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Little Tokyo
Mid-City: 310 N Carrollton Ave. 504-485-5658. Map.
Casual.
AE DS MC V
Website
WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY All the Little Tokyo restaurants are different. The one in Mid-City is the most atmospheric and largest. It's also the only Little Tokyo offering teppanyaki grills, although the food from these is ordinary and expensive, with chefs who put on a show that you've probably already seen. More interesting are the old-school Japanese dishes we enjoyed before sushi took over: sukiyaki, shabu-shabu (both fondue-style dishes prepared at the table) yakitori (grilled meats and seafoodson skewers). The sushi bar is also well-managed.
WHAT'S GOOD A knowledgeable and insistent sushi lover can press the chefs into revealing which selections are of particular interest. They do indeed bring in a great deal of beautiful fish here, but that may not be what you get in a routine combo order. On several occasions I've had items that were new to me. The cooked side of the menu does good work with mollusks baked on their shells.
BACKSTORY Little Tokyo is a loose local chain of Japanese restaurants, some franchised and some not. Yusuke Kawara opened the original location on Causeway Boulevard in 1986, making it one of the city's first sushi bars. The Mid-City branch took over the former Chateaubriand Steakhouse following the hurricane. (A long time ago, it was a Shoney's, but you'd never know that now.)
DINING ROOM
The dining rooms are large to begin with, and the wall of windows adds to the spaciousness. One of them is largely devoted to teppanyaki tables, where the chefs play their usual games with what winds up being ordinary grilled food. A large sushi bar dominates another room, and the bar--windows on two sides--is pleasant for a cocktail or light dining.
DOZEN BEST DISHES, DESCRIBED
Baked salmon or scallops.
Yellowtail neck.
Beef negimaki with asparagus or onions.
Salmon, tuna, or beef tataki.
Sunomono salad with seafood.
Steamed monkfish pate.
Shu-mai or gyoza (steamed dumplings filled with a variety of meats or seafoods).
Sushi and sashimi, particularly specials.
Burning Man roll.
Hibachi: steak, chicken, shrimp, lobster, calamari.
Sukiyaki
Shabu-Shabu.
FOR BEST RESULTS
If you let the sushi chefs know that you're open to trying the unusual, they'll start pulling out some extraordinary fish.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
Not all the sushi chefs are adept. I found a bone in a piece of toro once.
FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.
- Dining Environment +1
- Consistency +1
- Service
- Value
- Attitude +1
- Wine & Bar
- Hipness +1
- Local Color +1
SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
- Romantic
- Good for business meetings
- Many private rooms
- Open Sunday lunch and dinner
- Open Monday lunch and dinner
- Open some holidays
- Open all afternoon
- Quick, good meal
- Good for children
- Easy, nearby parking
- Reservations honored promptly
