Road Tips

Nobori Sushi - Glenview, IL

Whenever I get into a "food funk" on the road, I've found that sushi usually pulls me out of it.  One evening in the northern Chicago suburbs, I wasn't certain what I wanted for dinner.  I didn't want pizza since I knew I was going to go out for pizza the next evening.  A burger was out of the question.  I thought about Thai food or a steak, but those ideas just didn't trip my trigger.  I did a quick Urbanspoon search to see what was in the area and found a place called Nobori Sushi on Waukegan Ave. in Glenview.  (see map)  I set my GPS and took off for Nobori Sushi.

Noburu Nakamura is the man behind Nobori Sushi.  He grew up in the Kanto region of Japan and immigrated to the U.S. over 30 years ago to work in a sushi restaurant in New York City.  There are dozens of sushi restaurants in Greenwich Village and Noburu found work at one such restaurant.  About 25 years ago, he moved to Chicago and began to work in a number of sushi places around the area.  

In 2010, Noburu decided to open his own sushi restaurant suburban Glenview in a strip mall along busy Waukegan Ave.  The name "Nobori" means "sun rising in the morning" and Nakamura believed the restaurant would also rise to greatness.  

It was around 7:30 when I entered Nobori Sushi.  The place was half full of patrons, so seating was no problem.  I looked to sit at the sushi bar as I'm want to do when I eat sushi by myself, but there were curiously no chairs in front of the small sushi case.  I was ushered toward the back of the restaurant and given a menu by, I believe, Mr. Noburu Nakamura himself. 

The restaurant is not large and has your typical contemporary Japanese restaurant decor.  A number of tables and chairs hug the wall and it has a number of can lights that helped keep the ambiance to the restaurant warm and inviting.  

I was there for the sushi even though Nobori Sushi has a number of teriyaki entrees including chicken teriyaki, beef and asparagus teriyaki, and tuna or salmon teriyaki.  They also had a number of noodle-based dishes to choose from on the menu including ramen noodles and yakisoba with chicken, vegetables and noodles.  

When Noburu came back to ask me what I wanted to drink I asked for an Asahi beer, then told him that I was ready to order up some sushi.   I ordered a spicy tuna roll, some smoked salmon sushi, as well as tuna, yellowtail and shrimp sushi.  He said he'd have it right out.  

And less than 10 minutes later he came over with the sushi platter.  The spicy tuna rolls were wrapped with seaweed and weren't exactly the largest spicy tuna rolls I've ever had.  But they were very good and had a nice kick to the flavor.  The smoked salmon sushi was also very good with a nice forward smoke flavor to the bite.  I liked the shrimp sushi, as well.  It had a nice sweet taste and the shrimp meat was firm, not soggy.  While the tuna was also pretty good, I'll have to say the yellowtail was a little mushy and had a hint of a fishy taste to it.  It was probably at the end of its cycle in the sushi case, but it was far from bad.  

Noburu came over after I finished and asked if I wanted another Asahi or more sushi.  I contemplated getting a couple more pieces of either the tuna or the smoked salmon, but decided I'd had enough.  I was full enough from what I had just eaten.

 

Nobori Sushi was fine - a pleasant find of a good sushi meal.  The service was fine, the food was above average and the place was comfortable.  Not being able to sit at the sushi bar to watch the chefs prepare the meal was a little disheartening, but I was comfortable at the table.   There's a number of good to great sushi places in the Glenview/Northbrook area and Nobori Sushi can be added to that list.  

Yokohama Japanese Cuisine & Sushi Bar - Greenwood, IN

I had to do a training for a dealer in the south Indianapolis suburb of Greenwood one morning, so I got into the hotel the night before and decided to find someplace to eat that evening.  A quick look through Urbanspoon of area restaurants showed me a number of places to eat.  I found an interesting place - a sushi restaurant by the name of Yokohama Japanese Cuisine and Sushi Bar.  I decided that sushi wouldn't be too bad for dinner that evening, so I headed over to Yokohama for dinner.

Yokohama has been in business since 2008, but has suffered from a somewhat checkered past.  The original owners were an older couple who garnered a foul reputation with people who visited the place.  The only saving grace was the sushi chef - Debbie - who was outgoing, friendly and personable.  

Debbie is a native of Taiwan and had begun to work at Yokohama not long after it opened.  She had owned a Chinese restaurant previously and ended up selling it to take care of her ailing parents.  The owners of Yokohama knew Debbie and asked her to come to work for them right after they opened the doors in 2008.  After working at Yokohama for awhile, she decided she wanted to be a sushi chef.   Reviews of the place were overwhelmingly negative except for Debbie and her sushi.  

In early 2011, the couple who owned Yokohama decided they wanted to retire.  Debbie had an idea that she would like to buy the place.  Her husband, Scott, was retired from Chrysler with a work place disability and she asked him one day, "What do you think if I buy the restaurant?"  He said he wanted to think about it for awhile and she replied, "Well, you better hurry up because we bought it yesterday."  Two days later, using their savings and getting loans from family members, the couple closed on the property and they were the new owners of Yokohama.  The couple knew it was far from a sure thing and they had to repair a damaged reputation the restaurant had garnered.  

Debbie and Scott Bennett - owners of Yokohama 

The Bennett's put up a sign out front "Under New Management" and tried to gain back some of the customers who said they'd never go back.  Scott Bennett used social media to get the news out that there were new owners at Yokohama and went on restaurant review web sites to reply to those who had trashed the restaurant after previous visits.  Within a couple three months, Scott Bennett estimated that they had won back about 60 percent of their previous customers.  A lot of it had to do with the fact that it was Debbie running the place.   

Family members make up the bulk of the staff at Yokohama. Everyone on the staff can do any job in the restaurant - from making sushi, to cooking in the kitchen, to waiting tables, to maintanence work.  But Debbie continues to be the main sushi chef and the friendly face of Yokohama.  

Going from the Central time zone to the Eastern time zone, I always end up eating late when I get to Indianapolis.  It was 7:00 p.m. body-time and 8:00 p.m. real time when I started out toward Yokohama.  I was surprised to find that Yokohama was actually in a house on Madison Avenue in Greenwood, just north of Main St. (see map)  I parked in the small parking lot behind the restaurant and went in.

Yokohama is not large - it seats about 40 people and it can get pretty crowded on the weekends.  There's a small seating area as you walk in the front door and two small dining rooms on the main floor.  Yokohama also has a private dining area for more traditional Japanese dining in an upstairs room.  Two young ladies were seated in the dining area to the left as you come in the main part of the restaurant.  Other than those two and me, that was it.  But it was 8:30 on a weeknight and Yokohama closes at 9 p.m.  

 

The sushi bar is in the back corner of the building and I walked in to sit there.  Debbie Bennett greeted me with a big smile and a boisterous personality.  She was immediately likable.  I believe it was Debbie's sister who came over and gave me a menu and asked what I wanted to drink.  I asked if they had Asahi beer and she enthusiastically replied, "Sure!"  

I was just going to get sushi, so I filled out a sushi roll/nigiri sheet.  I always love getting a spicy tuna roll, but I was having trouble finding it on the sheet.  I asked Debbie if she had a spicy tuna roll and she said, "Oh, yes!  It's right here!"  And she pointed it out on the sheet.  She said, "You want a spicy tuna roll?"  I told her that I did and a few other things.  She said, "I'll get started on the spicy tuna, OK?"  

I also ordered up some smoked salmon, regular salmon, regular tuna and yellowtail.  Debbie handed the spicy tuna roll over the refrigerated case.  It was a bigger roll - 8 pieces total.  And it was very good.  The spicy tuna roll had a wonderful taste.  

After finishing my tuna roll, Debbie handed me my nigiri plate.  I got four pieces of smoked salmon - my favorite type of sushi - and two each regular of the salmon, tuna and yellowtail.  The smoked salmon was very good as it had a nice smoked flavor that wasn't overwhelming.  The regular salmon was also good, but the tuna and especially the yellowtail were a little fishy in taste.  They were still edible, but not the best tuna or yellowtail I've had.  

The only quibble I had was that Yokohama was a little pricey.  It was just under $50 bucks before the tip.  But with Debbie's fun and infectious personality, it was fine with me.  I can't imagine what Yokohama was like before the Bennett's owned the place, but the sushi was certainly good and it was a fun time.  I love finding little sushi places while I'm on the road and now that Yokohama is on my radar, I'm sure I'll be back at some point.

Osaka Seafood Steakhouse - Bloomington, MN

Not far from the hotel I like to stay at in suburban Bloomington, MN is a restaurant called Osaka Seafood Steakhouse.  Sort of burned out on all different types of food, I thought maybe some sushi would be a good meal one particular evening.  I had seen Osaka from the freeway a number of times and decided to make the short run from the hotel to see what they had to offer.

Osaka Seafood Steakhouse is a hibachi/sushi restaurant with six locations in and around the Twin Cities, a location in Rochester, MN, and a location up in Fargo, ND.  Actually, most of the locations have "Osaka Sushi & Hibachi" on the outside of their buildings, but I guess their official name now includes the Seafood and Steakhouse, something they added after they opened locations in Bloomington, Fargo and Rochester. 

The Osaka location in Bloomington is located off American Blvd. on Southtown Boulevard, next to I-494 and just west of the Southtown Center shopping complex.  (see map)   It's located in the north end of a parking lot they share with Rainbow Foods, a local Twin Cities-area chain of grocery stores.  

It was around 8 p.m. when I walked in and was greeted by a hostess at the stand inside the front door.  She asked me if I wanted to sit at a table or booth in the dining area (below left), or at the hibachi grill.  I asked if I could just sit at the sushi bar and it sort of startled her.  "Oh, sure!  Of course!  You want sushi!"

The sushi bar at Osaka isn't all that large.  It seats, maybe, a dozen people and there were two couples already seated there when I got in.  It's opposite a regular bar where no one was seated.  The hostess had a menu in her hands, but when I told her that I was just going to get sushi, she took that away.   

Another young girl came over and took my drink order.  I ordered a tall bottle of Asahi and looked at the sushi check list while I waited.  I'm pretty predictable when it come to sushi - spicy tuna roll, smoked salmon, regular salmon, tuna and usually some yellowtail or fluke.  I ordered a couple pieces of the yellowtail as well as some spicy tuna sushi that evening in addition to the other stuff when she came back with my beer.  

Not long after I ordered my sushi, one of the sushi chefs handed me a platter over the top of the refrigerated case.  The spicy tuna rolls featured a generous 8 pieces.  The other sushi had nice big chunks of fish on the hand-rolled rice.  The spicy tuna sushi had a crunch topping to it.  It was a lot of sushi.

The spicy tuna rolls were all right, nothing real special.  The smoked salmon had a nice smoked flavor to it, and the tuna was very fresh in taste.  The spicy tuna, well, I didn't think it was all that spicy.  The rest of the sushi was basically average, at best.  It wasn't bad, but far from the best sushi I've had.  

Halfway through my meal, I was out of beer.  I asked for another bottle of Asahi and the girl brought me back a large bottle of Kirin.  She said, "We are out of Asahi, sir.  Would you like Kirin instead?"  It was already opened, but I asked if they had Sapporo.  She said they didn't.  I took the bottle of Kirin and the first drink reminded me why I didn't order Kirin.  Its bitter taste was a complete contrast to the smooth taste of the Asahi that I had.  Wait a minute - a sushi place that is out of Asahi and doesn't carry Sapporo?  It was the middle of the week, but that's no excuse.  I don't care for Kirin and I only drank about half before I gave up.  To her credit, she did comp me on the bottle of Kirin because I told her I didn't like it.  

All in all, the sushi at Osaka was good, but not the best, as I said.  For being close to the hotel, it was fine.  But I'm sure I probably could have found better sushi with a little bit of a drive.  Still, for what it was, the sushi at Osaka was acceptable.  Compared to other sushi places, it was a good value.  Osaka has nine locations so they must be pretty popular with the locals.  To me, it was all right for what it was.  

Kamehachi - Northbrook, IL

I had been on the road for a few days and ended up in the northern suburbs of Chicago one evening.  I was tired of burgers, didn't want a pizza, thought about going to find a steak, but I soon lost interest in that.  I realized that I hadn't had seafood for a while, but didn't feel like finding a seafood restaurant.  However, sushi came into my mind and while I was tempted to go back to one of my all-time favorite sushi places - Blu Fish - I decided to seek out another place for sushi.  (Click here to see my entry on Blu Fish.) Looking through Urbanspoon, I found a sushi place in Northbrook - Kamehachi.  I got the address and put it into the GPS.  In less than 10 minutes from my hotel, I pulled up in front of Kamehachi.

The original Kamehachi has a long history in the city of Chicago.  It is recognized as being the first place to get sushi in the Chicagoland area.  In the mid-60's, Marion Konishi, a young Japanese-American mother of two from San Diego who grew up in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, moved to Chicago with the help of relatives who ran restaurants in New York.  She opened Kamehachi in 1967 - the name roughly means "8 turtles" in Japanese.  Turtles and the number 8 are considered a sign of luck and longevity in Japanese culture.  Trying to make a go of a cuisine that was completely foriegn to the meat and potatoes crowd in Chicago in the 60's, Konishi worked as a server, greeter, sushi chef and cook at the restaurant.  Working with Japanese men whose upbringing viewed women as subserviant, Konishi's firm and forward manner in her restaurant garnered her the moniker of "The Dragon Lady".  

Kamehachi's first location was on N. Wells St. in an area that was sort of a hippie/Bohemian enclave in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.  Kamehachi's unique cuisine caught on with the laid back neighborhood and was a favorite of many of the young and rising stars who graced the stage at the famed Second City theater just across the street.  Notable actors such as John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis all dined at Kamehachi in Old Town before they became famous.   

Marion Konishi passed away in 1990 and her daughter, Sharon Perazzoli, took over Kamehachi.  Four years later, she moved the original restaurant from the small building they had been in for nearly 25 years to a larger location two blocks south to the corner of Wells and Schiller. (see map)  In 1999, the Northbrook location opened and three years later, Kamehachi opened a location in the Streeterville neighborhood in Chicago.  Perazzoli and her daughter, Giulia Sindler, (pictured right) oversee five Kamehachi locations across the greater Chicagoland area.

The Northbrook location is in a shopping/restaurant area along Shermer Road across from Village Green park in what would be downtown Northbrook. (see map)  I had never been in that part of Northbrook before and was surprised to see a number of other restaurants in the immediate area. I made notes of what I saw while I was driving around so I could go back and try some of the places at a later time.  I was able to find a parking spot right in front of Kamehachi on Shermer Road. 

I went in the front door and soon found out that it even though it faced the road, the front door of Kamehachi is actually on the opposite end of the restaurant facing the parking lot behind the building.  However, a young server saw me come in and asked where I'd like to sit.  There was a sushi bar and a small bar opposite the sushi chefs.  I took a seat at the sushi bar and she dropped off a menu for me.  

The restaurant, itself, featured a contemporary decor with recessed can lighting in the ceiling.  A series of Japanese-inspired prints hung on the wall on the east side of the restaurant.  The dining room was large and comfortable.

The sushi bar was pretty big and they had five sushi chefs working that evening.  A waterwall bubbled behind the sushi chefs.  It was sort of a nice and soothing touch as you sit at the sushi bar.  

A young man came by to ask me what I wanted to drink.  I asked for an Asahi beer, but they only had Sapporo.  That's fine with me.  Asahi is usually No. 1 with me for Japanese beers while Sapporo is No. 1A.  

Other than sushi, Kamehachi has a number of cooked entrees including chicken or steak teriyaki, Chilean sea bass, and sukiyaki - slices of tender beef simmered with cabbage, tofu, onions and mushrooms and served with Japanese noodles.  Speaking noodle dishes, Kamehachi features a number of entrees with all types of noodles - thick noodles, thin noodles, tea noodles and some others - many of which can have beef, chicken or seafood added.

But I was there for the sushi and I was hungry.  I had only had a breakfast bar during the course of the day and I started out by ordering two of the Spicy Tuna Roll Deluxe - a regular spicy tuna roll with cucumber and avacado added.  It's like a California roll, only with tuna and the spicy mayo added.  I was surprised when it came out so soon - less than five minutes after I ordered and the restaurant was pretty busy.  The Spicy Tuna Rolls were, well, sort of bland.  They didn't have quite the zip in taste that I've had in other tuna rolls at other places.  I will say, however, that the wasabi was pungent and very forward when mixed with the soy sauce, and the ginger was some of the freshest and best tasting that I've ever had.

I then ordered up some of the Chu Toro (medium fatty tuna), smoked salmon, regular tuna and yellow tail.  The order of sushi also came up rather fast.  I tried the Chu Toro first and found it to be nice and chewy, but it had a hint of a fishy taste, sort of like it was getting toward the end of its shelf life in the sushi bar case.  The smoked salmon didn't have much of a smoked taste to it, which was very disappointing.  I love a good smoked salmon and Kamehachi's was not that great.  The yellow tail and regular tuna were all right.  They weren't anything special in taste.  I thought the whole meal was sort of average, at best.

The sushi I had at Kamehachi was all right - it wasn't the best I've ever had, nor was it the worst.  I also thought it was a little expensive for what I got.  I didn't think the sushi had the great taste sensation that I look for in sushi, but the wasabi did help and the ginger was probably the most fresh ginger I'd ever had at a sushi restaurant.  Still, I was good and full after the meal and I wasn't sorry that I found Kamehachi.  If anything, finding Kamehachi opened up other possibilites of eating establishments in the immediate area.  (Photo courtesy Michelle Reitman)

Fuji Sushi and Steakhouse - Waite Park, MN

Over the years, I've found that sushi in the Midwest, especially in smaller cities, is usually a hit or miss kind of thing.  That's why when I agreed to meet with the co-owners who run an audio/video dealership we sell to in St. Cloud, MN over sushi last year, I was a little less than eager to meet up with them at the place - Fuji Sushi and Steakhouse.  However, the sushi was surprisingly excellent, as was the hibachi steak that we had, as well.  When I was in the St. Cloud area earlier this summer, I set up another lunch appointment at Fuji Sushi and Steakhouse.   This time, I was actually looking forward to the meal.  

In May of 2010 when a lot of restaurants were closing up due to the downturn in the economy, Fuji Sushi and Steakhouse opened their doors on the corner of S. 2nd St. and S. 2nd Ave. in Waite Park, a small connected suburb to St. Cloud's Southwest side (see map).  Pat Rogosheske is the managing partner in the place.  Rogosheske was born and raised in Japan and had about 25 years of restaurant experience before opening the doors to Fuji Sushi and Steakhouse.  The restaurant has thrived on the strength of great food at a good price.  Rogosheske does a lot of promoting of the restaurant through in-house specials and discounts.  

The entry way of the restaurant features a cozy waiting area and hostess stand.  The bar is off to the left as you walk down the hall to the main dining room.  There's a sushi bar opposite the regular bar with a number of booths in a lounge nearby.

The main dining room features six hibachi stations where the chefs give diners a "Benihana"-type experiece, complete with all the hibachi chef's food tricks.  As I said, we had both sushi and hibachi last year and it was very, very good.  On this visit, we opted to sit at the sushi bar, conduct some business and have some lunch.

We took a look through the menu, but one of the guys told me they had some killer lunch specials.  As I said, one of Pat Rogosheske's marketing plans is offer discounts and specials - especially during lunch.  One of the daily lunch specials that is your choice of two sushi rolls with a cup of the miso soup for $9.95.  Now, that's a killer deal.  I remembered their spicy tuna rolls were very good from the year before, so I ordered two of those with the miso soup.  One of the guys from my dealer ordered a couple rolls on his own with the soup while the other guy ordered a the sushi roll and five pieces of sushi special.  The time to make the rolls and sushi gave us ample time to go over programs, numbers and get caught up with what was what.

The sushi/sushi roll was the first thing to come out.  The presentation was very nice with the roll in the middle with the five pieces of sushi spoked out from the center.  Remarkably, the sushi is as fresh as fresh can be for a sushi place in St. Cloud, MN.  It doesn't have a fishy taste to it - something I've run into in much larger cities.  

After finishing the miso soup, our sushi rolls came out.  The spicy tuna rolls were, once again, outstanding.  They had a nice texture to the bite and a nice little spicy zip to the taste.  I was overly happy with the rolls, but I was thinking I wanted to try something else.

The other guy who got the same special as me also thought he needed a couple pieces of sushi, so we ordered up about 8 more pieces that we shared between the two of us.  The smoked salmon was delicious, as was the maguro tuna.  I remarked, "This is so unbelievable that you guys can have this good of sushi in St. Cloud.  I'd put this place up against sushi places in much larger cities."  

One of the guys said, "Oh, yeah.  We've had sushi in a lot of places and we think this place is one of the best we've ever had.  I'll tell you, it blows away most of the sushi places in the Twin Cities."  

Thanks to these guys, I've had some pretty good and memorable meals in St. Cloud over the past few years, but it's tough to beat Fuji Sushi and Steakhouse for great sushi.   The lunch specials are a bargain, but the sushi can be a little high priced.  But, still, to get sushi that good in a small market is worth the extra price.  After two visits to Fuji Sushi and Steakhouse, I can't say enough good things about the sushi at the place.  It's truly remarkable and - surprisingly - very good.  

Blufish Sushi Bistro - Glenview, IL

I happened upon Blufish Sushi Bistro one evening when I was in the northern suburbs of Chicago. The on-line description of the place was sort of vague, but it got a number of glowing user reviews on Google. I thought I'd check the place out to see if it was really worthy of the five stars everyone seemed to be giving the place.

Blufish Sushi Bistro is located in the Playa del Prado shopping center at the corner of Willow Road and Pfingsten in the Glenview/Northbrook area. (see map) The main store in the L-shaped strip mall is a Jewel-Osco store on the east side, and Blufish Sushi Bistro is located on the south side of the strip mall, just to the west of a McDonald's and a Starbucks. Blufish has a second location that opened in the summer of 2011 in Park Ridge, about five miles south of the Glenview location. (see map)

Blufish Sushi Bistro is a contemporary Japanese restaurant that features, of course, sushi, as well as steaks, seafood, and eclectic food fare such as Beef Tataki - thin slices of seared beef served with a Ponzu sauce; Gyoza - pan fried and steamed pork-wasabi dumplings; and shumai - steamed shrimp dumplings served with a spicy sauce.

Blufish features a pleasant and cozy dining area with a small lounge in the front. Contemporary fixtures and lighting are found throughout the place. One side of the dining room has banquette bench seating. I'm not a big fan of this type of seating in a restaurant. It's like you're sharing a seat with the person next to you, often someone you don't know. I was greeted by a pleasant hostess and I asked if there was room at the sushi bar. There happened to be one seat left. Yes, yes - I know. I don't like to sit in banquette seats because it's like sharing a seat with a stranger. But I'll sit right next to a person I don't know at a sushi bar, sharing the table top. I'm weird about that.

The hostess guided me to a seat at the far end of the rather unique sushi bar and she gave me a menu to look through. The table top of the bar was underlit with a soothing aqua blue light. It was like nothing I've ever come across before. Vota candles were lined up along the top of sushi bar.

Quite actually, the sushi menu at Blufish was immense. Not only did they have the individual nigiri sushi, they had a number of interesting rolls and featured sushi entrees. One that jumped out at me was the Dragon Fire -it featured soft-shell crab, asparagus, & eel all wrapped with thin slices of tuna. It's then topped with black tobiko (which is flying fish roe - I had to ask) then topped with a chili sauce. It's then covered with Bacardi 151 rum and set on fire. It sort of sounded like the Playboy roll at Naked Tchopstix in Indianapolis. That's the kind of sushi roll you want to share with more than one person because the lighting of the flame is good entertainment.

Blufish also had the Tuna Flight - a sampling of all the tunas available that evening. And they had 7 different types of tuna on the menu and I thought that would be a great starter. I ordered one of the Tuna Flights and a large bottle of Asahi beer. The waitress came back and apologetically said that they had sold out of the O-toro and Chu-toro tuna - the two fattiest grades (and the best tasting) of all sushi tuna cuts. I picked up the menu again and quickly ordered a spicy tuna roll as well as a spicy salmon roll (something I don't see very often in sushi restaurants). I also ordered a couple pieces each of the tuna, smoked salmon and the yellowtail.

Even though Blufish was busy, my sushi platter showed up in front of me in less than 10 minutes. The presentation was absolutely stunning. I just sort of sat there and looked at the platter for a minute before I dug in.

The first thing I tried was the spicy tuna roll. It was great - it had a sneaky spicy taste to it. But the better of the two spicy rolls was the salmon roll. It was even a little more spicy and had a wonderful sushi flavor to it. Both the spicy tuna and spicy salmon rolls were wrapped in seaweed, another nice little touch you don't often find at other sushi places.

The tuna sushi was outstanding, as was the yellowtail. The yellowtail had absolutely no hint of fishy taste to it, something that I encounter from time to time at other sushi restaurants. The smoked salmon was a little disappointing - it didn't have that good smoky flavor I like in my smoked salmon sushi. But, still, it was excellent in quality and taste. I was far from disappointed in my sushi at Blufish.

Blufish Sushi Bistro has just gone to the top of my list for sushi restaurants in the north suburbs of Chicago. The atmosphere was excellent, the interior of the place was interesting and the food - and service - was top-notch. Blufish was absolutely fabulous. There's a lot of very good to great sushi places in the Chicagoland region and Blufish is definitely one of them.

Red Ginger - Bettendorf, IA

It's been somewhat of a Christmas time tradition for Cindy and I to go out for sushi and then take in a movie on Christmas Eve.  Later this week will probably no exception as there's a couple movies I would like to see and there's some pretty good sushi in the area.  One place that we like going to from time to time is a newer sushi place about a mile from where we live - Red Ginger. 

Red Ginger opened up in the summer of 2010 and we've been there about four or five times since it opened up.  It's housed in a small strip mall on the spot where Duck Creek Tire used to be before they moved further out in Bettendorf, behind Bruegger's Bagels and right across the parking lot from the Burlington Coat Factory store (see map). 

The interior decor of Red Ginger is a very contemporary theme with a nice bar area, a medium-sized dining room and a couple sunken booth tables off to the side for somewhat authentic Japanese dining.  (They even ask you to take your shoes off when dining.)  

We like to sit at the sushi bar when we go to Red Ginger.  It only seats six or seven people and it can get kind of crowded if it's full.  But one of the good things about the sushi bar is that the sushi chefs will give you a treat right off the bat.  This particular night, we both got an appetizer that consisted of broiled eel strips topped with a tangy sauce, some bamboo chutes and parsley.  It was actually pretty good.  

The menu at Red Ginger is just more than sushi.  You can get teriyaki and tempura dishes, chicken or pork tonkatsu (cutlets that are deep fried), as well as soups and salads.  Cindy especially likes the miso soup at Red Ginger.  Not that it's much different from anyplace else, she likes the taste of it.

They have a number of specialty rolls at Red Ginger including their Crazy Tuna rolls.  They take spicy tuna, and avacado and other things and roll them all together, then top them off with some more spicy tuna and breaded crunchies (foreground, picture below left).  Oh, boy, is it good.  It's expensive ($12.75), but it's a wonderful treat when we go there.  We started off with a Crazy Tuna roll as well as a Spicy Tuna roll.  The Spicy Tuna roll is actually a pretty good value at $4.75.  Most other sushi places charge upward of $6 to $7 bucks for a similar sushi roll.

We also ordered up pieces of tuna, yellowtail, salmon, smoked salmon and red snapper sushi (above right).  The fish has always been fresh tasting at Red Ginger and this visit was absolutely no exception.  I especially love the smoked salmon at Red Ginger.  It literally melts in your mouth and has a great taste to the fish.  Sometimes, I'll find yellowtail to be a little fishy in taste from some sushi places, but I've never run into that with the yellowtail at Red Ginger.  Along with a couple of Asahi beers for me and green tea for Cindy, it's a great meal.  But at $1.99 to $2.50 a piece, it adds up quick.

Because of the price of sushi - and the fact that we usually pig out when do eat sushi - we don't go to Red Ginger as often as I'd like.  It's usually a $75 dollar bill with tip each time we go out for sushi, so our sushi adventures are few and far between.  But they do have a very reasonably priced lunch menu where you can get four pieces of sushi, six pieces of sashimi (sushi with no rice) and a chef's choice roll for $11.95.  Red Ginger has been a wonderful addition to the rotation of restaurants we like to go to in the Quad Cities.  And we're happy that it's close to home.  

 

 

Wakaba - Deerfield, IL

On a recent trip to Chicago, I got into my hotel in Lincolnshire, IL one evening pretty late.  I was tired and just wanted to get something to eat.  I didn't want bar food and a steak would have been too much.  I remembered a sushi restaurant that I'd driven by a number of times that was just down the road a mile or so by the name of Wakaba.  I decided to throw my bags in my room and head down the road for some sushi. 

The name "Wakaba" is Japanese for "young leaves".  But I really don't know what that has to do with the Wakaba sushi restaurant located in the River Run Shopping Center on Milwaukee Ave. in Deerfield.  (see map)   The restaurant has been open since 1997 and is owned by Midong and Haeyoung Choi.  Even though the Choi's are natives of Seoul, Korea, they claim the restaurant is 100 percent Japanese.   By day, Midong Choi's main vocation is as an attorney.  At night, he trades in his coat and tie for a traditional sushi chef robe and headband.  His wife runs the kitchen full time at the restaurant. 

 

 
The interior of Wakaba is typical of most Japanese/sushi restaurants.  It's well-lit and filled with oriental-style furniture for the tables and chairs, as well as numerous oriental pieces of artwork on the wall.  A number of plants are throughout the place giving it sort of a Japanese garden vibe.  I'm guessing that must be the reason for the "Wakaba" name.  On one wall, they have a flat screen television playing a continuous loop of a tank full of tropical fish.  They must figure that it's a lot cheaper to maintain a flat screen and a DVD player than it is to futz with actually having a tropical fish aquarium. 

I sat at the sushi bar and they appeared to have a lot of good fresh fish to choose from in the glass cooler (above right).  I got a menu from the waitress and ordered an Asahi beer.  It had been a long day and I needed a cold beer. 

Wakaba offers much more than just your standard sushi on their menu.  They have a number of Japanese entrees that Haeyoung Choi makes up in the kitchen just off to the side of the sushi bar.  But I was interested in sushi that evening and that's what I got.

The first thing I noticed was that they had toro (fatty tuna).  I got a piece of that to go along with a spicy tuna roll, a couple pieces each of sweet shrimp, yellow tail, regular salmon and smoked salmon. 

Being that it was only me and two other gentlemen in the restaurant, the sushi chef (I'm guessing it was Midong Choi) took care of me pretty quickly.   He also threw in a couple of the deep-fried shrimp heads that I'll take if they're free and leave if they're not.

The spicy tuna rolls were not very good.  I can't say they were all that spicy and the tuna was like mush.  They had a seaweed wrapping around them and I only got five pieces (most places will give you six).

The toro was fine, but the yellow tail was very fishy in taste.  The smoked salmon wasn't all that smoky and the regular salmon, too, had a heavy fishiness to its taste.  The sweet shrimp were the best of the tastes that I had that evening and even they weren't much to write home about.

I finished quickly and just wanted to get back to the hotel as I had some e-mails to return and needed to go to bed rather early.  I finished up and the sushi chef said, "You eat so fast!  You want more?"

I begged off and told him that I was tired and needed to get back to the hotel.  The whole time I was thinking, "Geez, I may need to get back to the hotel in case I get sick!"  Thankfully, I didn't get sick from the sushi at Wakaba.

 

Wakaba wasn't very good that evening.  I don't think they've been able to stay in business for 14 years by having sushi that was as bad as what I had that night.  I'm hoping it was just an anomaly, but I'm not certain I'm willing to give Wakaba a second chance.  Not with a number of other sushi restaurants in the area.

Naked Tchopstix - Indianapolis

 
I'm doing a lot more business with a company out in Indianapolis - Ovation Audio Video - and I had to go out to Indy to do some training for some of their salespeople a few weeks ago.  Since I only get out to Indy about two or three times a year, I always treat the guys to a nice meal somewhere.  They know that I don't like chains or restaurants that I can eat at back home in Iowa, so they always do a great job in coming up with unique restaurants to the Indianapolis area for us to go.  This particular evening, they picked out Naked Tchopstix - a Pan-Asian/Sushi Bar with two locations in Indianapolis and one up in Fort Wayne (see locations here).  We went to the location at 96th and Keystone on the North side of Indy (see map).

David and Maggie Lee opened the first Naked Tchopstix restaurant back in 2003.  Since then, they've won numerous local awards for having some of the best Asian food in the Indianapolis area.  Many of the items on their dinner menu feature twists on Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Southeast Asian cuisine.  They also have an extensive and eclectic sushi menu that the guys from Ovation were saying is one of the best in the city.   One of the guys was telling me their Korean-style food was just excellent, as well. 

We sat at a large table toward the back corner of the restaurant, too large for the six of us who went out to dinner, but large enough where we weren't on top of one another.  Actually, the table was a little to large for the little riser deck that it was on and I can see where some people have probably slid their chairs backward and fallen off the 9 inch deck.  The restaurant, itself, was full of large sturdy tables and oriental style wooden chairs.  Oriental lamps hung from the ceilings and small bamboo trees were interspersed around the dining room.

I was set on getting some sushi, but I was sort of intrigued by a Korean dish they had on the menu, the spicy pork - grilled pork that is sliced, then seasoned in a spicy red pepper marinade and served with rice and a vegetable medley.  I got that and a little bit of sushi to go along with it. 

While most of the others got sushi, one of the guys got the General Tso's chicken - basically breaded chicken nuggets, deep-fried and then served in a tangy orange sauce.  He told me, "I've had General Tso's chicken at a lot of places in my life, but these guys do it the absolute best."

 A lot of people were getting sushi at Naked Tchopstix that evening, so our entrees showed up before the sushi did.  The spicy pork dish lived up to its billing.  The pork was succulent and tender, and the red pepper marinade that they put the pork into gave it a nice spicy bite, but not enough that it was burn your face off hot.  It wasn't a large plate so it was just enough food to go along with the sushi that I got.

I got a five piece spicy tuna roll along with two pieces each of the maguro (tuna), sake (salmon), tai (red snapper) and some smoked salmon.  I had made a significant dent in the spicy pork entree when the sushi showed up at that table.

And the sushi was very good.  While we all agreed that Mikado in downtown Indianapolis could very well be the best sushi in all of Indianapolis, Naked Tchopstix did a very good job with their sushi.  The sushi was very fresh and tasty, although the spicy tuna roll could have been a little more spicy.

The guys ordered up a ton of sushi to share among themselves.  And they got some pretty eclectic stuff.  Naked Tchopstix has a special roll called the Corona Roll that a couple of the guys ordered up.  It featured white tuna, spicy tuna, avocado, tempura chips and a slice of lime on top (below left).  There was also the Rainbow roll (pictured below on the far right) that consisted of tuna, salmon, red snapper, white tuna, avocado, and sweet shrimp on the outside with avocado, crab meat and cucumber on the inside.   I had a bite of both of them and they were just outstanding. 

 

But the most interesting food of the night was the Playboy roll.  First of all, it comes to your table wrapped in foil and the waiter poured a little cognac around the base of the foil and set it on fire.  When the cognac burned out, he unfoiled the sushi roll and set it on the table.  What's in a Playboy roll is just unbelievable - it's an inside/outside roll with shrimp tempura, asparagus, tempura chips and spicy tuna on the inside and cooked shrimp with a spicy and sweet sauce on the outside.  Oh man!  Was it good.  I had a piece and the charred taste from the ritualistic table side torching of the foiled sushi roll was a taste sensation that I'd had before with the chargrilled octopus from Estiatorios Milos in Montreal.  The Playboy roll was so good that it was quickly gobbled up by all of us at the table.  I didn't hesitate when the waiter came back to order up another one.  And no one complained when I did.  The second Playboy roll was just as good as the first one. 

 

The guys at Ovation do a great job of turning me on to some great restaurants in the Indianapolis area and Naked Tchopstix was no exception.   With the CEDIA Expo coming back to Indianapolis later this year, there's no doubt that I'll be called upon to come up with some suggestions of great places to eat when we're in town that week in September.  Brugge Brasserie is one place that will be high on the list - a place that the Ovation guys took me to last year and I enjoyed thoroughly.  But Naked Tchopstix is also a good option as we all like to go out for sushi at least once during our time together as a company.  Naked Tchopstix is more than just basic sushi - it's eclectic sushi with a number of fascinating pan-Asian items on the menu.  I hope to be doing a lot more business with the Ovation Audio Video guys as I'll have to go back out to Indianapolis and enjoy more of what the area has to offer in great restaurants.   

Little Sushi on the Prairie - Eden Prairie, MN

I had to break one of my cardinal rules in traveling this winter - never drive above the Minnesota/Iowa border between Dec. 1 and Feb. 28.  With business prospects beginning to wake up in the Twin Cities, I had to go up for a couple meetings in late January.  Actually, other than it being cold and the ground covered with a ton of snow from a huge snowfall they received in December, the weather wasn't that overly bad.  I got into my hotel in Eden Prairie about 7 p.m. and I was ready to go get something to eat.  I ended up at a little place with a unique name - Little Sushi on the Prairie (see map). 

Actually, I wanted to go next door to Punch Neapolitan Pizza on the recommendation of a good friend in the Twin Cities area.  However, Punch was packed with a full dining room and a line nearly out the door.  I had mentioned that Punch was packed to someone the next day and they were incredulous that it would have been that busy on a Tuesday night.  It turned out that Punch had been named one of "The Best Places I Have Been" by Twin Cities native Andrew Zimmern who hosts "Bizarre Foods" on The Travel Channel.  They were offering a one night only special of $3 dollar pizzas - no matter how many toppings you wanted on a pizza, it was $3 bucks.  So it was no wonder the place was so packed. 

As I was getting ready to drive out of the parking lot to go someplace else, I caught the "Little Sushi on the Prairie" sign.  I thought, "Whoa!  Kind of an interesting name for a sushi joint.  Sushi!  That doesn't sound half-bad."  I was able to find a parking spot tucked in at the far end of the lot and went inside to the place. 

Tom Thoj is the owner of Little Sushi on the Prairie, a combination sushi/tempura restaurant.  But everyone thinks the owner is Monzong Thao - or better known as "Mo" - who is the likable and highly visible sushi chef at Little Sushi.  Mo was in that evening, doing his magic with the nigiri sushi and he was assisted by - I believe he was introduced as - Billy.  I took a seat at the small sushi bar and an older lady came over to see if I wanted a menu.  I told her that I was going to just get sushi and that I wanted a large bottle of Asahi to start me out.  

Little Sushi on the Prairie is not an overly large place and there was only two other people in the very vibrant looking dining room that evening.  The walls on the south and west side of the dining room are painted in pastel colors with fish and sea life the prominent features in the picture.  The chairs all are sturdy, high-backed wood with a nice leather seat to them.  Even though it's hidden back in a strip mall, it probably gets a lot of business from shoppers and business people in the area.  In fact, the Minnesota Vikings training facility is not far from Little Sushi on the Prairie and I understand that a number of players will come in and get sushi from the place during the season. 

I looked over the sushi menu and immediately ordered a spicy tuna roll.  Mo asked me if I liked it spicy and I said, "Of course!"  When the lady got back with my Asahi, I was ready to order some more - I ordered salmon, tuna, yellow tail, red snapper and the sweet shrimp.  The lady asked me, "Do you want us to cut the head and deep fry it?  We'll do that for no extra charge."

I found that to be sort of repulsive the first time I had it at a sushi place in Davenport.  It was given to Cindy and I to try for free and Cindy couldn't get past the eyes looking at her.  After a couple bites of the deep-fried, battered shrimp head I just had to tell myself to not dwell on what I was eating - sort of the same ritual I did when I first started to eat sushi some years ago.  But now, it doesn't bug me.  Sure, if you're gonna offer it for no extra charge, go for it!

 
The spicy tuna roll (above left) was very, very good.  It had a nice kick to the spiciness and was a great start to the meal.  By the time my tuna roll was finished, Billy handed over the plate of the nigiri sushi to me (top right).  The fish was fresh - especially the tuna and the salmon.  It was just wonderful.  I was almost finished with my sushi plate and Mo handed over the sweet shrimp, which was also good.  As I was waiting on the shrimp heads, I ordered up a couple more pieces of the tuna nigiri, which was the highlight of the meal.  And about the time Billy handed me my two new pieces of tuna, the lady brought out the shrimp heads.  And they were just GREAT!  I don't know what kind of tempura batter they use on them, but the taste was out of this world.  I just had to mentally get past the crunchiness of the head.   

I was talking to a friend of mine, Bob Boyd, the next day and I told him that I had ended up at Little Sushi on the Prairie.  He exclaimed, "Little Sushi!  That's my place, man!  Isn't that place great?"

It certainly was.  I'm always looking to be pleasantly surprised when I find a hidden gem of a restaurant in my travels and Little Sushi on the Prairie certainly didn't disappoint.  The sushi was great, I had a good time with the sushi chefs and the service was pretty good.  It's sort of a hard place to find in Eden Prairie, but now that I've found it, I'll be back. 

Mirai Sushi - Chicago

I've been meaning to take the guys from Decibel Audio out for dinner at some point.  They're one of my largest dealers and great guys, to boot.  I made a point to schedule my meeting with them late in the day and then go out to dinner afterward.  The only problem is that there are many, many great restaurants in the vicinity near Decibel Audio, so the choices were overwhelming.  One of the guys said, "Well, we could do Japanese."

I asked, "What kind of Japanese?"

He said, "Sushi.  There's a great place called Mirai Sushi over on Division Street, but it's a little pricey." 

I replied, "Let's go.  You guys deserve it." 

Now, if the name Decibel Audio rings a bell for some of you movie buffs, it's because the name was featured prominently in the John Cusack film, High Fidelity.  Many of the scenes were filmed in the same neighborhood on N. Milwaukee where Decibel Audio is located and Cusack wore a Decibel Audio t-shirt during a number of scenes.  I never put the two together until a couple years after I began to call on Decibel Audio and I happened to see the movie.  The guys at Decibel Audio said they got inundated by requests for the same t-shirt, so they ended up printing tons of them.  "It was our best selling unit of sale," Adam, the general manager, told me at one time.  They continue to sell them on their web site and while sales aren't as brisk as they once were, they still sell a handful of them each month.

 

But, as I'm prone to do with this blog, I digress...

 

Mirai Sushi is a hip, upscale urban sushi restaurant that is part of a number of hip urban restaurants, clubs, galleries and shops that permeate the Division at Damon area in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago (see map).  Former club owner and Korean native Miae Lim (left) opened Mirai Sushi in 1998 and it immediately became the critics choice for the best sushi in Chicago. 

Five years later with partners Jonathan Segal, Jeffrey Beers and Rick Wahlstedt, the group opened Japonais in Chicago.  The group - minus Segal - opened Japonais locations in New York City and Las Vegas.  I've eaten at the Japonais in Las Vegas three times (click here to see the entry of my last visit to Japonais in Las Vegas).  I was highly disappointed during my last visit to Japonais with both the food and the service.  I related my experience to the guys at Decibel when they told me that Mirai Sushi was the incubator for Japonais and I said, "I think Japonais is highly overrated." 

One of the guys said, "I think the same thing about the one in Chicago.  It's gone down hill over the past couple of years."  I was hoping the same wouldn't be said about Mirai Sushi.

One of the problems with the Wicker Park neighborhood around Mirai is that there is little to no parking available, especially at night when the clubs and restaurants warm up.  Thankfully, Mirai did offer valet parking for $10 bucks (plus a two dollar tip for the valet).  It was cheaper than taking a cab to and from the restaurant, though.

We didn't have reservations at Mirai, but we were able to get in and get a table when we got there around 8:15 that evening.  We each got a menu and ordered up Asahi beers for the table.  The place was hopping with a number of people in the dining area.  There is a sake lounge upstairs in Mirai, but I didn't really notice a lot of people coming or going from the stairway.  I understand that Mirai can get a little crazy on the weekends - I thought it was sort of loud for a Tuesday night. 

Boy, where to start.  First of all, I didn't think the prices for Mirai's sushi was all that expensive, at least compared to other sushi places I've been to.  Their selection of hot Japanese dishes, specialty rolls and nigiri sushi was rather light - it was definitely not a long list of items to choose from.  But most of what they had sounded great and were what I'd end up ordering at most sushi places.  I did have to get some help from the guys on some of the specialty rolls they had. 

One of those specialty rolls - the spicy octopus - came highly recommended.  They put spicy octopus inside a rice roll and then top it with a small piece of tuna sashimi.  The guys said it was "outstanding".  We signed up for one of those along with what Mirai called "tuna tuna salmon" - poached salmon with double helpings of tuna in a roll.  We also picked out a spicy tuna roll for starters. 

Surprisingly, two of the specialty rolls - the spicy tuna and the spicy octopus - came out very quickly.  It was one of the quickest servings after I've ordered I've ever had at a sushi restaurant.  I remarked, "I hope this isn't fast food sushi where they make it up in advance." 

But from the first taste, I didn't have to worry whether when it was made.  The spicy octopus with the tuna on top was just outstanding.  And the spicy tuna rolls were also excellent.  We had just finished up the two specialty rolls and the "tuna tuna salmon" showed up at the table.  It took a little longer because of the poaching of the salmon.  That roll, too, was just outstanding.  Not as good as the spicy octopus, but still a very good roll.

We wanted to order up some nigiri sushi along with another spicy octopus roll.  This time we also ordered a harime roll - fluke and ponzu fish with soft shell crab off to the side.  I ordered a couple pieces each of the smoked Scottish salmon, the hamachi (Japanese yellow tail), the ebi (black tiger shrimp), and the toro (fatty tuna).  The other guys ordered stuff like eel, soy marinated salmon, regular tuna and squid.  I was up for a sushi feast that evening.  And the guys from Decibel deserved a nice meal from me. 

While we waited for the nigirl to show up, we talked about other restaurants they liked in the area.  The new 2011 Michelin Guide for Chicago had just come out and we were talking about having to pick one up just to see what they said about restaurants we were familiar with and what new restaurants we could find in the book.  Since this is the first ever Michelin Guide for Chicago, it was making quite a stir with "foodies" in and around the Chicago area.

Our waitress, who was very good, came over to inform me that they were out of the toro that evening.  "We just ran out," she said.  Somewhat crestfallen, I changed my order to the chutoro, or the medium fatty tuna.  She went away, but a minute later she came back and excitedly said, "Guess what?  We have two pieces of the toro left!  Would you still like them?"

Absolutely!  And I'm glad they had them because they were some of the best fatty tuna that I've ever had.  And the smoked Scottish salmon was "melt-in-your-mouth" great, as well.  Some yellow tail that I've had in the past gets to be sort of mushy and sort of fishy in taste, but the yellow tail at Mirai was very fresh and flavorful with a nice texture with the bite.  Of course, we made short work of the spicy Octopus roll.  And the hirame roll with the soft shell crab on the side was just outstanding, too.  Quite seriously, I could have gotten another one of those, but I knew I'd hit my limit on sushi for the evening. 

It's amazing that a land-locked city like Chicago can get such great sushi.  But fresh fish is flown into the city on a daily basis from all over the world.  One of the guys from Decibel was telling me that rumor has it that the Hare Krishna's control the distribution of fish to 90% of the sushi restaurants in Chicago.  I don't know if that's true, but there's a lot of great sushi places in Chicago.  Sometimes I take Chicago for granted just because we live close enough and I'm in there quite a bit.  But Mirai Sushi was one of the best sushi restaurants I've ever visited.  It was much better than its sister restaurant, Japonais.  I'm looking forward to trying some new places with the guys from Decibel Audio. 

Sushi Bar Yu-Ka - Atlanta

While it's tough for me to write about sushi bars and restaurants, it's even more difficult to write about the ones that stick out in my travels.  For a sushi place to get a mention on Road Tips, it has to be outstanding in both selection, menu ingenuity, service and taste.  On my recent trip to Atlanta, I found a place that hits all those marks in credentials - Sushi Bar Yu-Ka, located in the Buckhead section of Atlanta (see map). 

Actually, my colleague, Chris, found this place last year during one of his walking trips near our hotel.  He stopped in to get a taste and said that it was surprisingly good.  Chris is a sushi connoisseur, so when he says sushi is surprisingly good, it's got to be damn good. 

Sushi Bar Yu-Ka is located the southeast corner of a strip mall just off of Piedmont in the Buckhead Triangle bordered by Piedmont, Roswell and Peachtree streets.  (I have long gotten over my aversion to eating at restaurants in strip malls.)  It was a five minute walk from our hotel, the Doubletree Buckhead.   There was a large group of us that evening - 12 of us in total, including a couple guys from Focal Loudspeakers.  Nearly everyone in our company likes sushi with the notable exception of my colleague Ian who views sushi as "fish bait".  But he was assured that Sushi Bar Yu-Ka did have "real food" that could be ordered. 

The decor of Sushi Bar Yu-Ka has sort of a contemporary look with bright walls with minimal artwork and pictures - nothing garish, to say the least.  The only thing that looked out of place were the flat panel televisions that were found in a couple corners.  The light oak tables are overly sturdy and the chairs have comfortable cloth-padded seats.  The place is well lit and features a three-sided sushi bar with three or four sushi chefs working feverously over the chopping boards.  We had made reservations and our large table in the corner was waiting for us when we arrived.

I immediately ordered an Asahi beer and opened the menu to see what they had to offer.  Of course, they had the regular sushi (with the vinegar rice), as well as sashimi (just the fish alone).  And they had a number of interesting sushi rolls to choose from including the Oishi roll which featured tuna, shrimp, rice and a spicy mustard sauce; the Lotus roll which was tuna, yellowtail, and a dash of aioli sauce wrapped in a seaweed ring; and the Volcano - spicy tuna with fried crawfish.  I thought about getting the Volcano, but I'd rather have fresh crawfish versus the fried stuff. 

I ordered up a plate of the spicy tuna roll, some toro (fatty tuna), sake (salmon) and a spicy tuna roll.  And that was just to start off.  After a small bowl of miso soup there was quite a wait before our sushi began to show up at the table.  Actually, Ian had ordered a teriyaki steak with some steamed vegetables.  His steak showed up well before the sushi came out.  (To Sushi Bar Yu-Ka's defense - it was about 3/4's full when we were in there.  And we ordered a LOT of sushi at our table.)  I was able to down the first large bottle of Asahi and a good portion of a second bottle before my sushi plate showed up.

The wait was well worth it.  The toro was very, very good - fresh and flavorful.  It was a little chewy, but I've learned the more chewy toro is, the better it tastes.  The sake was also very good - flavorful, tender, very fresh.  But the spicy tuna rolls were absolutely great.  They had a wonderful taste sensation and combined with soy sauce and the very good wasabi, the taste sensation just knocked my socks off. 

Round two saw me order another spicy tuna roll, some ebi (shrimp sushi), smoked sake (smoked salmon), and some maguro (regular tuna).  While it didn't take as long to get that plate, it was still about 15 minutes before it arrived in front of me.  The smoked salmon was excellent, the maguro was just outstanding, but the ebi was just sort of "eh!".  By the time I was down to about five pieces of sushi/spicy tuna roll left, I had hit the proverbial sushi wall.  I had experienced sushi overload - a very pleasant place to be. 

The guys from Focal picked up the check that night - and I understood that the bill was pretty reasonable for 12 people.  Sushi Bar Yu-ka also features a number of lunchtime specials for the people who work in the Buckhead area. 

Chris was right - Sushi Bar Yu-Ka was surprisingly good.  Just be prepared to wait for your food if it's busy, however.   It's still too bad I was only able to experience it just once. 

Okinawa - Le Gardeur, QC

I work with a group of guys who seem to have a ravenous taste for sushi.  One of my colleagues is so weird about fish that he loves sushi, but hates any cooked fish.  One of the guys in our office outside of Montreal was telling us about this little sushi place that wasn't far from our headquarters.  He said, "You wouldn't think by looking at this place that they have some great sushi, but they do."  He handed me a take-out menu from Okinawa, the little sushi place.  I was pretty impressed by the amount of different types of sushi they had to offer.  I told him it looked good.  Then he said, "Maybe we should go there for lunch today."  I certainly couldn't say no.

During our lunch break from training on the Siltech and Crystal cable lines, a group of 10 of us went over to Okinawa to have some sushi.  My colleague was right - from the outside, Okinawa didn't look like much.  It wasn't anything more than a hole in the wall in the middle of a strip mall less than a mile - or for our Canadian friends - about a kilometer from our office (see map).  But if anything is more constant, I've found that some of the best restaurants aren't all that inviting from the outside, while some bad places to eat are spic and span on the facade. 

They tried their best to make the inside of Okinawa reminiscent of a traditional Japanese restaurant.  There was a lot of bamboo fixtures and three private dining rooms where people would sit at a low table with their shoes off in the tradition of fine Japanese cuisine.  While the menu had some beef, chicken and pork dishes, we were there for the sushi.  There was a small sushi station toward the back of the restaurant. 

Now, going to a sushi restaurant with a big group is sort of confusing to me.  I don't know if I need to order for myself, if we're ordering for the group or whatever.  We finally decided to team up in twos to order the sushi, I was paired with my colleague, Chris - the guy who loves sushi, but hates cooked fish.  I know, it's weird. 

I had a big breakfast earlier in the day back at the hotel, so I wasn't overly hungry.  I decided not to get sushi but go with the sashimi - basically sushi without rice.  I didn't want the rice to get me stuffed in a hurry.  Chris ordered up sushi when we filled out the order form that we shared.  I got a spicy tuna roll, however, as a start, then I picked out tuna, yellowtail, salmon, smoked salmon, sweet shrimp and something I don't see very often on a sushi menu, halibut.   Given Montreal's proximity to the North Atlantic, I figured the halibut would be very good.

I really wanted to go with a Japanese beer with my sushi - they had both Asahi or Sapporo in bottles at Okinawa.  But I was afraid of getting tired for the afternoon session.  The husband and wife couple from Siltech/Crystal, Edwin and Gabi, had a 6 p.m. flight schedule to go back to the Netherlands, so they didn't have any problem ordering up beers to go with their massive amounts of sushi that they ordered.  Edwin said, "We'll need to eat a lot of food now because we probably won't eat again until tomorrow after we get home." 

The only problem with sushi places is the anticipation and the wait of getting good sushi.  They usually bring the specialty rolls out first, but at Okinawa, they didn't.  It was about 20 minutes before sushi and sashimi began to show up at the table.  And by that time I was ready.

There was a time that I thought that sushi was nothing more than cut bait.  I didn't really begin to like sushi until about 15 years ago.  Since then, I've become somewhat of a sushi connoisseur - or as my wife and I like to joke, we're sushi whores.  I immediately know when the sushi isn't that great - it doesn't have the wholesome taste or chewy texture that good sushi should have.  From the first bite of my tuna sashimi, I knew that the sushi at Okinawa was outstanding. 

My colleagues, Jon and Chris, eat a lot more sushi on the road than I do (they cover the west coast for our company).  Both thought the sushi was great.  One of my Montreal colleagues, Todd, who also eats a lot of sushi, yelled down the table to me, "Isn't this great?  And it's cheap!"  He and some other guys from the office go to Okinawa all the time.  

My boss, Daniel, was seated next to me.  He leaned over and said, "We have some very good sushi places in Montreal.  But this is one of the best we've found." 

A couple three of the guys had sushi for appetizers, but ended up getting teriyaki-marinated strip steaks for their lunch.  Each steak wasn't very thick, less than a half-inch thick, but my colleague, Ian, said that it was "pretty damn good."  The steaks smelled great when they brought them out to the table.   

We had some fun at Edwin and Gabi's expense when they brought out a huge bamboo boat filled with sushi that covered our end of the table.  It was so huge that they couldn't maneuver it to get to the multitudes of sushi they'd ordered.  Gabi was gingerly trying to move it around and she ended up knocking over Chris' water glass which emptied into our much smaller sushi platter.  She felt so bad that she immediately ordered up more sushi and sashimi for Chris and I.  Quite honestly, it was no big deal for me.  Since I was having sashimi with no rice, I was fine.  But Chris' sushi got pretty soggy. 

Anytime we get together to eat sushi, it's just a free-for-all with people offering samples of what they are having, or people jumping up with a pair of chop sticks to scrounge something off of someone else's plate.  Todd offered me a bite of his unagi - which was fresh eel sushi.  I declined, saying that eel wasn't quite a delicacy for me.  He said, "No, no!  You've got to try this.  This is the best eel I've ever had!"  

I tried it and, yeah, it was pretty good.  Not good enough for me to order the next time we go to Okinawa - or at any other sushi restaurant, for that matter.  But it was pretty tasty.  Todd popped another one in his mouth and made a satiated "Mmmmmmmm....." sound with his mouth full of unagi sushi.

I was overly impressed with the sushi at Okinawa.  As they say, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover and you shouldn't judge restaurants by their outside appearance.  I trust the judgment and the expertise of my colleagues when they tell me Okinawa is one of the best places for sushi in the greater Montreal area.  It was very, very good.     

Isana - Kihei, HI

On the recommendation of our bartender at the Bistro Molokini at the Grand Wailea, we had sushi at Isana on our first night on Maui.  We had told her that we were thinking about going to the Sansei location up the way in Kihei.  She told us, "Sansei is very good, but I sort of like the atmosphere at Isana better.  And for me, it's difficult to choose between the two as to which has better sushi.  They're both very good."  So it was off to Isana that evening.

Isana bills itself as the largest Korean restaurant on Maui.  Hmmm...  A Korean restaurant that serves sushi?  I guess I didn't know that sushi was served in Korea.  But, then again, I don't make it to Korean restaurants all that much, as in ever.  So what did I know?  Our bartender did tell us that Isana was a little more funky in its decor.  "Sansei is definitely upscale compared to Isana, but it has a great funky vibe to the place." 

We found Isana on South Kihei Road (see map) and walked in around 7:30.  We went to the small sushi bar and took the last two seats that were open.  Cindy ordered up a green tea right off the bat and I got a large bottle of Sapporo.  That was a good sign - they had Japanese beer.  Our waitress offered us a regular menu, but we declined and looked over the sushi menu.  In addition to sushi and traditional Korean food, Isana also has a Korean Barbecue menu.

We immediately ordered a couple of spicy tuna roll to get things started.  The bartender at the Grand Wailea was right - Isana had a funky kind of vibe to the place.  There were a lot of neon signs throughout the place.  There was a second floor to the restaurant and on the landing heading up to the upper floor there was a wall-mounted carving of two humpback whales.  I don't believe anyone was dining upstairs that evening as it looked pretty dark up there.  

By the time the spicy tuna rolls showed up, we were ready to order up regular sushi.  We tried their maguro (tuna), hamachi (yellow tail), shake (salmon), shiromi (red snapper) and both ebi (sushi) and amaebi (sweet shrimp).  I asked our sushi chef if they had any smoked salmon and he gruffly said, "Only fresh fish."  Oh, OK.  That's fine with me.   

The area around the sushi bar was rather festive with a lot of laughing and drinking going on.  We were having a good time and I was getting a little plowed on the Sapporo.  I only had two, but I think the effects of the mai tais and the previous beers I had back at the hotel, along with the lack of any substantive food since breakfast was starting to get the best of me.  When our large tray of sushi showed up, I was ready to quit drinking and start eating. 

And the sushi was very good, as advertised.  I was very impressed with the maguro tuna, so much that I ordered four more pieces along with four more of the shake salmon.  The tuna was very fresh and it melted in our mouths.  The red snapper was OK, but the yellow tail had great flavor to it and was easy to chew.  The sweet shrimp was not as good as the regular shrimp.  The waitress kept checking on us for drinks and the sushi chef was pleasant enough when we were eating to see how we were doing. 

 

 

Isana was a little expensive - total cost of the sushi and drinks were well over $100 bucks.  I thought it to be a little higher priced than Sansei, but the quality of the food was on par.  I don't know if the tuna at Isana was as good as Sansei, and I was a little disappointed they didn't have smoked salmon, but sushi purists point out that sushi should be fresh fish only.  So Isana was more of a purists type of place.  

A few days later, we saw the bartender at the Bistro Molokini back at the hotel and thanked her for steering us toward Isana.  She said, "It is a funky place, but it has some great sushi, doesn't it?"

It sure does... 

</

Sansei - Waikoloa Village, HI

A guy who works for one of my dealers in the Chicago area spent some time in Hawaii a few years ago and he gave me some good suggestions of where to go and where to eat.  One of the places he told us to visit while in/on Hawaii was Sansei Seafood and Sushi Restaurant.  There are four Sansei's in Hawaii - one on Oahu, two on Maui and one on the Big Island.  It turned out the one on the Big Island was in the Queen's Marketplace shops near our hotel in the Wiakoloa Beach Resort area.   We had hoped to be able to get to Sansei the night we arrived in Hawaii, but a delay at the rental car agency (thanks to a very stupid person in line ahead of us) and a long detour to our hotel pretty much ruled out getting there before they closed.  So our first full night on Hawaii we went to Sansei.

Sansei is part of the D.K. Restaurants group that also features d.k Steak House, Hiroshi and Vino - all highly acclaimed restaurants throughout the Hawaiian Islands.  "D.K." are the initials of Dave "D.K." Kodama, the founder and owner of the D.K. restaurants.  Kodama is a native Hawaiian who left the University of Hawaii in 1979 and ended up as a bartender in Seattle.  Kodama fell in love with the restaurant business and thought it would be a more fun profession than being an engineer.  

After 3 years in Seattle, Kodama ended up in Aspen, CO, working at a number of restaurants, learning the business and getting valuable culinary training on the job.  He ended up moving back to Hawaii in 1996 and opened his first Sansei in the Kapalua Resort north of Lahaina on Maui.  Sansei specializes in fresh seafood and serving locally grown foods.  It's sort of a contemporary Pan-asian seafood restaurant that also has sushi.

It was about a three minute drive from the Hilton Waikoloa Village hotel to the Queen's Marketplace shopping center (see map).  Sansei is located on the far east end of the open air shops.  We had a short wait while the hostess took a phone call, but we were in no hurry.  We asked if we could just sit at the sushi bar and she happily took us over to the bar, seated us and gave us menus.

The restaurant, itself, was a nice mix of contemporary Hawaiian and Asian themes.  It wasn't a huge place, but there was a dining area off to the side of the main room.  The main dining room featured the sushi bar.  The atmosphere was relaxed, upscale casual and sort of romantic. It wasn't overly busy at the restaurant, which was sort of nice. 

 

We figured we'd just do sushi for our visit, so I asked for a sushi menu.  Our sushi chef was a native mainlander who had been in Hawaii for about 15 years.  During our trip to Hawaii, we talked to a lot of restaurant workers, waiters, hotel valets, salespeople, etc. who were obviously not native Hawaiians just to see what their story was and how they ended up in Hawaii.  We heard all different types of stories from guys who followed girls out to Hawaii, guys who came out for a couple months and just stayed for the past 19 years, and from people who needed to start their lives over.  As one waiter told us one evening, "Hawaii is really full of misfits, people who may not have fit in back home on the mainland, or who are getting away from whatever problems they faced in their past.  This is the ultimate "misfit island." 

The sushi chef at Sansei was no exception.  He had worked at the original Sansei on Maui after coming out from the mainland "to drink and stay tan".  He moved to this location three years ago when it first opened.  He said, "My life is pretty simple here.  If I'm not at work, I'm usually in a bar somewhere.  And if I'm not at work or at a bar, I'm sleeping.  That's my life."  While some people may think that was sort of sad, I secretly envied the guy.  No concerns, no worries, no responsibilities. 

We immediately ordered up a spicy tuna roll and something that Cindy wanted to try something called the "69 Roll".  It's a California roll (crab, avocado, cucumber) rolled inside out and topped with unagi (fresh water eel) and salmon roe.  It was interesting, to say the least.  The spicy tuna rolls were much better. 

We had regular salmon and smoked salmon sushi, along with tuna and sweet shrimp sushi.  The prices weren't bad - averaging around $3.50 to $4.00 for two pieces of sushi.  The tuna was a little more expensive - I believe it was $8.00 for two pieces of sushi.  But that was still cheaper than many mainland sushi restaurants. 

And the fish was so fresh that...  Well, I have to say that I'd never had tuna - any type of tuna sushi - that tasted that good.  It was like they had caught the fish, filet'ed it out on the boat and served it - all within 15 minutes.  It literally melted in our mouths.  And the smoked salmon was - by far - the best smoked salmon I'd ever had.  We ended up ordering two more pieces of the tuna and smoked salmon, along with another spicy tuna roll for good measure.

We figured we'd eat at Sansei a couple more times when we were on both Hawaii and on Maui, but for multiple reasons - such as too many good choices of restaurants - we never did.  But the place certainly served our sushi craving needs.  It was some of the best sushi I've ever had.  No, I'll go even further and say it was the best sushi I ever had.  And it wasn't all that expensive.  With a generous tip for the sushi chef and our waitress that served us our drinks, it still came to under $100 bucks.  It was just excellent.

Osaka Steak House - Davenport

One of the things Cindy and I do on an annual basis - no matter if we're in Chicago or home in the Quad Cities - is take in a movie on Christmas Eve. This past Christmas Eve was no exception, but we decided to go out to dinner before the movie. We both were thinking sushi, so we went to the Osaka Steak House on Utica Ridge in northeast Davenport (see map).

Osaka used to be just across the street from Southpark Mall in Moline and moved to their present location in the fall of 2008. They also maintain a sushi bar at Northpark Mall. Their Utica Ridge location was formally a local rib joint called R.J. Boar's. Actually, I thought R.J. Boar's was much better at their old location in downtown Bettendorf. And, evidently, a lot of other people felt the same way. It didn't stay in business for very long after their move to Utica Ridge.

When Osaka moved in, they substantially changed the decor to an elegant Japanese theme. There's a large bar area on the right when you move in and the dining area featured a number of grill tables where people can watch one of Osaka's hibachi chef's do their little shtick. And in the far back of the restaurant, through the bar and past the dining area, is the sushi bar. As we like to do, we sat right at the bar and were given a menu. While Osaka has a lot of different styles of Japanese/American food to offer, we were in the mood for sushi.

It didn't take long for us to figure out that we wanted a spicy tuna roll along with a California roll. And then we ordered some other pieces of sushi to go along with it - spicy tuna, spicy yellowtail, red snapper, sweet shrimp, red snapper, salmon. We went to town with the order, really hoping to have a seafood overload for our pre-Christmas dinner.

In addition to all the sushi we ordered, we also got a bowl of miso soup to start out. There's not really much to miso soup - it's basically chunks of tofu, some scallions and some edible seaweed in a seasoned broth. Think chicken and noodle soup, only without the chicken and the noodles and with tofu, scallions and seaweed. But Osaka's miso soup was very good. Some of the best we'd ever tried.

When the spicy tuna roll and California roll came out, we were ready. And the spicy tuna roll was just outstanding. It certainly didn't last very long. In fact, both rolls were devoured within about two minutes of them being served to us. But the good thing is that they weren't overly busy at the sushi bar so our sushi order came up soon after we finished the rolls.

I have to say the sushi at Osaka was very, very good. It's amazing that you can get such fresh tasting fish in the middle of the country. We were wolfing the sushi back like it was the last meal for us.

Now, sushi is not appetizing to a lot of people. Actually, it took me a few times of having sushi to really appreciate the taste sensations and to get past the idea that I was eating "bait". It really can be an acquired taste.

My first trip to a sushi place was out in Las Vegas about 14 years ago. The guys in the company I was working with at the time decided they wanted sushi that evening. And as our sales manager at the time said, "Willie, we're going to go get sushi tonight. Now, you're more than welcome to come with us, but I don't think they have hamburgers on the menu, if you know what I mean."

Although I did find myself wanting to gag during my first couple of encounters with sushi, I learned to really love sushi. Later on, I took Cindy to a sushi place in Madison, WI for a snack one afternoon. She loved it immediately. And she turned her kids on to sushi, too. Her son will do stupid human tricks for sushi, he loves it so much.

One of the decadent pleasures we have in eating sushi is ordering the fatty tuna - or nigiri - from time to time. Usually, fatty tuna is pretty expensive per piece - about three to four times the price of regular sushi. But, man, is it good! We were first introduced to fatty tuna about 12 years ago at a sushi place called Sushi to Dai For in San Rafael, CA (see map). We were the only people at the sushi bar that evening and the sushi chef explained to us the different grades of tuna, cutting chunks of tuna for us to try. Fatty tuna is more marbled than regular chunk tuna and has a wonderful flavor.

It turned out that Osaka had fatty tuna that evening (some places only get it part of the time). We each got a couple pieces of the nigiri - at $7.95 a piece. Yow! But, man! Was it good.

I was still hungry after eating all that sushi, so I ordered up a Crazy Tuna Roll - basically, it's a tuna roll with spicy tuna wrapped around the outside. By the time we finished that, we'd hit the coveted seafood overload level.

But I don't know what it is about sushi. I can gorge myself on the stuff, getting to the point that I'm starting to grow gills on my neck. But an hour to 90 minutes later, I'm craving White Castle hamburgers. Yep, I don't quite know why, but for some reason I get hungry for the taste of a White Castle "slider". I think it has something to do with Cindy and me having sushi in West Lafayette, IN a number of years ago, stuffing ourselves and making our way back to our hotel. Then about two hours later, I was hungry again. It just happened that there was a White Castle near our hotel. We walked over and got a couple "sliders". It was the perfect complement to the sushi we'd had earlier in the evening.

Our sushi-fest at Osaka wasn't cheap - the bill came to over $100 bucks with tip. It was mainly sushi as I had a couple of beers and Cindy had hot tea with our food. But the fatty tuna helped push it over a "c-note". But it was worth it as a nice little Christmas present to us both.

Before we left, I ran into a good friend, Mike Weindruch, who was having a hibachi dinner with his family at Osaka. He said they had just gone to a movie and then decided to have dinner. Mike said, "A movie, then sushi. This is what Jews do on Christmas Eve."

I said, "Hey, we're not Jewish and we're doing the same thing, except we're heading to the movie right now."

We agreed that sushi is definitely a non-denominational treat. And Osaka's sushi was a definite spot-hitter.

Japonais - Las Vegas

After our Cirque du Soleil experience at The Mirage, we decided we'd better get something to eat.  Given that it was around 9 p.m., we didn't figure we'd have that big of a problem getting seated at any one of the fine restaurants in The Mirage.  Well, actually, the only problem was that there were nine of us, and that turned out to be a problem. 

We found a little contemporary Japanese restaurant called Japonais.  They tried to seat us in the bar, but we would have had to take three tables.  So we decided to go to Plan B.  What Plan B was, we didn't quite know.  But as we were standing there going over our options, the hostess from Japonais came up and said, "We can seat you in the dining room if you're still interested." 

It was late and we were hungry.  The guys from the East Coast and Montreal were working on east coast time which meant it was midnight body-time for them.  We turned around and went in.

Now, it turns out that Japonais in Las Vegas is an off-shoot of the original Japonais in Chicago.  The original Japonais was started in 2002 by the world-renowned sushi chef Jun Ichikawa, and Gene Kato, an up-and-coming contemporary Japanese cuisine chef.  In 2006, Kato and Ichikawa opened a New York location in Union Square, and three months later they opened the Las Vegas location.  The food can be described as traditional Japanese with a bent toward contemporary Pan-Asian and European cuisine.  It's pretty classy stuff. 

We were seated and our waiter - who was of Japanese heritage - came over to greet us.  He was a little tough to understand, given his accent and the loudness in the restaurant.  The decor is very contemporary and chic with a lot of teak wood throughout.  From what I got from what he was trying to say is that they offered a menu similar to Spanish tapas where they bring out little bits of everything from sushi, to beef, to veggies, to whatever.  He said it worked good with big groups because everyone got to try a little bit of everything.  We all sort of agreed to that and away he went.

The first thing he brought out was a bunch of sushi that we munched on.  It was very good.  The fresh sushi was some of the finest I've ever tasted.  Given that all of us in the company are sushi whores, the plate didn't last long.    

They then brought plates of Kobe beef carpaccio, thin rare slices of Kobe beef; spicy tuna and salmon rolls; something called Hawaiian Hamachi, thin slices of yellow tail; and something they called the Japonais cocktail - a dozen oysters and a half dozen shrimp in a horseradish mango sauce.  Now that was great!

Then they started to bring out the good stuff.  They had a marinated Kobe beef chunk on a skewer.  Now, I've never had Kobe beef before - other than the carpaccio slices I had earlier.  I always wanted to try it.  And I have to tell you, it was absolutely fabulous.  It was unbelievably fabulous.  It was so tender and moist.  And, OH!  So flavorful.  Daniel and Simon were seated across the table from me and were getting a kick out of the expressions on my face when I'd bite into one of the Kobe beef chunks.

They also had skewers of marinated chicken that were pretty good.  They also brought out skewers of ground Kobe beef - basically Kobe beef burgers on a skewer.  They were OK, but they didn't have the same taste and texture of the beef skewers.  But we quickly ordered another round of the Kobe beef skewers.  And a couple guys opted for more sushi.

Next, they set two square "rocks" on the table.  These rocks were heated to 500 degrees (F) and we were told to be very careful around them.  Then they brought out plates of thinly sliced and marinated raw New York strip steak chunks.  The waiter showed us that you place the raw beef on the hot rock and it sizzles and cooks.  20 to 30 seconds later, you turn it over to cook the other side and - voila!  You've got your own "grill it yourself" steak chunks!  And - OH!  Were they great. 

Those didn't last long at the table and by the time the second round of Kobe beef skewers showed up, we were all getting stuffed.  But the Kobe beef skewers were quickly gobbled up.  It was a dining experience to say the least.

Daniel was presented with the bill and Simon looked over to see what it was.  He yelled, "Geez!!"

One of my other colleagues said, "What's the matter?  Bill a little too high?"

Simon said, "I think we just bought a whole side of Kobe beef!"

The bill - with tip included - came to just shy of $2000 bucks.  Daniel was laughing about it the next day.  He said, "I couldn't understand the guy.  Between his accent and the loudness of the restaurant, I just kept nodding my head when he would say something."

I said, "So, you basically nodded your head into a $2000 bill."

He laughed and said, "I guess so!"

So, yes, Japonais isn't cheap.  But, man, was it good.  Definitely a top ten dining experience for me.      

Mikado - Indianapolis

It's a treat to eat sushi on the road and I treated myself after a long day of traveling recently by having sushi at one of my favorite places in Indianapolis - Mikado.  Owned by master sushi chef Umay Kubokawa, the upscale Mikado is a great place to eat seafood in greater Indy. 

Mikado is located downtown in the heart of the entertainment and restaurant district of Indianapolis (see map).  I first went there about nine years ago and fell in love with the place.  I've eaten at sushi restaurants on both coasts and I have to say that Mikado rivals the fresh and flavorful sushi I've had in those restaurants. 

I had just driven from the Quad Cities to St. Louis, then from St. Louis to Indianapolis one day recently.  I was tired and just drug out from the road when I made it into Indianapolis about 9 p.m. local time.  I decided to get something lighter since it was late in the day and Mikado came to mind.  There's plentiful parking in the parking ramp across from Circle Center Mall in downtown Indianapolis.  Go down the stairs of the parking ramp and come out on Illinois Ave. and take a short walk to the south to Mikado.

Mikado has a nice sushi bar as well as tables and booths.  They also have some private rooms for larger groups.  I ate in one of those rooms one time a long time ago, but I prefer sitting at the sushi bar at any sushi place I go to. 

It was just me and another couple at the sushi bar that Wednesday evening.  Mikado closes at 10 p.m thru the week, so it wasn't all that busy.  I ordered up a tall Asahi beer and ordered some smoked salmon, shrimp, salmon and tuna sushi and a spicy tuna roll.  It came to me pretty quickly and I eagerly dug in.

Now, Indianapolis is a long way from the ocean, but I have to say Mikado's sushi is the freshest in the Midwest.  The only place I have to say rivals the freshness and full-flavored taste of their sushi in the region is at Haruno in Springfield, MO - a town that is also very far from oceans.  I really liked the spicy tuna roll and the smoked salmon sushi from Mikado.  I had to get two more pieces of the smoked salmon.

The only problem with Mikado is that it is not cheap.  For ten pieces of sushi, a spicy tuna roll and a couple Asahi's, the bill came to $45 dollars before tip.  And I wasn't even stuffed.  That's the biggest complaint I've heard about Mikado is the steep prices.  But it's damn good. 

I'm sure there are good sushi places in Indianapolis that are significantly cheaper than Mikado, but I don't think any of them could rival the flavor.  Mikado is a nice place with very good seafood in addition to their sushi.  And it remains one of my all-time favorite sushi places.   (Photo courtesy Indianapolis Fun City Finder. com)

Esashi - New York

Our first night in Manhattan, we were invited to go out to dinner with the two owners of Dangerous Music, a company that manufactures control devices for the professional music industry.  They wanted to go to Esashi, a little sushi place in the East Village area of Manhattan.  Oh, man!  Sushi in New York!  I couldn't wait!

Esashi is owned by Yukihiro Ishiyama and his wife, Minako.  They have been in business on Ave A. in the East Village since 1991 (see map).  Esashi is named after Mr. Ishiyama's home town of Esashi, Japan (see map).  Esashi is right on the coast and as a little boy Mr. Ishiyama and his friends used to catch incredibly fresh seafood and their families would have the catch that night for dinner.  Mr. Ishiyama opened Esashi with the plan to make sushi the same way he remembers having it as a little boy.

There were five of us who met up at Esashi around 7 p.m.  The two guys from Dangerous Music - Bob and Chris - used to run a recording studio around the corner from Esashi and they frequented the place before they got into making control components.  Bob lives in upstate New York and every time he comes back to New York, he always takes in Esashi.

And there's a big reason why - it was some of the best sushi I'd ever had in my life.  The spicy tuna rolls were very good, but the salmon and the toro, or fatty tuna, were unbelievably great.  I also had a couple shrimp, just for good measure.  I was devouring the sushi, it was so good.  And I washed it all back with a couple tall and ice cold Asahi beers. 

We went for a second round and I ordered exactly the same thing I ordered the first time.  My colleague, Simon, decided to go exclusively with the toro sashimi style.  The chunks of toro were huge.  I should have gone that direction. 

For those of you who don't like sushi, Esashi has a full menu of cooked items, as well.  My colleague, Todd, who grew up on Prince Edward Island, and who loves seafood, has an allergic reaction to raw seafood.  He had to go with the salmon teriyaki - a marinated salmon, broiled and served on a plate with assorted vegetables.  He said it was outstanding.

Esashi was very good.  And expensive.  With tip, the bill came to just over $500 bucks.  But it was well worth it.  The fish was very fresh, the restaurant had a great atmosphere, and the service was exquisite.  Esashi would be a place I'd highly recommend for sushi in New York City.      

(Update October 2011 - Before my recent trip to New York, I suggested to my colleague Simon that we go back to Esashi as it remained one of the more awesome sushi places I'd been to.  Simon quickly told me, "It's closed."  I asked him when it closed and he said, "Dunno, but's it's closed."  Bummer...)

Haruno - Springfield

Recently, while in Springfield, MO doing a training session for my dealer down there, I wanted to take them out for dinner after the meeting.  Actually, there's a number of good places to go for dinner in Springfield - but we decided to go out and have some sushi at Haruno Sushi Bar and Grill.

Haruno is located in a small strip mall not far from my dealer's store (see map).  Now, I used to be death on restaurants located in a strip mall; and I also used to run away screaming from a sushi place that is more than 500 miles from an ocean.  I'm glad I don't have those standards in place any longer or I wouldn't have eaten at Haruno that evening.

Haruno, which opened in 1999, is owned and run by the stylish Young Jung (right).  Dressed in a leather mini-skirt, fishnet hose and boots, she looked like she would be more at home in Los Angeles or New York rather than Springfield, MO. 

Local residents took a while to warm up to the hip little Japanese restaurant that served what many in these parts refer to as "bait". However, Haruno garnered a reputation for being edgy, having good martini's and good live jazz, and the clientele began to grow.  A couple of years ago they expanded into a space next to the original restaurant and called it Haruno's Next Door.  There, you'll find an extension of the restaurant with a regular sushi bar that seats six. 

We had a small wait to get a table for five around 7:30 the night we were there.  They had a small two-piece jazz combo playing in the bar area (the old original space) and it was pretty packed in there with people of all ages.  But there did seem to be a larger presence of younger people who were definitely styling for the night. 

Ms. Jung seated us in the new section and we immediately ordered a round of Asahi beers.  One of the guys had never had sushi before and we were sort of wondering what kind of reaction he'd have.  He's a good ol' Missouri boy, one of those who joked about the "bait" he was getting ready to eat.  But he was up for the challenge.

Our waiter was certainly indicative of the style of Haruno - he had an edge, but was very hip and cool.  He suggested we start off with their house specialty which was sort of a Japanese carpaccio - thinly sliced rare beef which was marinated in a soy mixture.  It was very, very good.

We went hog wild with the sushi - ordering tons of sushi rolls and nigiri sushi.  One of the guys said, "We've got to order this roll they call 'Oh, My God!' "

I asked, "Is it spicy?"

He said, "Well, not really, but there are so many great taste sensations that after the first bite you're saying, 'Oh, my God!' "

We definitely went with one of those.  And I had to have a spicy tuna roll, as well as a couple others that sounded sort of funky.  The names for the sushi rolls they had - such as a Philly roll, a Miami roll, a TNT roll - were as interesting as the place itself. 

We began to get our sushi and I had to try the "Oh, My God!"  It was a piece of white fish wrapped in a number of things including a spicy mayonnaise.  I didn't exactly say, "Oh, My God!" when I took the first bite.  But it was good.  However, I wasn't too big on the mayo on the sushi.

But the spicy tuna roll - WOW!!  I have to say it was one of the best - if not THE best - spicy tuna roll I'd ever had.  The taste sensation was out of this world.  In fact, all the sushi choices we had were very good. 

I was bummed that they were out of the chutoro - the very flavorful fatty tuna sushi.  The guys had never had it before (it's sort of expensive - about $8.00 for two pieces), so I thought I'd give them a taste of it.  That's OK, though - we had more than enough of some very good sushi to eat.   

The guy in the group who had never had sushi before was equally impressed.  He said, "I've always wanted to try sushi, but I know my wife wouldn't like it; and there's no way I could bring her and the kids to a place like this."

Our bill came to just over $200 bucks - which I thought was pretty reasonable for the amount of sushi we ate and beer we drank.  One of the interesting things was that he put an 18% tip on the bill, a little under $37 bucks, but didn't add it into the total.  I sort of wondered about this and I had to flag him down to find out what that was all about.

I asked, "Is this a mandatory tip?"

He said, "No, this is just a suggestion.  We do that so people can figure out how much 18% is.  You can put down anything you want." 

He walked away and I said, "The guy is leaving money on the table doing that.  I was going to give him a 20% tip."  And I did. 

But as one of the guys explained to me, "This IS Springfield and people are used to having a big meal and leaving a couple bucks on the table for a tip.  It's the world's largest small town." 

Actually, since then, I've seen a couple other restaurants that have tip amount suggestions of 15, 18 or 20 percent printed on the credit card voucher.  I usually over tip, especially if the service is good; or when I'm eating alone and the person waiting on me has been overly attentive.  The guy definitely earned his 20% that evening.

The bottom line - Haruno was one of the very best sushi restaurants I've ever eaten at.  I was pleasantly surprised at how good the sushi was for as land-locked that Springfield is. The service was very good, and the atmosphere was as interesting and hip as any restaurant I've been to in places like L.A. or Chicago.   I'm hoping my dealer in Springfield does very well so I can keep going back to Haruno when I go to see them.