Gulf Coast Sushi: Ninja

My friend Jeff and I went to dinner on Friday, only to discover that our intended destination (Jacquimo's) was under renovation. Nearby was a sushi restaurant of which Jeff had heard, but the assassin-fearing side of me couldn't help but resist: Ninja. I was surprised to find some of the best sushi I've experienced on the Gulf Coast.

My cell phone camera did not do justice to the picture below (I need to upgrade, or learn to carry my point and shoot with me to dinner), but Jeff and I stared in awe at the beautiful presentations that passed us by (I highly recommend sitting at the sushi bar to experience this).

The website for Ninja says "Best Sushi in New Orleans," and they might be right. Entering into a lower floor that was a nearly empty bar, but doubled as waiting room, I was surprised when our seats opened up to be directed upstairs enter a bustling second floor room, alive with energy. Austere in decoration, it's only the food that's being displayed at Ninja.

Check out the menu, and don't be shocked by the prices: what Jeff and I came to realize quickly, is that the secret to Ninja is that you get more than your money's worth. I ordered vegetables tempura, two relatively inexpensive rolls (~$7-8), and one mackerel sashimi, and left overstuffed and with nearly an entire roll left over.

Our meal started with the common and complementary bowl of miso soup, followed by a house salad. Unlike the bland iceberg lettuce with oily ginger dressing that follows the soup in most sushi joints, at Ninja they serve a wonderfully creamy cucumber salad, that provides a nice transition from soup to appetizers. And as a guy that makes authentic miso, from scratch, the soup was good, too.

The tempura, how I measure the talent of the fryer, was outstandingly light and delicate. My rolls were the "Angel Roll" (with BBQ eel - it comes with your choice of fish inclusion), which was arguably the best roll I've ever eaten. What makes the rolls at Ninja unique is a thin belt of seaweed. Instead of being left with a mouthful of chewy plant matter, this balanced approach allows the rolls to shine. My second roll was BBQ yellowtail, which meant the fish was cooked. I had expected raw fish with BBQ sauce, and while the roll was good, I was disappointed to see yellowtail ruined by cooking. But I suppose that's another plus of Ninja: the cooked options provide a good entry point for the sushi averse - another sneaky tactic of the Ninja.

Jeff's choice of the night was the cucumber roll, and unlike a good photographer I did not give a good scale for the rolls pictured here: each piece was about 3" across - if Jeff had a complaint, it was that it was impossible to eat without demolishing the presentation. While I didn't try it, I judged from his contentment that the thinly sliced cucumber wrapped log was a success.

Jazmine Cafe in Jazztown

I have a love for Vietnamese food, thanks to a year+ spent working with the cuisine. In this regard, I have two tips: 1) if you want to cook your own, Nicole Routhier's The Foods of Vietnam is a wonderful, essential, and simple must-have for your kitchen, and 2) if you are in Cincinnati and looking for inexpensive ethnic cuisine, visit SOng Long - it's a gem in a city not known for diverse food experiences.

The Gulf Coast, meanwhile, has a thriving Vietnamese population, and last night I tried my first of the many offerings in town. We were looking for dinner in Uptown (Downtown and parts of the city further away have many other options), so our choices were limited. Without any recommendations to guide us, we decided to try Jazmine Cafe. I wasn't expecting much - the place was empty at dinnertime, surprising even for a Thursday. But I was very happy with the result.

The restaurant has a nice, understated ambiance - nothing flashy. The menu is almost strictly Vietnamese, instead of the Asian combo restaurants (Vietnamese+Chinese, Korean+Japanese, Thai+Japanese, etc.) that pop up everywhere (and that I was halfway expecting). The offerings are diverse, including the Vietnamese classics: Phở, Bánh_mì (labeled as "Vietnamese Po' Boy", which is fairly accurate), etc. There was also a long list of bubble teas, new for me at a Vietnamese restaurant.

We tried "spring" (or "summer") rolls, phở gà (chicken noodle soup), a Po' Boy, and a shrimp tamarind soup, "Canh Chua Tom", that was incredibly similar in look and flavor to the Thai soup, Tom Yum. The spring rolls were goodl fresh flavors, but light on the herbs (good for me, as for personal reasons I find strong flavors of cilantro and mint unpalatable). My phở gà came with traditional accoutrement, had a wonderful light flavor, and for only $6.95 was a great price for dinner. Emilie went with the Vietnamese Po' Boy with pork, which she liked, though she mentioned that the jalapenos made it maybe a little too spicy. Once again, at $4.95, a great dinner price. The tamarind soup was a little pricy by comparison at $14.95, and Montana described it as "very similar to [Tom Yum], but a little less spicy. I found it a little bit greasy (and the shrimp in it seemed to have picked up the greasiness), but it had that delicious, distinctive sweet/sour taste that only comes from the tamarind." I tasted it and agreed perfectly with her assessment. A nice offering, but not quite the hit or meal deal as the dishes Emily and I had.

Lastly, Jazmine Cafe doesn't seem to have put their website together yet. It has a menu, but here's a map.