Wednesday, July 17, 2013.
The New Little Tokyo.
It's hard to imagine that New Orleans was a town without sushi before about 1983. But I remember the excitement about eating raw fish when Shogun--the pioneer hereabouts--first opened its doors. It was followed shortly thereafter by Little Tokyo, which took over what had been the city's first Indian restaurant (the Taj Mahal, owned by the same people who have it and Nirvana now).
That first Little Tokyo--on Causeway Boulevard between Veterans and Airline--grabbed a highly loyal clientele right away. It has kept it through all these years, adding on to its space until it had the entire strip mall. It was the first place in New Orleans to offer karaoke singing. Sheriff Harry Lee was a frequent performer.
Owner Yusuke Kawara kept running with his concept, opening franchises of Little Tokyo as well as more of his own around town. There have always been at least three Little Tokyos in the area, and sometimes as many as five.
An era ended when, a couple of months ago, Yusuke left his original stand behind, and moved Little Tokyo #1 up the boulevard a few blocks. The new place is a little difficult to approach, being knotted up in the Causeway/I-10/West Napoleon spaghetti bowl of no U-turn lanes and other issues. He makes up for it with a somewhat flashy new restaurant, an L-shaped strip mall whose two occupants ate Little Tokyo and--yes, it's still alive--the Little Tokyo Karaoke Bar.
I dropped in today to take a look. It's a long, narrow dining room with what may be the biggest sushi bar in town. Tables are lined up along the windows opposite, almost as far as the eye can see.
I sat down at the sushi bar and discovered that the menu is not made for those with compromised vision. The background is a non-stop array of photographs of sushi and sushi chefs, with the menu text superimposed upon it. I gave up after less than a minute, and picked up the sushi checklist instead.
No big deal. I know what they serve here, anyway. The full array of sushi, and all the classic Japanese hot dishes.
I began with miso soup, and followed with a tri-color plate of sashimi. Yellowtail, tuna, and salmon, pristine cuts at exactly the right cool (but not cold) temperature. This was a lot of raw fish for the money. Too much, really: for the first time in my life, I had to bring some of what I ordered home.
The rest of the order included asparagus nigiri and a Burning Man roll. That's tuna both straight and spicy, with avocado and a wrapper of soy skin. This was the first time I'd encountered the latter ingredient on this roll, which has long been one of the great specialties at all the Little Tokyos.
The waiter seemed new to the job. When I asked for an Asahi beer, he didn't know what I was talking about. But he was friendly enough.
On my way out, I passed through the karaoke lounge. It's small but comfortably furnished with couches. And a screen mounted on the walls, clearly ready to go with the first singer. But nobody else was there. The sun was still shining. I believe I read somewhere that karaoke can only be performed after dark. Another time.
Little Tokyo. Metairie: 2300 N Causeway Blvd. 504-831-6788.
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