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)
What kind of steak eatin', pizza chompin', beer drinkin' man eats sushi?
Posted by: Dirk | January 01, 2008 at 05:37 PM