Castaway Restaurant

1406 Oceanview Ave
Marathon, FL 33050
(305) 743-6247
Website

Castaway came highly recommended by the locals, as an off-the-beaten-path, solid dinner spot. Well, it certainly was off the beaten path, and the sushi was a welcome reprieve from days and days of eating grilled and sauteed fish. That being said, there was nothing too crazy here, but I would recommend it for some decent sushi in Marathon. It's tucked away down a dark back alley, and looks like you could get into some trouble if you aren't careful. However, this being the middle keys and all, it is a perfectly safe place to tuck into to satisfy your sushi craving.

I started with a green salad, nothing to write home about. Reminiscent of a mediocre iceberg salad from any regular old sushi bar, it did the trick. Keep in mind, Castaway has way more than just sushi, I am only commenting on the sushi because that's what I felt like eating.

Below is a spicy tuna and spicy conch roll. Doesn't matter much which is which. They had the same spicy red sauce that made them nearly indistinguishable. The only difference was that the conch was rather fishy. I don't know if it was old, or if that is the nature of raw conch, as it was my first time dabbling in the raw varietal.

Below is a specialty roll, the name of which escapes me. It included raw tuna, shrimp tempura, spicy mayo, a vegetable, etc. You get the picture. Specialty rolls are generally about the same, good, but too much of a mash-up of ingredients to really tell them apart.

Now on to my favorite, and the most "exotic" roll of the night. The fried chicken roll. That's right, fried chicken in a sushi roll. Be still my heart. They took crispy fried chicken, thinly sliced it, skin and all, added some coleslaw and rolled it up. Topped with some wasabi mayo the results were...good. I ordered it based on the novelty of the idea, but finished it based on the delicious contrast of textures. The crispy chicken and the snap of the nori was complemented by the cool coleslaw playing off of the heat of the wasabi. I was a big fan. I am always excited when I get to see something new in an unexpected place. Fried chicken sushi in the keys is just what I am talking about.