurant for sushi. The maki menu is straightforward and there are about 30 rolls divided into chef's specials, tempura rolls and standard rolls that also can be served as hand rolls.

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It's an attractive restaurant, and nicely decorated. The soundtrack was up a bit loud on our visit (let's just say they REALLY like Rod Stewart there). Service was swift and very polite. Our server answered our questions and was nice about it.

I did ask her one very important question: Is the crab artificial? She said it wasn't. I'm pretty sure she understood what I was asking. And I'm pretty sure that the crab was artificial, despite what she answered. If it was real, boy, that was some r-u-b-b-e-r-y crab(either way: not tasty). It was chopped too finely to discern easily by sight, so we did a drive-by of the sushi counter on our way out and did note two kinds of "crab" - the real kind and the artificial kind. Hmmmm.

Crab quandary aside, Osaka is a serviceable sushi restaurant if the mood strikes. The rainbow roll ($11.50), a California roll (with the aforementioned rubbery crab/krab) topped with five kinds of fish, was a meaty, filling roll. It's enough for two to split, be warned.

I really wanted to like the asparagus and smoked salmon A.S. Roll ($7.50) more than I did. The fried smoked salmon had a strange, chewy texture and the asparagus likewise chewy. A bit too much chew going on for it to be palatable.

The lobster roll ($13.95) was chunky and full of lobster, and creamy with avocado. I liked it, despite the rubbery crab/krab that was in it.

Note: For those who crave Japanese noodles, they do have a decent looking noodle menu. I spotted four kinds of udon, two kinds of yakisoba and ramen.