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A couple of rolls - Wild Ginger and Wasabi on 82nd

12:28 PM | Labels: Independent Restaurants, Japanese restaurant, kid friendly, sushi, Wasabi on 82nd, Wild Ginger

So I have randomly eaten a couple of rolls at a couple of different places—both when hubby was out of town, and both with my kids, who seem to always be game for Japanese food. And I always appreciate that there is no fear my son having an allergic reaction, since Japanese food rarely uses any kind of nuts. Interestingly, Wasabi (the second one I discuss here) was originally owned by the people who own Wild Ginger now. So I guess it isn’t surprising that there are several similar items on the menus.

Anyhow, the first dinner was Wild Ginger on 116^thStreet in Fishers—the kids were totally into it, I have to say. They loved the origami crane light fixture (a cool idea) and our table in the window (the place is certainly kid friendly). They split an order of chicken teriyaki and I ordered a roll and a couple of orders of nigiri to split with my son.

Wild Ginger

The roll I had there was the “mistake roll” ($7) which was spicy tuna inside and then the entire thing is lightly tempura fried. There was also spicy mayo drizzled on top. Honestly, I didn’t really care for it that much mainly because all I could really taste was the rice and the sauce. The amount of the spicy tuna inside was very minimal, and the amount of rice certainly dominated. I appreciated the crunch on the outside, but overall, there wasn’t enough of a fish (or really anything else) flavor to make it interesting for me. The couple of pieces of nigiri ($4.75 per order) were kind of mixed too—I liked the albacore with the ponzu citrus sauce that is served under it (although I had to ask for it even though it is listed on the menu), but the fish on both orders of nigiri was not as tender as I would have liked—it seemed like it might have been sliced awhile ago or something.

Indy Roll- Wasabi

The other roll I had more recently with the kids once again, was at Wasabi on 82^nd. The kids also enjoy this place because they like sitting at the sushi bar and watching them make everything. I ordered the “Indy roll” ($15)—this one was stuffed with shrimp tempura and then topped with thin sliced tuna, salmon and avocado. The whole thing was drizzled with eel sauce and mayo and topped with a bit of fish roe. Not including the sauce, this is my kind of roll—a little bit of nearly all my favorite things in a roll—crunch from the tempura, tuna, and avocado—and the fish was nice and very thinly cut. And it was a roll I could fit into my mouth without any crazy contortions. I thought the sauce was a little over the top though. I really could have lived without the just plain mayo (I scraped most of it off). I like a little bit of some sauce just to add some moisture, but I think I would ask them to hold the mayo. The eel sauce (a sweetened soy based sauce) was good, but there was maybe just a bit too much as well (although a lot of it was on the plate, so it was easier to avoid if you didn’t want too much). The tuna nigiri ($4.95) here was very good—it seemed really fresh and tender and was a very generous portion.

Nigiri-Wasabi

Of the two, I certainly preferred the Wasabi roll, although they are so different, it is really unfair to even compare them. I would be willing to try either place again, although Wasabi is much more convenient for me. I do think it tends to be a little on the expensive side. So what are your favorite rolls at these places?

Wild Ginger

8235 East 116^th Street

Fishers, IN 46038

317/842-9888

www.wildginger116.com

Wasabi on 82^nd

5025 East 82^ndStreet

Indy 46250

317/594-1188

www.wasabion82nd.com

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Sakura

5:40 AM | Labels: Independent Restaurants, Japanese restaurant, Sakura, sushi

Sakura is the old guard sushi place in Indy—I think it opened when I was in high school (Lord, I’m old) and was the only one of its kind for awhile. Nowadays, sushi is everywhere, and in varying quality. I am pretty sure the décor has not changed one iota since it opened, right down to the fake flowers hanging on the walls. Honestly, I am surprised I haven’t written about it before—we have been lots of times, although the last time we went I swore I would never come back because the service was so horrible (and of course we were with the kids). It can get crazy crowded, and when it does I find often it seems the staff sort of hovers in the back corner and the sushi making becomes progressively slower.

I started with a bowl of miso. As I have said before, I have never really found a lot of variation in miso soup other than sometimes they have a little more tofu (yay, this one did!), or a little more seaweed. Other than that, what I can say about it was that it was scorching hot. Burned my tongue hot, which is not a great precursor to sushi, but oh well.

Anyway, I was in the mood for sushi, it is probably one of two of the closest sushi places to my house, and it was still early enough that we knew it wouldn’t be too crowded yet. Also, as a bonus, sushi is 20% off at Fridays for lunch. We ordered three different rolls to share—the crunch (around $6-7, it was a special), the rock ‘n’ roll ($8.40), and the Gabe roll ($6.30). The crunch roll was good—pretty straightforward—it was shrimp, krab, and avocado on the inside with little tempura bits on top. Even though I don’t usually order things with krab, I went with it because it sounded like a good basic roll, and I like the little crunchy bits. They served it on top of a little spicy mayo which was nice to give it a touch of heat—otherwise the roll didn’t have a ton of flavor on its own.

Hubby’s favorite was definitely the Gabe roll. Basically, this is Sakura’s version of a spicy tuna roll—however; the quality of it is much higher than most sushi places. They actually call it tuna tartare, and it is nice chopped pieces of Ahi—it is mixed with green onions, flying fish roe, and “spicy sauce.” They fill the inside of the roll with it and then mound it on top as well. It is mounded so high, it is nearly impossible to gracefully fit it into your mouth. I ended up sort of eating the top of the stuff on its own and then the roll. It was good, but there was nothing really to break up all the tuna salad type texture. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting.

The last roll (rock ‘n’ roll) had a lot more going on, but it was probably the least favorite of both of us. So it had the seaweed on the outside, then rice, then avocado, smelt roe, eel and crab. The whole thing was deep fried for 20 seconds so it was slightly warm and had a very light tempura batter. It seemed like it had all the things I liked, but there was something that was just a little too strong about it—maybe too much eel sauce, maybe the very generous amount of smelt roe—it just came across as overly heavy—it was hard to really taste the various ingredients.

In past visits, I have also had udon which was pretty good (love the poached egg in there)—and a nice idea on a cold day (although if it’s Friday, you can’t really pass up 20% off). I posted my picture from that visit, just for fun. I appreciate that they served the tempura on the side so it didn’t get soggy.

I know Sakura is the original sushi in Indy, but I can’t say it is the best in my opinion—although I am sure there are those that would disagree. But it is nice that we have so much variety these days.

Sakura

7201 North Keystone

Indy 46240

317/259-4171

http://www.indysakura.com/

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H2O Sushi - Revisit

2:45 AM | Labels: Broad Ripple Restaurants, Eli Anderson, H2O, Independent Restaurants, Japanese restaurant, Nicole Anderson, seafood restaurants, sushi

Ok, so H2O is one of my favorite places. I probably go out to dinner there more than almost anywhere (and carry out, etc). I was thinking, if you have just started reading my blog, or have a memory like I do, or just don’t know me personally, you may not realize this. Therefore, I decided it was time for a revisit. I have also had a couple of great meals the last couple of times I have been, but didn’t take pictures of one, so I decided to make an effort this last time.

We were with my in-laws, who had never been before, and are generally not sushi eaters, but they were game to try any place we liked so much. We got a bunch of different stuff and shared. The first thing (as always) was the tuna tartare ($14). This is a staple for me and I think I would cry if I was told I couldn’t have it. I know I have talked about it before, but it is diced tuna that has been marinated in ginger, soy and lemon and mixed with radish, chives and cilantro and served with masago on the side (mix it in people, it gives a nice little teeny extra texture). Fried wontons are on the side to scoop it up (I always ask for extra). I love this stuff.

We also got a couple of orders of one of the day’s specials, the pork shumai ($6), which I had seen on the menu before, but had never ordered. They were outstanding. They were little dumplings stuffed with pork and seasonings and sitting in a bowl of what they called a sweet and savory sauce. It had soy and I would say some vinegar as well as something making it a little sweet. Since you generally only get chopsticks at H2O (or a fork if you ask), I was not too proud to put one on my plate and then dump some of the sauce on top. The dumplings were rich and the broth had all the variation in flavors that kicks them up a level—salt, sweet, and acidic. I would easily get these again (and I know hubby would demand it).

My in-laws ordered the shrimp tacos ($10), which we let them eat since they only come 2 to an order and since I have had them many times before. They are some of the better of the “gourmet” tacos you see on menus around town—tender grilled shrimp, with yuzu adobo sauce (giving a little tartness and a smoky flavor), guacamole and crema (adding to the creaminess) as well as cabbage and radish giving them just a little needed crispness so that they don’t become too soft. These are on our regular rotation as well (and are on the menu all the time).

We also shared the special noodle dish of the day which was Shanghai noodles with roasted salmon ($27). Usually their noodle dishes are some of my favorite things, but this one wasn’t as exciting for me, probably because cooked salmon isn’t my favorite fish (I prefer it raw or smoked). The noodles were a slightly thicker noodle (like linginue) and were in a ginger miso broth. I really enjoyed the flavor of the broth but it was kind of hard to get a lot because I was using chop sticks and we were sharing.

Lastly, we got a couple of rolls because, well, it isn’t a visit to H2O without ordering the crazy ho roll ($14). We also got the ultimate California ($10). I love the crazy ho (I mean who doesn’t really?) and this is another thing we almost always get. It is spicy tuna and wontons inside and is layered on top with avocado, snow crab (real crab, yay!), eel, eel sauce, spicy sauce and masago (the little fish eggs). Yeah, it’s a lot going on, and yeah, it is everything I like (even the spicy tuna which isn’t that weird tuna salad-ish sstuff you get a lot of places). It’s gooey, and it’s good. A little bit of crunch from the wonton and little spiciness from the spicy sauce and tuna, but a touch of sweetness from the eel sauce. Delish.

The ultimate California is crab (again, the real stuff), cucumber and avocado inside and the roll is lightly coated in more of the masago. This is definitely one of the better California rolls I have had, but it is clearly a much simpler thing, and to be quite honest, I love all the stuff that is going on with the crazy ho.

So for dessert, we had an order of “the cookies” ($8.50) which I have had many times and love—they’re like the ultimate oatmeal cookie—chewy and warm and served with espresso cream for dipping (and which we had to get because it was my in-laws first visit). But hubby and I were excited when they had a couple of other dessert options. Nicole Anderson, one of the owners (married to the chef Eli Anderson) is a pastry chef and when she does other things, they are just as great as the cookies. If there is one thing I have learned, when they are offering something else (which they often don’t), just order it. This day’s selection (among others) was a caramel cream pie ($8). Wow, was it good. It had the deepest caramel flavor and was topped with a ton of fresh whipped cream and little caramel covered rice crispies. Hubby was so happy—caramel is one of his favorite things dessert-wise. Honestly, I am not sure whether his parents got much of it because the two of us ate it so fast.

So, there’s the update. A few of my classics, a few specials, and an amazing dessert treat. If you haven’t been to H2O before (and even if sushi isn’t your thing), you are missing out. This place is in my top 5 Indy restaurants.

H2O Sushi

1912 Broad Ripple Avenue

Indy 46220

317/254-0677

www.h2osushibar.com

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iSushi

2:38 AM | Labels: Carmel, Independent Restaurants, isushi, Japanese restaurant, lunch places, sushi

I told you I was on a breakfast and sushi kick, and here’s the next sushi venture. I met my friend @IndyFoodSwapfor lunch at isushi in Carmel the other day—she and I have enjoyed our share of sushi together and are pretty compatible in what we like (for instance, we are both big fans of the Crazy Ho at H2O—possibly one of my favorite rolls ever). The menu at isushi is quite large as far as rolls go and there are some interesting combos that I haven’t seen before. Quite a few of them involve krab stick and/or cream cheese though which are generally non starters for me.

Suzanne had the salad to start and I had miso soup. The ginger dressing on the salad was your standard Japanese restaurant version—leaning more toward the tangy gingery side than the creamier type that you sometimes see (and which Suzanne is now spoiled for from Sushi Bar). It was basic iceberg and dressing. The miso soup was pretty standard too. Honestly, I don’t think you can vary it that much and pretty much all of them taste similar to me. It tasted good though because it was warm and the restaurant was chilly.

Tampa (left), Mikimoto and Graduation Rolls

Emperor Roll

We ordered three different rolls, and ended up getting one that wasn’t what we ordered, so we actually ended up trying 4. My favorite was the Tampa roll ($5). It was stuffed with tempura fried red snapper and chives and then topped with spicy mayo. I like snapper and this was a fun way to eat it in a sushi roll—we both love chives which was one of the things that drew us both to it. The tempura was nice and crunchy and the roll itself was nice and bite-sized. It was straight forward, but had the crunch I like and the little extra kick from the mayo.

I also liked the Mikimoto roll ($12.59) which was filled with shrimp tempura and avocado and topped with eel and eel sauce. This roll was wrapped in soy paper. The rolls were getting progressively larger though and this one was borderline too big. The other thing I noticed, particularly about the larger rolls was they weren’t rolled very tightly and had a tendency to kind of fall apart while you were eating them. The eel on top was pretty big pieces as well. The flavor of the fillings and topping were good on this one—the shrimp with the requisite crunch, and I always like avocado in my rolls.

So the roll that we actually ordered, but which we didn’t get until we pointed out the mistake, was the Emperor roll ($12.75). I did not care for this one and probably should have taken it as a sign when they didn’t bring it the first time. It was filled with salmon and avocado and topped with tuna, yellowtail and seaweed salad. Oof, I am not sure what it was about this one, or if it was just a combination of a lot of things, but I could barely stomach it. First of all, it was huge and really hard to eat. The fish that was layered on top was cut in very thick pieces and was so cold it was almost like it had just been taken out of a freezer not long before. The seaweed seemed quite cold as well. I mean, obviously you want your raw fish cold, but this was too cold, and the roll was totally unmanageable and falling apart—and the fish pieces were so big they were hard to chew (and made the fish completely dominate the flavor). Maybe some of the problems came because they made it really fast after giving us the wrong thing, but I would take a skip on this one.

Actually, the roll that they brought us that wasn’t what we ordered, was probably better than the one we did order, even though it contained both cream cheese AND krab stick (they kindly left it for us after they realized the mistake). It was the graduation roll ($12.75) and was stuffed with krab stick, cucumber, avocado and cream cheese and was topped with scallop, salmon, spicy krab stick and spicy mayo. There was a lot going on in this roll and it was hard to kind of differentiate the flavors, but the fish on top was slightly more thinly sliced at least, even though it was still challenging to eat. It isn’t something I would order again either.

I appreciated that the service was very attentive and they were right on top of it when they realized they had made a mistake and brought us the new roll quickly (possibly too quickly though). The restaurant itself opens directly into the outside though making it very chilly on a cold day, although they were doing a pretty good business at lunch. Once the rolls got past pretty simple though, they fell apart (literally and figuratively). Sushi often seems so artful in the way it is made and this just lacked that quality.

isushi

820 East 116^thStreet

Carmel, 46032

317/569-1997

www.isushicafe.com

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Ichiban Noodles

2:42 AM | Labels: Castleton Area Restaurants, Ichiban Noodles, Independent Restaurants, Japanese restaurant, lunch places, sushi

Hubby and I have this conversation fairly often about grabbing a quick lunch near our house. Something local, something near the Castleton area (where we live), and if possible, something new. It’s a tall order. We remembered Ichiban Noodles, and it is a place several of you have told me about and recommended. Honestly, we had been there once before, but quite awhile ago, pre-blog days.

First of all, there is something about the kind of run down hack exterior of the place that makes you feel hopeful about the food. I’m not sure what it is, and hubby and I kind of disagree about this. He also doesn’t like that the place is kind of cold inside, which he says he remembers from our first visit.

One of the things I like about the menu is that they have a lot of noodles on it (hence the name right?). They have the more common udonand soba noodles in broth that you see in a lot of Japanese places, but they also have ramen, which I think is less common in Indy. So we got an order of the ramen yaki with pork ($7.05) and split a couple of rolls—the Hoosier roll ($5.10) and the softshell crab roll ($8.35).

The ramen noodles are served stir fried, and not in a bowl of broth--they were really good and had a nice distinct flavor without being overly greasy. There were probably almost as many veggies mixed in with the noodles and I loved that they were cut almost the same size as the noodles. One of my pet peeves with noodles dishes (and others) is when there is a giant vegetable in the middle that is way too big to eat in a bite (or 6) but you just have chop sticks to eat it with. Anyhow, this was not a problem here at all—there were onions, bok choy, zucchini and carrots and they were all sliced up just about as thick as the noodles. We chose the option with a breaded pork cutlet on top—and it was quite good as well. Not tough at all and had a nice crunch and seasoning that went really well with the noodles. I would get this one again for sure.

The rolls were good as well. Not the tidiest or prettiest rolls I have ever seen, but the ingredients were good and they were a nice bite size (well, the soft shell crab was piled pretty high). The Hoosier roll contained tuna, avocado and a drizzle of spicy mayo inside (and I had them add a little tempura crunch). The tuna was fresh (although somewhat random in its size in each piece), and I liked the bit of flavor from the spicy mayo, but it wasn’t that weird chopped up “spicy tuna” that often seems a little too mystery-meat to me. I liked the crunch from the little bit of tempura they put in (again, at my request). The soft shell crab roll was pretty good too—the crab was chopped up and mixed with the spicy mayo—and a bunch of it was piled on top. Not my favorite in the world, but we certainly managed to eat it all.

The interior is small and certainly not fancy. The people working there are really nice—both the sushi chef who welcomed us and said goodbye as we left, and the server who was exceptionally friendly throughout the entire meal. I also liked the hot towels they brought you for your hands when you sit down. They obviously have a large group of regulars who come in for lunch, and if I worked in the area, I can see why. It’s nice to have found a reasonably priced and good quality independent restaurant in the Castleton area.

But please feel free to help hubby and me out for the next time. Any more recommendations for that area?

Ichiban Noodles

8355 Bash Street

Indy 46250

317/841-0484

(No website, boo!)

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Sushi Bar

2:50 AM | Labels: Asian, Broad Ripple Restaurants, Independent Restaurants, Japanese restaurant, kid friendly, sushi, Sushi Bar

I feel like I have been in a rut lately and wanted to try something new. I have heard some good things about the new Sushi Bar on Broad Ripple Avenue and wanted to check it out. We were both impressed by how cute the interior of the place was when we walked in (ok, hubby would not use the word “cute,” but whatever). They have done a really nice job of giving it a feel that is more than just your typical Japanese restaurant. There’s a bay window in the front with a large sunken booth that was full with a family when we walked in—I can’t wait to take the kids back to sit there, they would love it (and the rest of the restaurant can’t hear them as well—it’s a win-win.)

see the size of the glass?

Anyway, we sat down and ordered some drinks—one of the first perks of this place is cheap alcohol. They have $1 domestic beers and $2 imports and while the wine list is, um, well, what you expect of most Japanese places, when you order a glass, it is a serious glass. As in HUGE. So you get your money’s worth here too (I think my glass was $6.99 which was one of the more expensive ones).

We started with an order of veggie tempura ($6.95). They also have an eggplant tempura appetizer that I was intrigued by and asked the server if eggplant was included in the mixed veggie option—she said no. So it was a nice surprise when she brought it out and told us they had gone ahead and added a couple pieces of eggplant. I appreciate these things. I also loved that there was a piece of broccoli in there as well (and various squash and a couple of onion rings). The tempura was only ok though—it just wasn’t quite crispy enough. The taste was good, but it needed another minute or hotter oil.

Next they brought us our rolls—we ordered the “2010 roll” which was a special on the board and was a roll with shrimp tempura inside and avocado, spicy tuna and crispy crab flakes on the outside (around $13). We both enjoyed the flavors of this one—there was also a light sauce beneath the crunchy crab flavored bits—my only problem with it was it was so tall, it was hard to get it in your mouth. I also thought it was interesting that the pieces of shrimp tempura that were inside the roll were much crunchier than the ones in the veggie tempura appetizer. I think a lot of places must fry the stuff that goes inside rolls longer to keep them crunchier once they’re in the roll. I just wish they would fry the other stuff as crunchy. Loved the crunchy bits on top to give the roll lots of texture.

We also had the red dragon roll (I am almost sure that was its name—around $12) and it was very good. Probably more up my alley because it was a little easier to eat and the tuna on top was great. It was eel and avocado inside and fresh tuna on top (actually rolled almost all the way around). There was also a lightly sweet unagi sauce on top. This one didn’t have the texture of the first one obviously, but it had a great, more simplified flavor. And the ingredients were extremely fresh and well done.

We also had an order of tuna nigiri ($4.50 for 2 pieces) because hubby really likes nigiri(which is just the rice topped with the fish). It was also very good—a good way to really get a handle on the freshness of the fish—this was melt in your mouth tender and the rice had that slight sweet/vinegar taste that makes nigiri shine. I sometimes don’t like nigiri as much because there is wasabi added (often a bit is put under the fish) but this one didn’t have that problem.

Our server was nice, but had a little bit of attitude—I think she was trying to be funny, but sometimes it came across as a little snotty. As the restaurant got busier, she was more focused on getting food and drinks out and I enjoyed myself more (the giant glass of wine didn’t hurt either). I was also entertained by the couple who came in toward the end of the meal and asked the server to explain everything to them—they had never had any type of sushi before (I love eavesdropping on the tables around me). I have to hand it to them though—way to be bold and just ask for help. The menu is quite large—I think there are probably 20-30 different rolls alone, not to mention a menu full of other good sounding things, including several noodle dishes that I would like to try.

Overall, while there are certain things that could use some improvement (the tempura for sure, as well as the fact there is no website to be found), this is a good addition to Broad Ripple village proper. The food is good and the prices are pretty reasonable (particularly for beer-- although it is technically a “special,” the special sign looked fairly permanent). They have a kids menu, which so few Japanese restaurants seem to have, and I know we’ll be back with the kids to give the place a try as a family. So who has had the noodles and other dishes? What else is good?

Sushi Bar

911 Broad Ripple Avenue

Indy 46220

317/257-7289

There is no website (there is a facebook page with nothing really on it). It is hard to believe in this day and age that a new restaurant doesn’t have a website, but maybe that’s just me.
***Update 11/2/12: they have a website!
www.sushibarindy.com

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Izakaya

2:59 AM | Labels: Fishers Restaurants, Independent Restaurants, Japanese restaurant, lunch places, sushi

Recently I posted about a sushi meal and the day I posted it, there were several comments discussing sushi, which of course instantly put me back in the mood. I did want to at least try something new though, so hubby and I decided to try Izakaya. It took us a few minutes to find it because it is back in a strip mall area off to the side, but we finally did. When we walked in, I liked the interior (other than it was freezing of course). It is modern and feels a little nicer than a lot of Japanese restaurants. They also offer hibachi grills, so we may have to go try that with the kids one of these days.

They have a lunch special that includes ordering a couple of rolls (from a list of choices) for $9.95, which is what I got. I picked the tuna roll with avocado and the shrimp tempura roll. It is a pretty good deal considering one of the rolls on the regular menu is $8.95. I can’t say I loved one better than the other—the tuna was nice and fresh—it was pretty simple though. I would have liked a little more avocado. But it was a nice bite sized roll. The shrimp tempura roll was good too. I liked the variation in texture, and having a little crunch to it with the tempura shrimp inside as well as the tempura bits on top. Both of the rolls hit the spot and satisfied the craving. I didn’t have any major complaints. You also got a bowl of miso soup included with your lunch—it was your standard miso soup with seaweed and little chunks of tofu.

Hubby got the shrimp tempura lunch for $8.95. It was several shrimp tempura (there were 3 or 4) and quite a fair amount of vegetables. Interestingly, the crunchy outside part on the shrimp was a little different from what was on the veggies—the shrimp was almost more like panko in texture—a much crunchier, breadier, and thicker coating. It was honestly a little too thick—it made the shrimp seem very small in comparison. There were several kinds of veggies—asparagus, squash, a large onion ring, zuchinni and a mushroom. The batter on these was more of your traditional batter-tempura type and we both liked it better—it wasn’t so thick that it overwhelmed the veggies themselves. It also came with soup and a bowl of steamed rice.

Overall, it hit the spot and the service was fast and friendly. When we first sat down, there weren’t many people there and the air conditioning was on full blast and it was freezing. But it was one of the few places I have eaten in which I asked for it to be turned down and they went and turned it off. Usually you just get an eye roll when you complain about being cold around here.

Anyone been to the hibachi part? I am curious to know if it is good.

Izakaya

7325 East 96^thStreet

Fishers, IN

317/915-8988

www.indyizakaya.com

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Naked Tchopstix

2:34 AM | Labels: Asian, Broad Ripple Restaurants, Japanese restaurant, Naked Tchopstix, sushi

I don’t know if it was because it had been so hot or what, but lately I am craving sushi. And we needed somewhere that had a wide enough menu to make the kids happy too (meaning, they have not developed their true love of sushi. Yet.) A friend of mine really likes Naked Tchopstix so we thought we would give it a try.

They certainly meet the criteria of a large menu—our server came back like 4 times before we were ready to order—and even then I didn’t feel like I had enough time to really read through everything. They have a lot of sushi and Japanese food, but they also have a lot of other things—Korean, Thai, Chinese etc. Everything from soups to noodles to rice dishes.

We settled on trying their tuna tartare ($9.99) because in many places it is one of my favorite things, so I always want to try it somewhere else. This one was different from most in that it was more like the tuna mix that is used in rolls that list “spicy tuna” as an ingredient. It is more of a finely chopped mix of the tuna mixed with spicy mayo—it isn’t the large raw pieces of Ahi that are my favorite thing. So it was this “spicy tuna” mix combined with mango and tobiko (fish eggs) with deep fried wontons on the side to eat them with. There seemed to be a sweet sauce on top as well. This one wasn’t for me—I guess I like either a soy based sauce or an acid based sauce with something like this. And something about just scooping up the prepared tuna made me think of canned tuna fish. I don’t mind it inside a roll as much along with other ingredients, but just eating it straight up like this seemed strange. Hubby liked it better than I did.

We also got two rolls. Again, we were having a hard time deciding because there are a lot of choices. I like there to be some contrasting flavors in a roll—something with some crunch or texture as well as something creamy (either the fish or the sauce). I am also always partial to a roll that includes avocado. The first one that grabbed my eye was the corona roll ($10.99). It included avocado, more of the spicy tuna (I didn’t realize they were going to have the same ingredients), and tempura chips and was topped with white tuna and lime. It had a light wasabi mayo sauce as well. I really liked this. It had a nice citrusy flavor and wasn’t overly sweet. I personally like a crunch from something tempura in my roll and the little chips did the trick. The white tuna was pretty tender. I like the flavor from the lime on top, but ended up picking most of them off because I just don’t like chewing on the skin of the lime slice, even when it is really thinly sliced. This roll was the best thing we had.

The other roll was the Tokyo roll ($12.99) which had eel, avocado and crab inside and tuna and spicy mayo on the outside as well as various flavors of roe. It normally comes with cucumber inside as well, but cucumber isn’t our favorite thing in sushi, so we had them leave it out. That is probably not a good idea because it probably gives it the extra crunch that the roll needed. It was good, but nothing that I would crave again. The ingredients were good, and the tuna on the outside was nice and fresh, but it just didn’t wow me for anything. The corona roll was much more memorable.

We also shared a small order of frites ($4.99) with the kids, which seemed like a weird thing to get at a place like this, but they wanted them, so we tried them. They are pretty good—the really thin kind that were nice and hot and crispy. They served them with 4 different sauces—all things that I think they are using in their other food items—a teriyaki type sauce, a sweet chili oil, a spicy mayo and a wasabi mayo. Honestly, none of the sauces were really necessary—the frites were fine on their own. I am guessing these are on the menu for the late night Broad Ripple bar scene. But the kids liked them. The kids split a chicken teriyaki dinner ($11.99) which they were fine with but my daughter informed me the all white meat was “a little dry.” I had one quick bite and would say she was right about that.

All in all, I would say this is a good place to go to meet a sushi craving, even though there are other places that I like better. They do have a nice wide-ranging menu though to appeal to many different tastes. So what have other people had non-sushi wise that they really like? Or do you have a favorite roll there?

Naked Tchopstix

6253 N. College Ave.

Indy 46220

317/252-5555

www.tchopstix.com (why do restaurants not put prices on their websites?)

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One World Market

3:40 AM | Labels: Independent Restaurants, Japanese restaurant, lunch places, Markets, sushi

At Castleton the other day because I had to be, and trying to figure out a place to eat lunch that a) wasn’t a chain and b) didn’t suck. I threw it up on twitter and I have to say, you guys came through for me big time with some really good ideas. Sushi sounded good though, so I decided to try the One World Asian market which also does sushi and other Japanese dishes.

I liked the whole “build your own roll thing” and decided to go with that ($10.55 for a roll with soy paper, one fish, two veg-type ingredients and a sauce—tempura crispies free). So I chose tuna, avocado, and tempura asparagus in soy paper with some crunchies and some spicy mayo on the side. It included a cup of miso soup as well. I also got a tempura shrimp on the side ($1.50). I liked that you could just order several things like this a la carte—I wish more places did this. It gave me the chance to try something else.

So, as for the roll, it was fine. The asparagus was quite tasty actually—still warm from being freshly fried. The thing I didn’t like about the roll though was its size—the circumference of the pieces was about the same size as the bottom of a soda can. Ok, I know I complain about this issue a lot, but who can eat that in one bite? Or maybe you aren’t supposed to—but when you have to take 2 bites for each piece (which I did), you don’t get all the ingredients in each bite which is a bummer. The tuna was a little mushy too—not sure how else to explain it. I only used a little of the spicy mayo—it was your classic spicy mayo. Anyway, I guess I like my rolls a little smaller in size so you can just pop them into your mouth without fighting with it.

The soup that came alongside was your classic miso soup with seaweed and lots of hunks of tofu (my favorite part). The shrimp tempura was crazy fried. The fried part on the outside was as thick as the shrimp was wide. Honestly, it was fresh and really crunchy, but it was almost hard to taste the shrimp for all the fried stuff.

The thing I probably most liked about this place was how nice and welcoming the staff was—all greeting you when you walked it. The place is really a food market with a little corner of seating, so the atmosphere is minimal, and sort of school cafeteria in feel. But in Castleton, with so many chains, it was nice to support a local place with such a friendly staff. And I got some of my favorite Japanese gum afterwards.

One World Market
8466 Castleton Corner Drive
Indy 46250
317/842-3442

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Sapporo Japanese Steakhouse

3:59 AM | Labels: Independent Restaurants, Japanese restaurant, kid friendly, Sapporo

It was Saturday. It was Castleton. The kids were hungry. We were screwed. We were looking for somewhere to eat (we promised them dinner out) and got shut out of a couple of places because we just wouldn’t wait forever. In desperation, I remembered there was another Japanese steakhouse nearby and I think I have mentioned that my kids love Benihana, so they would love it right? And we could get in without a reservation.

So we were going for the whole teppanyaki cook it at your table experience because my kids are big fans. And forgive me for comparing the whole experience to Benihana, but it is sort of unavoidable for me particularly since we have eaten there so many times. When you order dinner, you get the traditional clear soup with thinly sliced mushrooms and fried onions. I have to say this one had a little more flavor than others I have had. The salad was your typical iceberg lettuce with a ginger dressing. This was the type that was more mayo based and creamy and I prefer the purely gingery vinaigrette type as far as Japanese restaurant salads go.

I had the filet and shrimp combination ($26.95 includes soup, salad and shrimp app) and hubby had a combination of flounder and shrimp ($20.95). We always share in these kinds of meals. My son, the steak eater, also had filet (happy to see it as an option on the kid’s menu). My daughter had the shrimp. The kids both had the fried rice option as well. So they really liked the fried rice. I noticed they make it with a lot less veggies, no chicken, and a lot more sauces than at other places. It tasted okay to me, but it apparently really appealed to the kids. I did like that there were a lot more sautéed veggies offered with each meal—there were bean sprouts, broccoli, carrots, onions and zucchini and a lot of them. I appreciated this a bit more than the kids though.

Unfortunately after that, things went sort of south. Both the shrimp and the steaks were overcooked and lacking any real seasoning. My son, pointed it out quite loudly that in fact, his steak was not medium rare as he ordered it (my son declares everything very loudly—he really needs volume control). I don’t know, maybe the guy just does the meat that way regardless of how you order it, or maybe he was just having an off night. The shrimp were also a little tough. They don’t cut them up the same way they do at Benihana, which I think is a mistake because they are probably afraid of undercooking them, and went too far the other way. The flounder on hubby’s dish may have been one of the better things, it was cooked properly and was tender and I liked the flavoring they put on it while they were cooking it. I thought the fish was just a little bit fishy though.

All in all, it wasn’t a great experience food-wise, but I will say our chef was quite flashy and skilled with all the teppanyaki tricks. They do the big flames here, and he was tossing eggs all over the place. That part he had down anyway. The interior is tired though, other than the very cool koi ponds as you walk in (even with a little bridge across it—the kids were digging this). It pretty much looks like it was opened in the 80s and hasn’t been touched since. Oh well, at least we managed to find a non-chain restaurant in Castleton—that alone earns us a medal right?

Sapporo

6342 East 82^nd Street

Indy 46250

317/570-7333

www.steakhouseindy.com

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Tomo

5:42 AM | Labels: Independent Restaurants, Japanese restaurant, Northside Restaurant, sushi, Tomo

Tomo is another really close restaurant to me that I have never been to—and recently has been recommended by a couple of people, so we thought we would check it out. The first thing I noticed was how well it was doing on a random Tuesday night—nice to see a small business like this with such good business. The other thing I noticed right away was the interior is pretty darn nice. I guess for a strip mall outside of Wal Mart, I didn’t have high hopes. But they have done a good job on the interior. There are a few teppanyaki tables (a la Benihana) and then a larger restaurant area with a full bar. We figured if we liked what we had, we may bring the kids back for the teppanyaki as Benihana is one of their favorite places.

The menu is quite large—the regular sushi type items as well as lots of other Japanese options (teriyaki, udon, etc) and even a few Thai dishes. Of course huge menus always worry me, but you never know. We started with an order of shrimp tempura ($6.95) for an appetizer (they have it as a dinner and an appetizer, we got the appetizer portion). It was pretty good actually. I always find it interesting to see how much tempura can vary from place to place, but their batter was very light and extremely crunchy. My favorite part was that along with the shrimp (there were 2), they served several veggies, as is usually the case, and they served broccoli as one as well as eggplant, which are two of my favorite things to be done in this style. I’m not sure why, but in San Francisco, they almost always offered both, and I got used to it—I get tired of the traditional squash and carrots you seem to see so many places here. The zucchini was also really good.

We almost didn’t order the tempura, because it didn’t seem that exciting, but I am glad we did because it was probably our favorite thing of the evening. We had some miso soup ($1.95) which was your standard miso soup, totally fine, nothing out of the ordinary. Then we had the beef tataki ($9.95). Normally I wouldn’t order beef in a Japanese restaurant (well a sushi place anyway), but because they did all the teppanyaki stuff, I knew they would turn over beef (and all of those tables were full while we were there). It was lightly seared on the edges, and sliced thin, served nearly raw (except for the sear on the edges)and cold. This dish was fine, but nothing about it made us really excited. The beef was pretty tender, but there were some pieces that were a little too fatty. The “chef’s special sauce” was a little overdone—the beef was really almost floating in it. It was soy based, with some sweetness to it as well. A little less of it would have been better. There were lots of chopped chives on top as well, which I liked for some texture. It is a very generous portion though.

Finally, we went with the sweetheart roll ($12.95) which was spicy tuna crunch on the inside (tuna mixed with little pieces of tempura bits) and then topped with fresh tuna, which was served in a cute way (it’s upside down because they put the heart facing hubby, go figure). The heart was actually made up of several sauces, which were good with the rolls, and kind of necessary, because the roll on its own wasn’t that exciting. But while I thought the whole thing was a creative presentation, I think I would have preferred the whole thing served as a regular roll with some sauce dressing it. The “spicy” tuna in the middle didn’t really have a lot of flavor and the first piece I ate had a large piece of tempura that was quite hard and made me think for a second I bit into something else. This roll would be a skip for me.

The service was good all night—not super friendly, but extremely efficient and they never let your water glass get more than 1/3 empty before they were refilling it. I also really really like the fruit flavored Japanese bubble gum they give you with your check. But then again I have a weakness for it. Honestly, it is possible I will go back just to get the gum.

Interestingly, the clientele (other than the teppanyaki grills which were dominated by families) on the night we were there was mainly made up of women—probably varying from their 20s to 40s. Not sure why this is, but I was facing the door and just kept watching group after group of women coming in.

We have quite a few good sushi places around us, and several that are better as far as my food experience has gone, but I did like the interior, and I would possibly be willing to go back to try some other things. Recommendations?

Tomo

7411 North Keystone, Suite A

Indy 46240

317/254-8666

www.tomo123.com

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