FOOD

Musashi’s food makes the most sense when approached as Brazilian-Japanese rodizio rather than conventional American AYCE sushi. Salmon, tuna, octopus and escolar cover the sashimi and nigiri foundations, while California, Philadelphia, spicy tuna and spicy salmon rolls keep familiar territory close at hand. Tempura, gyoza, miso soup and yakisoba give the table warm counterpoints. The restaurant becomes much more interesting once the menu starts bending those forms.

The djo selection is the clearest example. These compact pieces build salmon, rice and cream cheese into a base that can turn sweet, spicy, crunchy or savory from one order to the next. Strawberry Djo puts fresh strawberry against salmon and cream cheese. Passion Fruit and Coconut versions lean tropical, while Doritos Djo replaces delicacy with crunch. The Musashi Djo combines torched salmon, shrimp, fried kale and sweet chili. Several side by side become a tasting flight of the restaurant’s point of view.

Doritos are not a one-off joke here. The Doritos Roll combines salmon, tuna, cream cheese, crushed chips and eel sauce, while the Doritos Temaki carries salmon, cream cheese and the same salty crunch into a hand roll. Hanahuma puts tuna and krabmeat beneath a Doritos topping. The appeal is texture: soft fish and rice, rich cream cheese, sweet-savory sauce and the sharp crunch of corn chips. Musashi is unusually willing to let sushi be playful.

The specialty rolls keep that Brazilian-inflected creativity moving. Picanha Roll folds the Brazilian steakhouse staple together with cream cheese, arugula and garlic. Ipanema layers shrimp tempura, krabmeat, avocado and grilled salmon with spicy mayo, eel sauce and crunch. Mangococo pairs shrimp and cream cheese with mango, coconut and eel sauce. Volcano Roll goes richer with shrimp tempura, cream cheese and spicy krabmeat.

Hand rolls are another reason not to spend the entire meal on maki. Temaki Noronha combines shrimp tempura, grilled salmon, cream cheese and eel sauce. Temaki Mango brings fresh salmon, mango and cream cheese together, while Temaki Kale adds fried kale and sweet chili. Temaki Cannon uses spicy salmon and spicy tuna with cucumber and togarashi, giving the section a more direct fish-and-heat option.

The raw and lightly cooked side keeps the menu from becoming all sauce and crunch. Salmon Tataki and Tuna Tataki are blowtorch-seared with togarashi, scallions and ponzu; carpaccio comes in salmon, tuna or octopus; and ceviche adds an acidic reset. Straight salmon or tuna sashimi is useful between the more elaborate orders. Shimeji mushrooms, shrimp tempura, chicken katsu and gyoza can turn another round into a cooked-food course before circling back to fish.

Dessert continues the willingness to mix Japanese forms with flavors familiar to Brazilian sweets and snack culture. A hot banana-and-Nutella harumaki is the easy indulgence, while guava with cream cheese in a crisp spring roll gives the finish a more distinctive sweet-tangy edge. Tempura cheesecake, petit gateau and fruit-flavored Japanese ice cream offer other exits. By then, Musashi has created the classic rodizio problem: one more odd combination still sounds worth trying after common sense says the meal is finished.