**** (4 stars)
There are lots of places in Orlando to get sushi, but not that many to get noodles. This is the real deal, and an excellent choice for lunch (when all they have is pretty much noodles). Don’t be fooled by its proximity to the tourist area, Hanamizuki is where the locals go for authentic Japanese noodle dishes.
Hanamizuki Japanese Restaurant
8255 International Dr
Ste 136
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 363-7200
http://www.yelp.com/biz/hanamizuki-japanese-restaurant-orlando-2
**** (4 stars)
This was a delightful find. Wonderful interior design and lighting make this a place you really want to spend some time in, and we dawdled our way through close to a dozen dishes, all of which were excellent.
Some of the sashimi was particularly good, and the specialty rolls were quite creative. There’s also a nice assortment of non-cconventional cooked dishes.
The wine list is excellent.
Koi
730 N LA Cienega Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 659-9449
http://www.yelp.com/biz/koi-west-hollywood
**** (4 stars)
Excellent sashimi, and a very reasonable price for it as a lunch combination was the highlight here. The space is cozy and very popular, with good reason. The restaurant is actually in two separate buildings, but only one side is open at lunch.
Sushi Ran
107 Caledonia St
Sausalito, CA 94965
(415) 332-3620
http://www.yelp.com/biz/sushi-ran-sausalito
**** (4 stars)
This neighborhood Asian restaurant has a menu larger than their storefront! There are an incredible number of pages of Chinese, Japanese and other Asian foods.
We had mostly sushi, which was all good. The sashimi dishes are particularly creative. The Pad Thai was also very good. Hot and sour soup was a standout and the spring rolls were good, too.
They do a busy Chinese takeout business, but it’s also a pleasant place to eat in.
Service was pleasant and efficient. I can’t imagine how their kitchen can turn out so many different things.
No beer or wine.
Tao Asian
13848 Tilden Rd
Ste 118
Winter Garden, FL 34787
(407) 347-8999
http://www.yelp.com/biz/tao-asian-winter-garden
**** (4 stars)
This is a classic sushi restaurant with pleasing decor and a nice selection of sushi and cooked items. It’s a particularly good choice for lunch, with an assortment of bento boxes, or the option of selecting any two rolls plus soup or salad. I like the sushi and sashimi lunch, which offers a generous assortment of sushi, nigiri and a California roll plus soup or salad for a reasonable price.
Mikado Sushi
6417 Raleigh St
Orlando, FL 32835
(407) 822-1080
http://www.yelp.com/biz/mikado-sushi-orlando
maguro truffle
***** (5 stars)
I’ve previously reviewed Kabooki Sushi here, but we continue to return regularly, and the food has advanced from fantastic to mind-blowing, so it deserves another mention (my first repeat review, after more than 400).
As I said previously, we’ve had sushi at some of the top restaurants all over the world, and I’ve never had a meal as good as the ones I consistently get from Chef Henry Moso at Kabooki Sushi.
We always have the omakase, where you put yourself in the chef’s hands. But we ask him to add extra courses, and to pair it with wines. We usually have about seven courses, and it costs around $125, about double what the original omakase ran. To put this in perspective, I’ve paid more than that for a single course at some high end sushi restaurants, and not gotten as good food!
Similarly, the wine pairing at $30 is cheaper than a single glass of wine at those restaurants (Nobu, I’m looking at you).
The really amazing thing is that in a dozen visits, Chef Henry has never repeated himself, except for one dish, the Maguro Truffle, that we always request. So that’s something like 100 unique dishes!
Not only is each a work of art, but the combination of flavors is so perfect (salty, sweet, umami, citrus, fatty, acidic, rich, light — often all combined in one bite) that it defies description.
And sushi isn’t an easy food to pair with wine. Yet the matches are always perfect, and usually include minor grigio, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir, cabernet and sparkling wine.
On our latest visit I showed Chef Henry a picture of a dish we had earlier in the week at Morimoto in New York. Two hours later, at the conclusion of our meal, Chef Henry, inspired by the idea, presented us with this:
otoro tartare with assorted condiments and seaweed chips
If a chef can come up with that on the spur of the moment, imagine what other treasures are in store for us in the future!
Here are some other things we had in that same meal at Kabooki:
giant clam, seaweed and pickled cucumber
compressed watermelon, tuna, ouzu sorbet
hamachi with house-made kimchi
locally caught grilled cobia
three types of fish rolled in rice paper, with apple sails, cucumber sorbet
grilled hamachi collar
If you can only dine at one restaurant in Orlando, it should be Kabooki Sushi.
Kabooki Sushi
3122 E Colonial Dr
Orlando, FL 32803
(407) 228-3839
http://www.yelp.com/biz/kabooki-sushi-orlando
***** (5 stars)
Morimoto offers an upscale sushi experience at a surprisingly reasonable price. The dining room is elegantly trendy, and although large, sounds treatments keep it from being deafening.
Sushi and sashimi are top notch. We had the omikase, which is different than other restaurants I’ve been to, because the emphasis is not on sushi or sashimi (although there is a course of each) but rather cooked foods. We particularly enjoyed the smoke from the burning herbs that accompanied the scallop, and the lovely wagu beef.
Service was efficient, and the wine prices, while not inexpensive, offer a number of nice selections that aren’t exhorbitant.
Morimoto
88 10th Ave
New York, NY 10011
(212) 989-8883
http://www.yelp.com/biz/morimoto-new-york
**** (4 stars)
Anna’s offers a broad range of Asian cuisines and preparations–eight pages worth, in fact. From sashimi to Thai, curry to noodles, dumplings to roti, you’ll find a bit of everything here. I sampled a number of their small plates, and a noodle dish, and all were good.
There are quite a few house specialties, but perhaps the best known is the Stuffed Avocado, a tempura fried avocado with spicy tuna. The dish is quite rich, and the four pieces would make a good starter for a party of four, or a heavy one for a party of two.
The Trio Blossom is served on three spoons, one with squid and basil, one with hamachi (yellowtail in this case, often amberjack) wrapped around jalapeño and cilantro, and one with kani kama (fake crab) wrapped with salmon. I found the exterior of the squid pleasant, but the interior was rather slimy compared to others I’ve had. The yellowtail was the most successful, the jalapeño nice and crisp and not too spicy. As a result, I think the Rising Sun Roll would have been a better (and cheaper) choice.
The Chef’s Sake Baby Ribs was actually one rib, marinated in a tasty homemade tamarind sauce. It was good, but seemed a small portion to share, and too expensive to justify for one.
The Pad Laos was a nice variation on Pad Thai, with an emphasis on ginger and scallions rather than a typical heavy Pad Thai sauce. The lime wedge provided a nice dose of acidity.
Service was extremely friendly and attentive, and I felt welcome from the moment I stepped in the door.
Anna’s is BYOB, and they did a nice job serving the Champagne brought by a neighboring table. I found it odd in a gourmet Asian restaurant that the green tea was a Lipton tea bag.
I wanted to try a wide variety of preparations, and took my server’s recommendations of the house specialties. They were all good, although I didn’t feel there were any home runs. I think on a return visit I would focus on the sushi rolls.
Anna’s Asian Grill & Sushi Bar
1804-06 W Irving Park Rd
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 975-3404
http://www.yelp.com/biz/annas-asian-grill-and-sushi-bar-chicago
*** (3 stars)
I had high expectations for Sunda, and they were met in some areas, but not all.
The best item we sampled was the Crispy Brussels Sprouts, a superb house specialty; thin slices of broccoli are almost toasted, then tossed with red cabbage, carrots, chilies, fried shallots, and minced shrimp and served with nuoc cham (a rice wine vinegar dressing). I couldn’t stop eating this!
Tiger Shrimp Tempura was interesting in that it was served with candied walnuts, but the creamy honey aioli was really slathered on and made it very rich.
“Grilled Spare Ribs” are actually Korean style kalbi ribs, not my favorite.
Sushi was less inspiring. We tried several house special rolls, and none was greater than the sum of its parts. Spicy Salmon Shiso was particularly odd, with very finely ground salmon tartare and a dollop of sriracha on top of a thin slice of jicama and a shiso leaf. The ingredients were fine when picked apart, but the combination was a bit of a mess.
The wine and beer list in interesting, with many selections, including some excellent Champagnes, available by the glass. The space is stylish and vibrant, and the service was efficient, if not inspired.
Sunda
110 W Illinois St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 644-0500
http://www.yelp.com/biz/sunda-chicago
**** (4 stars)
Based upon the tourist location and other reviews I wasn’t expecting much, but I really liked this place.
The room is great, almost a tiki bar decor, with nicely partitioned booths and stylish tables.
The extensive menu offers a huge selection of sushi rolls, plus a page of noodle dishes and two pages of teppan steak offerings. We sat at a table and had sushi for lunch.
A lot of the rolls feature cooked eel or tempura ingredients, making them slightly sweet, so those new to sushi will find it very accessible. There are also very reasonably priced combinations and sashimi samplers.
Of everything we tried my favorite was the orange blossom roll, which involved no orange, but did look orange. A creamy salmon concoction with crispy fried bits of roe, it nicely incorporated salty and sweet flavors with a crispy yet chewy texture.
Service was extremely attentive and friendly, and pricing, especially for a tourist area restaurant, was extremely reasonable.
Oishi Japanese Restaurant
11025 International Dr
Orlando, FL 32821
(407) 465-0088
http://www.yelp.com/biz/oishi-japanese-restaurant-orlando