Address: | 45 Tunnel Rd, Asheville, NC 28805, USA |
Phone: | +1 828-258-9696 |
Site: | mikadojapaneseasheville.com |
Rating: | 3.9 |
Working: | 11AM–10PM 10AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–9:30PM |
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Barry C. Duncan
Although there are many Japanese/Sushi restaurants available in Asheville, North Carolina, Mikado is my personal favorite. At 45 Tunnel Road, Mikado is conveniently located just off Interstate 240 at Exit 6. Unlike the Japanese restaurants downtown, Mikado has its own parking lot, so you aren’t forced to drive around town seeking curb parking or paying for a parking garage. When you enter, you are sure to be greeted promptly with a smile by the proprietor or members of the waitstaff. Wait times are minimal at Mikado which is also a plus. The waitstaff are friendly, courteous and available to meet your every need. As for the food, Mikado offers a full range of reasonably priced items from soups and salads (wonderful homemade ginger dressing) to hibachi and sushi. The hibachi chefs are committed to making your dinner a memorable and enjoyable experience. They entertain with utensil juggling behind the back along with good humor and conversation. And, along with the fried rice, they serve the freshest shrimp, scallops and filet mignon that melt in your mouth. Expect to take home a doggy bag too since the portions are gi-normous!! And don’t forget to ask the chefs to give you the flaming volcano demonstration (made of onion rings). It’s always a thrill for the kids. When it comes to sushi and sashimi, you can depend on the sushi chef, Aoki, to take good care of you. Having worked in New York City and Las Vegas, Aoki has years of experience in the preparation of fish, so you know you shall be treated to only the freshest of sushi or sashimi in generous portions. We all know of sushi restaurants that serve miniscule sashimi portions that are so thin you can read the newspaper through them! Also, he has a flair for decorating and every dish he prepares seems almost too beautiful to eat. Mikado offers a full range of sushi from tuna to yellow tail to uni, and on certain nights they have special offerings such as live scallop, aji (horse mackerel) or kinmedai (sushi grade red bream) which is a personal favorite. One final note: I find the sushi rice at Mikado to be as tasty as any I’ve had elsewhere, and I’ve eaten at many Japanese/Sushi restaurants in Charlotte, Atlanta, Charleston, etc. As you know, making flavorful sushi rice is difficult and an essential for delicious sushi. Oh, and a bowl of sushi rice is available at no charge, while I find that many restaurants now charge $2 to $3 for rice! Finally, Mikado has a full bar including spirits, wine and a nice selection of beers including several good Japanese beers. As a fan of good wine, I appreciate the fact that Mikado offers selections from the quality vineyards of Kendall Jackson, and they charge a reasonable price of around $7.00 per glass while many restaurants now charge $10 to $12 per glass; plus, you will find that they serve you a full glass, not a half glass as I’ve become accustomed to at many restaurants!! So, to summarize, it is evident that the proprietor of Mikado has a commitment to excellence based on my visits to this establishment. They serve only the highest quality in terms of ingredients, meats and seafood, and they understand how to make their patrons feel special. So, I highly recommend Mikado to you the next time you want to eat a delicious Japanese/Sushi dinner. Oh, and they are open 365 days a year, so you can step out for dinner during the busy holidays and let Mikado do the cooking.
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Martin Lunsford
My wife and I were staying down the street at a hotel and we looked online to find a place to eat. Japanese sounded good, so we went to Mikado. Our first hint that we should have picked a different place was that the parking lot was almost empty. But we were there late, so we figured we had just missed the crowd. Walking in the vestibule we were hit with a very musty, stale smell, like they had a leaky roof or something. Inside the restaurant the smell wasnt as bad, though. The place is tiny, with only one "grill" table. We were too late to have our food cooked on the grill anyway (it was about 9:00 PM). We sat in a booth. There was only one other party in the restaurant. I ordered sushi. My wife got hibachi steak and chicken. The sushi that the waiter brought me was NOT what I ordered. It had avocado in it, and I hate avocado. It was on the outside, so rather than send it back I just peeled it off. On the good side, the sushi was HUGE! What I had ordered was supposed to have eel in it, and this sushi didnt, but I ate it anyway. My wifes hibachi steak and chicken tasted funny to her. I tried it, and it wasnt exactly bad, but they apparently use some type of sauce or spices that most Japanese places dont use. She only ate a little because she didnt like the flavor. Since we were staying in a hotel we couldnt even take any home for the dogs. The bill was $30, so I paid with two twenty dollar bills. The waiter (who was very nice, by the way) took the money and we waited for our change. And we waited... and waited... Finally, he walked by and I asked him about the change. He had "assumed" I was giving him a 33%, $10 tip! Uh... NO! He brought my change, I left him $5, and we left. We wont eat there again. It wasnt terrible, but for the price, there are much better choices. Heck... now that I think about it, if it was half the price I still wouldnt eat there. Sorry, Mikado.
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Larry Pierson
Just one comment before getting on to some sincere accolades for this place. Ceiling tiles need replaced... Its tough dealing with building maintenance ... Now to the real deal for this place. I love the staff here. Thank you Janet... Effort enough to be able to say goodbye by first name at the end. Really gains another level because of people who love what they do. Had the Mikado special/dinner again this time. Wow... More than enough food for two but we always order 2 separate meals and have a full meal each for leftovers. Shrimp butterflied nicely, perfectly done, one of the best white sauce recipes I have had. Lobster tail with adequate butter on the side (so important! Lol) The real treat is the file. You can tell when someone takes time to order quality meats. We order medium rare and I really cannot think of any place that has ever cooked filet that tender! I could lose all my teeth and still bite right through.... I cant even get close to that quality at home and I take pride in it. You can see the sake I paired with in photos..... 完璧なディナー
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Jason K
I ordered a couple plates of sushi (scorpion roll, spicy tuna) and the seaweed salad. The Salad was fantastic, the sushi was fair. The scorpion roll had a sophisticated presentation with a panko breaded butterfly shrimp on top, with a tuna and sauce filling. this was also drizzled with another type of sauce but the textures and unique flavours ended up being lost as the roll became just one soft bite aside from the shrimp tail. The staff was nice enough to toss in a bowl of Miso Soup to my order. I also noticed that the sushi items on the menu were structured in a way of "Cooked/RawVeggie" which I can only assume is helpful for the locals who might not have experienced Japanese food yet. I think that is great and would have definitely helped me experiment when I was first trying Japanese food. Im looking forward to trying a steak on my next trip to Mikado!