Mikado is best sushi in Austin by far

total agree!! and the chef behind the bar are so talented, and very well exprence. the headchef and the guy with long hair both them, one came from NYC , the other is from CA. they are very funny and very entertainning(after i bought them couple shot of sake bomb). the only thing was i ask one of the chef to make me something off the manu "tuna tartar" (its a chop tuna) that i'm all of the sudden craving for, but the chef said NO. he claim that not that he didn't know how, but he couldn't ?!

I will have to totally disagree. I have given Mikado 5+ chances, and they have failed every time. It seems to me they have great quality food, & great presentation, but they lack people with skill to bring it all together. For example, every time I've gone (EVERY) the tampas are never cooked correctly. the chicken is always OVER cooked, the beef is always OVER cooked, the mushrooms were UNDER cooked. The eel sauce they have for their unagi is DISGUSTING. They have great fish, but it just doesn't taste right. The sushi rice tasted funny at times. It almost seemed like they used too much vinegar. And what self respecting sushi bar has "Super White Tuna" on their list when no such thing exists. If it's Escolar, then I'm afraid to tell you, Mikado, that it's actually closer to a Mackerel. In the end, Mikado offers some great cooked entress, as well as a menu with some variety... BUT it's a shame no one there can do anything fabulous wiht all these great ingredients. No one with skill. Although, I will say that most of the wait staff is quite attentive, you do get the ocassional sloppy waiter, who's never there when you need them.

I love Mikado. I have tried a lot of places in Austin and nothing comes close to Mikado for overall experience. Their sushi is great, their soup is great, the service is usually excellent, and they have the best salad. Musachino is really good but I think Mikado is the best. Umi is horrible I think they may have served me someone's rejected or leftover sushi as I ordered a sushi dinner and it came out five minutes later. I almost did not make it out of there alive.

I'll never go back to mikado they tried to pass off some bad uni to me claiming that it was a special uni from california. Not only had it gone bad but I'm also from california and have had local uni. They didn't even offer to take it off my bill.

I've been eating at Mikado on average probably 2-3 times per week for the past 2 years. It simply doesn't get any better in Austin. I was unimpressed with Musashino. I was unimpressed with Kenichi. But Mikado has been on-target 99+% of the time. -John

I have been to Mikado several times and never was impressed by their sushi. Since everyone has been raving about how good Mikado is, I visited it again on several occasions to see if may be I went on a bad sushi day. To me, their sushi is so-so, nothing that great. I've had better sushi at Sushi Sake sometimes. Musashino is still my all time favorite place.

I heard somebody said the owner of mikado alway wrote the review for his own restaurant . i dont think is good sushi too.

not even notable. this place is like a whitebread sports bar with chinese owner's that had a dream about "Japanese Menu Fortune". It's not japanese folks. I'm not knocking non-native owners, but make it right! They can't even pronounce their own menu items, much less greetings (They try to say Irashai-Mai-Sen when you walk in, and they butcher it). It's presented with a strip-mall, neon, try-to-be-modern way, but no substance. If you have had real sushi in NYC, SF, Seattle, or Tokyo (sorry, but higher concentration of Japanesy stuff, people and prone to coastal fresh fish) - this is not going to satisfy you. Musashino is still better (but not 100% for the purist). They were great, but they have lost their enthusiasm as the "top"> However they still deliver a good meal. By purist i mean 'comfort foods' are kinda tricked out to make them seem different. But this doesn't work for 2 reasons: The Texan public generally has never had real Katsu-curry (they make it with minced meat) -AND- If you are Japanese, you want something that tasted familiar from your home, and you get it and the chef has tried to make it 'gourmet'. The are comfort foods for a reason. If you are going to mess with them, so it in the country of origin so we have a reference or an escape path to the real thing. Uchi is excellent, but NOT Japanese, at least they make fantastic dishes with a Japanese influence. SUPER fresh fish, great decor and ambiance, and they have sake brands other than Gekkikan. (Try Onigoroshi- cold- We live in TX) -Don't confuse this with UMI, which also serves as a strip-mall, beer-neon, cheezy decor, and chinese interpretations of "Japanese" food.

I named victor best national trash talker in austin sushi .com. :-D