Category: | Restaurant, |
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Address: | 125 Codell Dr #128, Lexington, KY 40509, USA |
Zip code: | 40509 |
Website: | https://www.facebook.com/michikusalexington/ |
Opening hours (Edit) | |
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Monday: | 6:00 – 10:00 PM |
Tuesday: | 6:00 – 10:00 PM |
Wednesday: | 6:00 – 10:00 PM |
Thursday: | 12:00 – 2:30 PM, 6:00 – 10:00 PM |
Friday: | 12:00 – 2:30 PM, 6:00 – 10:30 PM |
Saturday: | 12:00 – 2:30 PM, 6:00 – 10:30 PM |
Sunday: | Closed |
This was my first time here. I've been meaning to try this place out.
I had:
The grilled squid.
The tempura.
The tonkotsu ramen.
Their miso soup.
Their side salad.
A few samples of nigiri.
Let's start with the miso, it's warm and flavorful, silky and just the right amount of tangy, delicious. The salad is simple... But the tricky ginger dressing is amazing, fresh, crisp, and with the perfect balance of sweet, sour and tangy, not overpowering like most other versions of this. I could seriously spoon this.
I don't particularly love squid, but whenever I try out a new Japanese restaurant, I pay attention to three things in particular, their rice, their tempura and their squid. Squid is tricky to cook... At Michikusa they got it right. The squid was well cooked, with the right amount of chew and snappy. The sauce was delicate with just a hint of spicy, perfect!
The tempura was tasty and crunchy, though a bit on the oily side, probably the oil wasn't hot enough!
The ramen was OK. With a few tweaks it could be vastly improved. The Ajitsuke Tamago (Egg) was just a hard boiled egg, and it didn't look like it had been marinated. The broth was smooth and tasty, but it lacked a bit in body and flavor, I'd have loved to try adding a bit of bacon fat... At first I was a bit annoyed about the soba noodles, I prefer springy noodles in my ramen but it works. The meat was cut a bit too thick, and it was not really tender, the flavor was lacking depth, just boring. I'd much rather have had a buttery smooth piece of chashu (go check out Mirin in Louisville, that's the best I've found!). Also, it made me happy that they had white pepper! If you have never had white pepper in your ramen, you've been doing it wrong all along! Trust me!
The sushi, the quality of the fish was amazing. Both the salmon and the tuna tasted great! Fresh, buttery smooth and flavorful. The rice however, left a lot to be desired. At first I thought the rice was undercooked, however, later on when I went to order a bit to go (for my wife), I was told that they were out of rice (yet they were nice enough to cook some for me, thank you!). So that tells me that the rice they may have used for my sushi may have been from the bottom of the pot. Which would explain why it was so heavy on the vinegar and "grainy".
Overall a great experience! It's a small, cozy place, it was lively and everybody, especially our server Jackie, was friendly and quick to serve!.
The pricing is on point, with the sushi being on the high side, considering that the bites are small.
I'll definitely come again, and hopefully I can add a star to my review.
Thank you!
What a great hidden gem! The sushi was fresh and portion sizes were reasonable. One of the best Japanese restaurants in Lexington. The restaurant is a little hard to find since it's in more of a residential neighborhood.
What a wonderful hidden gem! The food was great. Will definitely be going back
Best authentic Japanese restaurant in town! So happy that Hirosan left Tomo to open his own place, so much talent and incredible food(:
A small beautiful restaurant with friendly and efficient staff. Very clean with amazing food. 100% recommend.