Sky Huang and his wife Sabrina both grew up in the Fu-Jiang province in Southeast China along the Taiwan Strait. They didn’t meet until they emigrated to the United States. Sky explains the love connection: “Her cousin is my best friend!”. The pair, now married twenty years and with three children, opened Saga Fusion in Marstons Mills in 2014. The restaurant features an extensive menu that includes both traditional sushi and grilled hibachi items. The sashimi and unique specialty rolls are stunning in their presentation, and an explosion of flavor on the tongue. The original menu also featured an appetizer which has since disappeared; a starter that people still ask for today: Tuna Cracker.

“We have a really big menu,” Huang explains. “We change the menu a little bit every year. We add a few things, and we have to take a few things off.” That’s not to say those menu items still can’t be created today. Having talented and long-tenured sushi chefs allow Saga Fusion to create dishes that have cycled off the menu. Sushi chef Karry (“Mr. Tall” to other staff members because of his over-six-foot stature) has been with Huang nearly the entire time Saga Fusion has existed. “He started working with us six months after we opened,” Sky says. “Most of the staff has been with us for a long time. I think it’s important to see the same faces. They become like family.” Some longtime fans of Saga Fusion also feel that way, evidenced by the hugs with which Sky and Sabrina welcome returning familiar faces.

What’s better than feeling like you’ve got the inside scoop on something the general public knows nothing about? Tuna Cracker is one of those insider nuggets. Yellowfin tuna is diced with crab, cucumber, and avocado. The ripened avocado acts as a binding agent to hold the other ingredients together. Now, this being a Last Bite, there needs to be some sort of interesting wrinkle to the dish. For Tuna Cracker, it’s in the vehicle delivering this fresh flavor union. The mixture is spooned atop a Pringle… a Sour Cream and Onion Pringle, to be exact. Yes, that “Once you pop, you can’t stop” snack of stackable potato chips makes for the ideal complement. The assembly is drizzled with spicy mayo and eel sauce and finished with a sprinkling of tempura flakes. Cushioning each Tuna Cracker is a nest of carrot and radish strings. Some of the sauces inadvertently land on the carrots and radishes, making them a bonus snack of sorts.

Pringles hold a special place in Sky’s memory. “I remember as a kid in China back in the early nineties, and I saw them and I said, ‘Whoa, these are from the U.S.!’” He reminisces. “They were a special snack back in China. It’s something you never forget.”

Now, Tuna Cracker remains a special snack for Sky. “I like to eat them watching sports,” he points out. “They’re also really good with a scorpion bowl,” he laughs. Just take care in the handling of Tuna Cracker, as Pringles, if you’re unaware, can be quite fragile. It’s best to pop them into a yawning maw all at once if possible. And once you pop a Tuna Cracker, you won’t stop. Eleven years on, and we haven’t.

Saga Fusion
1560 Old Post Road, Marstons Mills
sagafusionma.com