Diary 8|12|2014: Mikimoto Gets Brilliant.

[title type="h5"]Wednesday, August 12, 2014. Mikimoto Unleashes A Couple Of Spectaculars.[ [/title] When I was I high school, the Tulane bus that traveled the second of three links from Little Farms to Jesuit was a "trackless trolley"--an electric bus, taking power from a pair of overhead wires. It inched along as it approached Forshey Street--a time point on the bus's schedule. When it finally stopped, the seat I usually took was opposite a small savings and loan office that was one of the first banks in town that had a drive-up window. [caption id="attachment_43485" align="alignnone" width="480"] Mikimoto, obviously.[/caption] That very drive-through now dispenses sushi. This is now the home of Mikimoto, a Japanese café that runs two or three commercials a week during my radio show. Always on Mondays and Tuesdays, when business is slow. Slow in this case means you get one of the last tables or places at the sushi bar. Mikimoto is busy even on these weak days. I ad-lib those commercials. (I practiced that skill as a geeky parlor trick when I was twelve.) Every now and then, I revisit the restaurant to recharge my bank of impressions. I dine differently at Mikimoto than I do in other sushi houses, mainly because the hot kitchen is so good. We are well past the days when if you went to a Japanese restaurant and ordered anything other than sushi you were considered a wimp. That idea became so widespread that a lot of sushi bars cut down their menus of cooked dishes to almost nothing, to the detriment of their goodness. [caption id="attachment_43486" align="alignright" width="153"] Rice noodles at Mikimoto.[/caption]Mikimoto never did that. I take a stool in the corner of the sushi bar. I stay there even though the floor is a little uneven and the chair rocks a bit. I order a clear soup and spicy tuna tataki. Before either item comes, they place a little dish of cool rice noodles in some sort of white sauce, with the consistency of the one in crabmeat maison at Galatoire's. It's not only good but more filling than it appears. The soup moves things along, however, opening up space for the tuna, which has clearly just been seared. It's vivid and delicious. [caption id="attachment_43487" align="alignnone" width="480"] Wasabi mussels at Mikimoto.[/caption] And now comes something unexpected. Wasabi mussels, the menu says. Mussels--the good kind with the black shells--baked in those shells with a sauce of mayonnaise and green-hued, wasabi-sharpened flying fish roe. It comes out hot, almost to the point of bubbling. There are three mussels in each shell, and plenty of room for them. This is so good that the next morning I give it a five-out-of-five rating and feature it in the daily review of the 500 Best Dishes. Incredibly delicious. I immediately begin thinking about the next time I will have these. [caption id="attachment_43488" align="alignnone" width="480"] Sashimi roll at Mikimoto.[/caption] Now I have a sashimi roll, an assortment of tuna, salmon, and a few other elements, wrapped in thinly-sliced cucumbers. It can't be called a sushi roll: no rice. I do get some rice, though, in a single order of asparagus nigiri. I have that in every sushi meal I eat. It always adds the perfect raw, crunchy green touch. I have a scoop of ginger ice cream for dessert. This is a bad habit I have given myself--going to Asian restaurants and getting ice cream. They always have it, and usually in flavors you can't get at Brocato's or Baskin Robbins. I will have a dream tonight about that electric bus on the Tulane line, and note that in rush hour it passes in front of an anachronistic sushi bar every two minutes. [title type="h5"]Mikimoto. Carrollton: 3301 S Carrollton Ave. 504-488-1881. [/title]