By Doris Wu

The Daily

Rain Modern Infusion Cuisine located at 2208 N.E. 45th St. in Wallingford offers fresh and incredible sushi at a relatively affordable price, along with a hip atmosphere that features live music and natural décor.

While the music was a little too loud and didn’t quite fit the Asian theme of light green walls and bamboo trim, the diners seemed to enjoy the energy produced by the guitar duo.

The restaurant seems to cater primarily to 20-year-old tattooed Seattleites. The wait staff was friendly and service was quick. Within minutes of sitting down, the waiter brought out a bowl of edamame sprinkled with salt to munch on.

Between meals, dishes are cleared and your cup is never completely empty. With a menu featuring an array of soups, salads, noodles and sushi, you’re bound to find what you’re craving. Rain also has a full bar and happy hour everyday from 4 to 6 p.m. that provides extremely cheap food considering its quality.

The roasted garlic calamari, served on a bed of greens, was very satisfying and just the right amount to hold me over until the main course. Although a little lukewarm, the calamari was fresh and had a nice zest to it. The asari miso soup had slightly more flavor than the regular miso soup but the clams were a little overdone. Otherwise it was perfect.

It started getting busy so the wait for the main course took a little longer than usual. To compensate, the waiter brought out a cold dish of some sort of fish spread out next to a salad, compliments of the house, and apologized for the wait. The live rock ‘n’ roll music was amazing and the portions were huge. They included five pieces of crab, cream cheese, eel and avocado in a tempura wrap that didn’t fall apart when I bit into it.

Rain also offers sushi with a soy wrap and sesame seeds. The shrimp roll is delicious; although simpler in taste, the presentation is nothing short of eye candy. If you’re willing to spend a little more, try the king crab nabeyaki udon. Otherwise the wide selection of nigiri by the piece — also offered sashimi style — rain maki and tempura maki will be sure to satisfy any craving.

The Dessert menu offers chocolate lava cake as well as green tea tempura, which includes two scoops of green tea, wrapped in pound cake, dipped in tempura batter and flash fried for the more adventurous. While I wouldn’t take a date here — unless you want a sore throat from talking over the rumble — Rain is the place to go for a few drinks and some sushi before a night out.