Review 

 The Northwest Florida Daily News

 Linda Murchison  

May 27,2010

NAVARRE — With the addition of several restaurants, Navarre is fast becoming a destination rather than just a byway along busy U.S. Highway 98.

One of the newest restaurants is The Slippery Mermaid Sushi Bar.

The food

Serving soup, salad and sushi, The Slippery Mermaid has gained a following among local sushi devotees.

The menu is divided into starters (soup and salad), nigiri, sashimi and a selection of 38 rolls, six of which are described as “No Fins.”

There are two soups offered at The Slippery Mermaid, edamame and miso, and three salads: seaweed, cucumber and a garden salad offered with ginger or wasabi ranch dressing.

Our choice, the miso soup featured wakame and cubes of tofu, and had a rich, flavorful broth laced with miso.

Sharing a bowl of marinated cucumber salad was a light, refreshing way to begin our meal.

Learning to eat sushi by the point-and-order method, it was a pleasant surprise to see that The Slippery Mermaid offered detailed descriptions of each roll.

If you’re still not sure, just ask your waitress. She was always nearby and very happy to answer questions.

Our choices included the Shrimp Tempura roll, a Psycho Mermaid and a Chef’s Roll.

The shrimp tempura roll included lightly battered and perfectly cooked fried shrimp, avocado and cream cheese, topped with sweet eel sauce and spicy mayo.

The sweet and slightly salty taste of eel sauce paired nicely with the roll.

Servings at The Slippery Mermaid are all fresh, generous and artistically displayed.

The Psycho Mermaid was a shrimp tempura roll topped with an oven baked surimi blend and also drizzled with the eel sauce.

After enjoying these rolls, we decided to order a Chef’s Roll.

The contents of this roll is left to the discretion of the chef, however, the waitress does ask if there is anything that you would prefer not to be included.

Our order arrived with avocado, shrimp and eel and was plated with a very hot red sauce as well as the sweet eel sauce.

It was also delicious.

Just remember that all the sushi at The Slippery Mermaid is made to order and takes time to prepare.

The Slippery Mermaid offers tuna, albacore, salmon, eel, scallop, shrimp, smelt roe, flying fish roe and octopus nigiri, two pieces per serving.

The sashimi is offered in combination and from eight to 40 pieces and is served with soup, salad or steamed rice.

The restaurant does offer beer, wine and Sake.

The atmosphere

Located in a lovely Florida-style cracker cottage, The Slippery Mermaid’s décor can best be described as contemporary industrial yet with a playful beachy air.

Make sure you don’t miss the virtual aquarium on the rear wall.

A large sushi bar dominates the room with seating for about 23 around the bar and at the tables.

There is also a large outdoor seating area.

The service

Pleasant and efficient can best describe the service.

We were greeted promptly and told to sit wherever we liked.

As we were leaving, our waitress happened to be in the outdoor area and she waved and thanked us from coming.

A final taste

Good food, reasonable prices and friendly service are definitely reasons to visit The Slippery Mermaid and make Navarre a destination.

QuickBites

The Slippery Mermaid Sushi Bar

Location

8779 Navarre Parkway

621-2119

Hours

11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Tuesday - Saturday

11 a.m. – 8 p.m. Sunday

Open 7 days beginning May 31

Reservations

Not necessary

Handicap accessibility

Good

Children’s menu

No

Price range

Soup $2 - $3

Salads $3 - $4

Entrees $4 - $9

Payment

Credit cards accepted

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