Midori

Website: midorisushiaustin.com/
Located in Northwest Austin (on 183 and Anderson Mill).

It's been 3 months and some change since our
last sushi entry.
Basically, we blog our sushi experience everytime
we go to a place we 've never been before.
Since we're on a low budget, one of our main focus is,
to find decent sushi at an affordable price.
So, let's review Midori Sushi.



This place was a little too fancy for us.
But, they gave us a very good presentation.


We sat in the sushi bar and within minutes of ordering,
the sushi chefs got to work on it quickly.
The main chef used a very sharp knife to slice an apple
for the sushi presentation.

Two Favorites:

Midori Boca Raton Roll

(Deep fried roll with smoked salmon,

cream cheese, crab, and special sauce)

Spicy Thai Roll

(Shrimp, jalapeño, cucumber w/ spicy Thai peanut sauce)

The other rolls we tried:

Spicy Tuna Roll

Mango Fandango Roll

Phoenix Roll

Price: $3.50 - $12.00

They have very good specials Mon-Sat from 11am-2:30pm

Comments on sushi:

This was a little expensive.
But, you get what you pay for.
The rolls we tried were awesome except

for the Phoenix Roll.

The Phoenix Roll was a little too fishy.
It was okay, but for the price, should of been a lot better.
Spicy Thai Roll had a nice crunch and kick to it.

Wasabi: Not lethal.

Free Appetizers: You get a nice little bowl of Miso soup.


The Sushi Bar Shot:

Random Pics:

There's 3 different seating arrangements:

You can sit at the bar, sit in a regular booth or table,

or in an enclosed table booth where you sit lower.

More Comments:
Well, if you're looking for sushi for a special ocassion,
then this could be a decent option.
The staff was nice (just like other sushi places).
The atmosphere was a little cozy, but the music
sucks. We haven't found a sushi place yet where
they play Asian music.
It's out there somewhere.
As for low budget sushi, this wouldn't be a good place
to get sushi.

How Do You Roll?

Site:http://maki.us.com/
Located in North Austin (Mopac near Braker).

Before we share our opinions on this place,
let's give you the facts.
This is a Subway type Sushi place.
Meaning, just like how they prepare your sandwich
at Subway, that's how they roll here.


Doesn't this look like a Subway to you?
Except, instead of yellow and brown, it's green and brown.

You walk in and you choose what wrapping
you want.

The people here don't physically put rice on the wrapping.
They have a machine that does it in 3 seconds.


You choose up to three veggies which include some fruits as well.


After you choose your wrapping and veggies,
it's time for the good stuff (the meats).




Then you choose any toppings you want on top
or on the side.

And that's about it. You pay.
You sit and enjoy.
Fast and easy.
The hard part is deciding all those veggies
and combinations.


Comments:
We actually enjoyed this place.
It's definitely, low budget.
The staff wasn't your usual staff you
see at sushi bars, they were more like
college students or something.
The presentation of the sushi was just plain
and casual. They put them in baskets
and nothing fancy.
The atmosphere is casual and modern.
The sushi is great for the price.
There was not one sushi roll that stood out.
They were all equally great.


Price: They charge for the wrapping
which includes up to three veggies.
One wrapping is 3 bucks
the other 4 bucks.
The meats range in price.
From 2 dollars to 4 dollars.
Most toppings are free.
So you're looking at about $5-$8 per roll.
That good thing is each roll
comes with 10 pieces.
When you go to an actual sushi place, they
serve you an average of 8 pieces per roll
for a little bit more money (unless it's happy hour).
There was three of us this time,
so we ordered 6 rolls (60pcs).
The price was the same as ordering 4 rolls
at another place.
Shoot, this is even cheaper than sushi you get at H.E.B.

This is how we Roll (Rolls we made up and tried):
We chose traditional seaweed wrapping for all rolls.
In the picture below, the left roll is
a combination of regular salmon, cream cheese,
avocado, and sprouts with tempura crunch flakes
on top (cheesy with a little crunch).
The roll on the right is a combination of spicy tuna,
jalapeño, and strawberry (weird, but spicy as hell).


Here we have a roll with a combination
of crabstick, double avocado, and cucumber
with sweet chili sauce.
Next to it: Shrimp Tempura with cream cheese
and jalapeño. Both delicious.

Regular tuna with cream cheese and cucumber

with japanese mayo on top and smoked salmon

with cream cheese and jalapeño with wasabi mayo.

Nice and deadly with wasabi.

We didn't really taste the fish in these rolls,

the veggies and the rice stood out more.

But, they were there.

So good enough for the price.

Fast and original.

We ordered more than enough rolls, but

with patience we knocked them all out.

That's just how we roll.

Sushi Sake

Site: No Web site at this time.
Located in North Austin.

Sushi Presentation:
It had a casual presentation.
No fancy bells and whistles.


Rolls We Tried:

The Tiger Eye Roll
This roll had a good kick. It's very strong with wasabi.
And it's also filling.

Philly Roll

This roll had a nice texture.

Rock and Roll

This roll was average. Nice crunch.

4 pcs of Spicy Susan (the 2nd favorite)
Tangy and good. The sauce makes a difference.


And last but not least, our chef invention that is not

named yet and our favorite roll, we'll call it the "Special Unknown Roll."
It has spicy tuna, roasted jalapeños, and cream cheese.
Fried Lightly. Served with some kind of special sweet wasabi.

Wasabi: Not as lethal as other places.

Price: Affordable only in happy hours.
We Low Budget Sushi Eating Mofos got to stick

to Happy Hours in order to get more good quality sushi for our buck.

Happy Hour: 4pm - 6:30 p.m

Price Range (during happy hour): $4-$7

Free stuff: At the end, they give you some sweet oranges

when you get your check.

That beats fortune cookies anytime.

This is Jake the chef. We sat in front of him as he

discussed the linguistics of sushi.

The Sushi Bar Shot:

Comments:

When we walked in the joint, the first impression we had was,

this place is fancy.

So we decided to hang out at the sushi bar for the first time.

From now on, whenever we go do sushi, we'll hang at the bar.

It was a good experience.

We also learned that if you sit at the bar, they serve you faster.

After ordering 4 rolls, the chef offered to make us a special roll

that he's been working on for a few weeks now.

We accepted his experiment.

That sucker was so great that we ordered another one.

He didn't have a name for that roll,

but it was our favorite.

There were some snobby people around, but we didn't give

a f@#k, we were enjoying this good sushi.

Random Pics:

Sushi Nini

Site: http://www.sushinini.com/

Lets jump in to presentation.

Sushi Presentation:
When it comes to the presentation, Sushi Nini, gets honorable mention.
They brought us a big boat full of good stuff.


Rolls We Tried:
The far right column is
Hot Rock Roll (the favorite) it is a deep fried sushi.
The top middle column is The Beautiful Roll.
Bottom middle column is the Red Devil Roll.
The top left column is
the basic California Roll (you got to have the low budget stuff).
The bottom left column here is the Crunchy Roll.


Close up on our individual plate. One of each.


Wasabi: Not very lethal but just right.

Price: Cheap, only in happy hours.
The good thing about this place is that there's
two happy hours everyday of the week, including weekends.
Also, during football season, happy hour is all day on the weekends.
The sushi is very cheap during this.
Not so cheap when is during normal hours.

Happy Hour: 4-7pm and 8:30pm to close everyday.

Price Range (during Happy Hour):
Rolls: $3.25 - $9.99


Free Appetizers: None.

The Sushi Bar Shot:


Comments:
This is the place that started it all.
It was here where we came up with the idea to start
a sushi blog.
This is located in Round Rock, TX
(20 minutes from Downtown Austin).
It's a nice place. I think it's a lot nicer now
than it was the last time we came.
The rolls are the same. Very good.
Of course, the favorite was The Hot Rock.
It was one of the reasons we came. Nice and warm.
The Red Devil Roll has a nice flavor and a kick to go with that.
Beautiful Roll, the tuna was not so strong.
You can taste the cream cheese and makes this roll, well, beautiful.
The crab was finely cut and very good in the Crunchy Roll.
As far as the California Roll, the cucumber gives it a nice texture
and wasabi makes it more intense than the other rolls.
Mainly because, this roll don't have a sauce like the others.
Ashley, our waitress took care of us. So was the manager.
At first they were like why the hell do these people want
to take pictures and stuff??
But they got over it.
Another thing to add here is that happy hour includes
alcoholic beverages. The japanese beer is only 2 bucks.
That's cheaper than getting it at H.E.B.
All in all it was a good experience.
We're glad that we have the time and chance
to try different sushi places.
It's nice to have a little hobby like this once or twice a month.
Something to look forward to.

Two Random Pics:

Recommendation:
For people who are new to sushi, I highly recommend

this place to start out, from there you fly on your own.

But remember to go during their happy hours.

Sushi A Go-Go

Site: http://www.sushi-a-go-go-austin.com/

Rolls We Tried:


Swamp Roll (A Cajun style Sushi)
and
Manor Roll (The Favorite)


The Longhorn Roll (Sushi w/ Ribeye Steak)
and
Crunchy Dynamite Roll (Not So Crunchy)


Philly Hand Rolls:


Wasabi: Served on packets like Ketchup.
It's a little intense if you put a lot.

Price: Cheap. You don't need happy hour here.

Regular Price Range:
Rolls: $3.50-$12

Sushi Presentation: Fair. Served on good to go boxes.

Comments:
This unique place is out of a trailer in east Austin.
It's the low budget way to go.
We heard about this a few months back.
We knew we had to give it a try.
Certain things to keep in mind if you're willing to stop by
and grab some of these delicious sushi rolls.
First, bring a bug spray. You're going to need it.
Some lawn chairs and a portable table is also nice.
Make sure to bring your own soy sauce.
And I almost forgot, make sure you're packing heat.
You need a gun if you're hanging out in this area.
Hell, we got shot at 3 times and Mike got shanked on the right
side of his torso.
The last part is fiction, but stay with me.
The sushi is worth the price. I would probably pay a little more
for that Manor Roll if I have to. It's was good and crunchy.
It had shrimp, cream cheese, and asparagus.
The guy that was making them was fast.
They definitely have unusual sushi that I never tried before.
We were eating at the parking lot where we were ridiculed by
visitors. One of them was a photographer who took a picture of
our sushi adventures. We might make it on the new Chronicle.

Overall, this is a really good place to get sushi if you just pick it up To-Go.

Random Pics:




They also sell these Japanese Sandals for like 18 bucks.


The Sushi Eating Mofos eating low budget style.

I never thought I'd be tailgating with sushi.