Little Tokyo, Metairie, LA Report #237

Long ago, when I was in my late 20’s, this was the first place I ever ate sushi in my life.  It was at a different location back then, but I see why they moved.  They have a lot more space in this location, including an area for Karaoke.  I asked our waitress when they did Karaoke, and she said anytime of day.  She said most guest call first so they can have things set up for them to do it.

The entire menu was too long for me to photograph, but two things were worth noting. One, they have Ramen!  They didn’t have that last time I was here.  I fell in love with the Spicy Tonkotsu broth after I had it at Royal Sushi.  But today, I wasn’t in the soup mood.

The second thing, noted on the menu was that they serve imported shrimp and crawfish.  A new Louisiana law requires them to advertise that fact.  With all the great, fresh, local seafood we have here in Southeast Louisiana, I feel you’re not doing your customers a favor serving a foreign product.

We decided on fried baby octopus, pork gyoza dumplings and a Little Tokyo Roll for appetizers.  My dining partner decided on shrimp tempura (she didn’t know the shrimp was imported when she ordered it) and the hibachi rice with chicken for her entrée.  I decided on the teriyaki beef lunch meal.

The food:

The fried baby octopus was delicious!  Crisp and tender.  It was served with a ponzu sauce.

The waitress brought out my salad and clear soup at the same time.  They were ok.  About what you’d get in any sushi place.

The dumplings were good.  Nothing special about them.

The Little Tokyo Roll consisted of fresh salmon, tuna, snow crab, asparagus and smelt roe, topped with an eel sauce.  Pretty good.

My dining partner enjoyed the shrimp tempura and hibachi rice.  When she started to get full she let me try some.  I wouldn’t dare reach across that table until given the green light!  That’s a good way to get stabbed with a chopstick.  The rice was very good.  It had that nice fried taste to it.

The beef teriyaki was “Ok” at best.  I like places that take an actual ribeye (or other cut), grill it, slice it and hit it with the teriyaki sauce.  Mikimoto does a good one.  I’m not sure what cuts of beef this was, and it didn’t have a grilled flavor to it at all.  The teriyaki sauce was also kind of watery.  I wouldn’t order it again.

A few good dishes and a few so-so ones.  If you decide to stop in, and don’t have an aversion to eating octopus who were snatched out of their cribs and fried, I recommend them!  And the hibachi rice.

2300 N. Causeway Blvd., Metairie, LA  70001  Ph: 504-831-6788

Blaine 9-29-2019