When you head to Rollian Sushi, stick with menu items that are in their name - maki rolls - as the chicken karaage ($10) was probably the worst rendition I’ve ever tasted: there was absolutely no seasoning (the chicken not marinated and the batter tasteless); and it was so soft that it tasted more like a chicken beignet that karaage. It wasn’t until a second reheating in the toaster oven that enough of the oil escaped to create the crispiness you’d expect from the dish.

Their aburi maguro ($7 for two pieces) were literally pieces of tuna blowtorched for a few seconds - there’s no kewpie mayonnaise or much of a garnish. To be fair, my husband noted he preferred the tuna plain, but the dry papery texture of the fish was a turnoff for me. To make matters worse, we had also ordered the aburi salmon, but what arrived were three plain salmon sushi. While I appreciate Rollian trying to make up for it by giving us an extra piece, it’s not the same. Moreover, since their aburi sushi is simply blowtorching fish and then sprinkling on Old Bay seasoning and scallions, how difficult would it have been to just do the same with the salmon?

The meal improved once we tucked into the maki. Their kalbi roll ($12) is an interesting idea and incorporates a lovely combination of flavours – finally something that has seasoning! The chewy grilled short ribs aren’t necessarily the easiest thing to bite through without causing the rice, avocado, cucumber and masago to fall apart. These are best enjoyed in one massive stuff-in-your-face bite.

Given the deep-fried shrimp in the dynamite roll ($11.50) was slightly warm, it leads me to believe these are made fresh. It’s traditionally prepared, combined with California roll ingredients (avocado, cucumber, imitation crab, and masago). This would have been even better without all the tempura bits mixed with the fish roe on top, which made it too mushy and took away from the shrimp’s flavours.

In retrospect, we should have skipped the dynamite roll as the spicy trio ($27) already includes a “spicy” dynamite roll that didn’t have a lick of heat. The spicy salmon and tuna also lacked chili flavour, and the filling was the pulverized fish with lots of tempura bits combination that I detest. Furthermore, the bowl of miso soup that comes with the spicy trio set was also missing.

The bright side of the meal was their rice was fresh and flattened to a nice thinness. Plus, everything looks beautiful with pops of colours and uniformly cut ingredients. Alas, if only there was the taste to match the pretty presentation. I’ll be rolling on from Rollian Sushi.