MIKADO is my favorite place for both sushi and happy hour in Austin, Texas.  Their happy hour menu has a large variety of sushi and unique Japanese tapas along with great cocktails, sake, wine and beer.  Their regular menu is also great.  Happy hour is Mon-Fri from 3-6 and all day Sunday.  They also have reverse happy hour on Fri & Sat from 9 pm to 10:15 pm.  The happy hour is fun and a real bargain.

My husband and I ate there for the past two Sundays.  I am going to take you through the dishes we devoured.  My husband loves Saba (marinated mackerel) so much that he judges a sushi restaurant by the quality of their Saba.  My hubby thinks that this is the best Saba he has ever had.  He ordered 12 pieces of Saba.  He is a big eater.

I have three favorites, Ono (also called escolar or white tuna), red snapper, and yellowtail.  So this is what I ordered to test the quality of the sushi.  All three were fresh and melt in your mouth delicious.  Below is the photo if our test dishes.

Six pieces of  Saba are in the front row.  Behind the Saba, the red snapper is on the left and the yellowtail is on the right.  In the very back are two pieces of Ono.  They were served with smooth hot sake.

Now that MIKADO passed our test with flying colors, we moved on to the rest of the meal.  The next course we ordered was from their main menu.  It is the most fantastic Miso Mushroom Soup.  The variety of mushrooms will change with the seasons.  The broth has a deep umami flavor.  This is Japan’s answer to comforting and nourishing chicken soup.

My hubby and I each had our own bowl.  We followed this with Spicy Garlic Edamame.

I had a glass of lychee sake and my hubby has a beer.

These edamame are very flavorful because of the chili and the garlic.  I like them better than plain boiled edamame.

Next we ordered three fried tapas accompanied by a refreshing and yummy lychee martini. The lychee martini is posted on my Instagram feed.

I will describe these tapas one at a time.  The first one was the most unique and delicious tofu I have ever come across.  YES I said TOFU.  Even my meatatarian husband loved it.

 

The dish is called Agedashi Tofu.  It is cubes of tofu, lightly coated with rice flour and then flash fried.  They are served with bonito flakes and a deeply flavorful dashi broth for dipping.  The tofu just melts in you mouth.  It is not at all greasy.

The second fried item was Fried Oysters.

These oysters have a crispy panko coating and are juicy inside.  Perfectly cooked and served with a savory soy based sauce.

The third fried item was Peppered Calamari.  It was absolutely delicious.

Slightly peppery, not greasy at all and served with a tart but spicy sauce.

Next my hubby ordered Uni with Quail Egg as a palate cleanser.  I am not a big uni fan, so I ordered Peppered Tuna Tataki.  Both were fresh and yum.  They are shown below.

The last thing we ordered was the Hamachi Chili.

The Hamachi was melt in your mouth fresh.  It was topped with a slightly spicy Ponzu sauce, a thin slice of Thai chili and a single pearl of red caviar.  So pretty.  I love pretty food that also tastes divine.

They also have a large selection of sushi rolls.  My hubby ordered two rolls, but he ate them before I had a chance to take photos.  I guess he got impatient with me photographing everything or he was really hungry.  He let me know that both rolls were great.  Obviously he loved them because they were gone before I had any.  Oh well.  Next time I will order a roll for myself.

If you are in Austin, Texas please go and dine at Mikado.  You won’t be disappointed.