Even on an unremarkable Thursday night, Sen Dai Sushi is packed tight like a makizushi. “Twenty-five minutes,” says a server for a party of three.

Derek Yen

The crowd in the restaurant is a representative cross section of the Bay Area: professionals, college students and parents with their young children. Here and there are the emblems of universities and medical schools.

As the name suggests, Sen Dai’s forte is sushi, and the menu is replete with traditional mainstays, innovative combination rolls and some baked rolls unique to Sen Dai. The menu also features non-sushi fare, such as karaage chicken.

One of their unique rolls, the Dragon Roll, is an inverse makizushi of crab salad and tempura shrimp topped with unagi, avocado and eel sauce. Although the wait in line is long, the wait for the sushi is not: within minutes, a server brings out our Dragon Roll.

The Dragon Roll presents a diverse terrain of texture and taste: the smooth avocado, the crunchy tempura, the bones of the eel; the sweetness of eel sauce with the creaminess of the avocado and the crab; the firmness of the shrimp and the tenderness of the unagi.

Derek Yen

Sen Dai also offers an unusual modern take on sushi: four baked rolls, and the option to deep fry any makizushi.

Sen Dai Sushi is open from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. all days of the week, located at 224 N Abel St. in Milpitas.