From The New Orleans Menu Daily By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published July 18, 2007 #34 Mikimoto 2$ Carrollton: 3301 S Carrollton Ave. 488-1881 Lunch Sun.-Fri. Dinner seven nights. AE, DC, DS, MC, V. www.mikimotosushi.com Japanese. The first impression Mikimoto gives is of a secondary source of sushi. It's in the grittiest section of Carrollton Avenue (between Earhart Blvd. and Palmetto). Its building is small and utilitarian. The prices are a touch lower than what you're accustomed to paying. And, most dubious, it has a drive-up window. All of that conspires to heighten the pleasant surprise that comes from the eating. This is a very good little Japanese place, with excellence throughout its menu. Enough of it that the place has collected a strong following, particularly among denizens of the nearby universities. Reversing the usual situation, seats at Mikimoto's sushi bar are harder to come by than places at a table--although at peak times both require waiting. Also unusual for so busy a place is the welcoming aspect of both the servers and the sushi chefs, who never seemed to be harried. (How do they find time to make all those orders for the drive-through?) A recent Friday night dinner was consistently good throughout all its too many courses. (I always over-order at a sushi bar, although at the end of the meal I'm always considering maybe one more thing.) The miso soup actually had some flavor. (On another occasion, I had their seafood soup for two, milder than but somewhat like Vietnamese pho.) Then an order of gyoza; the noodle component of those was thin and as fine in texture as I've encountered in these pot stickers. Then one of those large, multi-ingredient rolls with the funny names so popular in sushi places these days. This one was called something like "tuna tuna roll," with spicy macerated tuna in the center, tataki-style tuna around the rice layer, and avocado. It looked like a kid's oversized toy caterpillar, and tasted fine. (No mayonnaise -based sauce, I noticed approvingly.) Mackerel, lemonfish, and yellowtail were the negiri sushi selections. I asked for and got ponzu sauce for the lemonfish. All just fine; if I were looking for trouble, I'd say the rice was the tiniest bit less moist than I like, but I feel silly bringing it up. An asparagus roll for contrast of texture and substance rounded out that plate. That irresistible parting course was beef negimaki, an interesting dish not often seen on Japanese menus. It's simple: slices of beef wrapped around bundles of green onions, grilled, and sliced. These came on a sizzle platter of teriyaki sauce. Aromatic, tasty, and a bit exciting. I expected all this to run up to $50. But it stopped right at $40. That attractiveness of price is consistent here, and more than makes up for the spartan surroundings. This was a restaurant in the 2007 Top Sixty Ethnic Restaurant Countdown. To view the entire list, click here. Click here for an index of all restaurant reviews. © 2007 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com.