Dozo Lincoln

Dozo Sushi Grill & Lounge, located in Lincoln’s Haymarket (151 N 8th Street), offers a variety of options for both sushi lovers and haters. Happy Hour runs Monday - Saturday 3p-6p, noon - 10p Sunday and a reverse option Thursday-Saturday from 10p-1a. Dozo offers various apps, rolls and drinks for a discount ranging from $4-$9 in most cases and around $15 for Dozo fishbowls and $12 for flavored sake bombs.

Dozo’s interior is nice. Unfortunately every sushi place I visit is “nice”. They all have the sushi spot esthetic, ensuring you never mistake it for anything other than what it is. I do like their bar more than some places I’ve been to but at the end of the day, it’s just another place to get sushi and asian dishes.

The first off putting thing for me was the prominence of both gin and vodka options on their HH drink menu. I drink dark almost exclusively so to not be able to try one “signature” cocktail that included a liquor I liked was disheartening. Eventually we got ahold of the bartender and to my delight the well whiskey/bourbon they had was Jim Beam. My Beam & Ginger only being $5 was a small victory, albeit the only one of the night.

For a starter I ordered the Firecracker Shrimp ($6: battered fried with sweet and spicy mayo sauce) as I am obsessed with this option at most sushi spots. What I got was interesting. Tail on shrimp, which I got over eventually, without much batter to speak of. They were good sized so I really wanted to enjoy them however between the sauce being a bit blah and lack of batter fried-ness I ended up sending it back. The waitress was a good sport about it, taking the charge off my final bill and inquiring in the kitchen about it (turns out the batter they used was “off” that day) so I let the issue rest.

I tried their shrimp tempura roll ($4: mayo, avocado, smelt, shrimp tempura, tempura crunch) will was another disappointment. I have a feeling half the ingredients weren’t included, or I was just so over Dozo by this point I didn’t notice. These rolls were huge, not something I’d normally complain about but in this instance it was just too much. You almost wanted to cut it in half to enjoy comfortably. Other than the size, these rolls didn’t stand out. I realize I’m a sushi snob but these were nothing to write home about.

I give Dozo 1.5 smiles. I liked that they rectified my shrimp situation and that the bartender came to our table personally to find a drink I would enjoy, but the food didn’t make me want to return.