Monday, October 12, 2009

Little Tokyo Two Step

People are always claiming that one location of a restaurant is better than another. (This happens all the time with Drago's.) Sometime this preference bears specifically on ambience or geographic location, but personnel probably plays the biggest role, especially in the back of the house. In Kitchen Confidential Bourdain explained how the goal of a line cook is to perfectly reproduce a dish in the exact same way every time a customer orders it. So even though like ingredients may be arriving through the delivery door, what eventually ends up on the table could differ widely depending on whose doing the cooking in between.

Little Tokyo on Causeway was where I had my first ever sushi experience, but the Mid-City location has been my default choice for raw fish since it opened. I'm not exactly sure whether the two restaurants source their fish from the same place, especially because the Carrollton location makes special note that it flies fish in weekly from the Tsukiji Market in Tokyo.

This is the "Six Brothers Sushi" from Little Tokyo on Causeway. Fresh tuna and salmon curled around a bit of snowcrab, rolled in rice paper, and topped with a heaping spoonful of colorful masago. Perfect for the carb conscious looking for something more than sashimi.

Here we have the "Japanese Style Chips and Dip" from Little Tokyo on Carrollton. The dip part is just a mound of the mixture which comes in the Dynamite Roll - chopped tuna and salmon (perhaps a little whitefish) mixed with sriracha and the tiniest bit of mayo. The chips are fried yuca sprinkled with salt and drizzled with ponzu sauce. I absolutely loved this. It's $13, but this is a hefty amount of fish.

My preference? Mid-City. First, this location is extremely clean - a factor which carries more weight with me when it comes to eating raw fish. But most importantly I find that Mid-City has a wider selection of fish and a more creative menu (with dishes like the above chips and dip). What say you?

Little Tokyo Causeway - Par
Little Tokyo Carrollton - Birdie

7 comments:

Donnie Boy Riguez said...

Johnny is on Causeway, so I've always been partial to Metry.

Peter, if you're a fan of cleanliness, I presume you've never been in the bathroom at Kanno. I've been in a cleaner restroom at Uncle Larry's after a junkie missed a vein.

BC said...

Congrats, Peter!

Shelly said...

I've never been to the mid-city location but I really like the Causeway Little Tokyo. I love their Geisha Roll. :)

Unknown said...

Apparently, you haven't tried the Little Tokyo in Mandeville, but I'll save you the trouble. Their sushi is virtually inedible. The Causeway location is FAR superior, and I've never tried the one in Mid-city.

Peter said...

Donnie Boy - I think that Kanno's "charm" ties in well with it's Fat City surrounding. And how dare you besmirch the reputation of such an iconic establishment like Uncle Larry's.

Sarah - Have never made it to Little Tokyo in Mandeville and not sure if I ever will. I have had the Geisha Roll but can't seem to remember what's in it. I remember the chef telling us that he has a regualr customer who comes in twice per week and orders only the Geisha roll.

Becky said...

Never been to the Causeway location, but very much enjoy the Mid-City location. However, I'm slightly skeptical about the flying in of fresh fish from Japan weekly. That paper menu with the "specials" doesn't seem to change...I guess it's possible they make the same order every time.

Also,you forgot to discuss the availability of karaoke at the Mid-City store. Might push it into eagle territory (or bogey if you're listening sober).

candice said...

The mandeville little tokyo was sold off at least four or five years ago. Don't bother.

Causeway also has karaoke and is open until I think 1am on weekend nights. I have heard that drunk japanese people singing sinatra is very funny.

It and mid-city still have the same ownership-the worn-in look of the causeway location is partially owing to the fact that it's been there since at least 1987-88 or so. (He had a rather ambitious attempt to do sushi and low tables on the westbank before it.)