Japanese Food and Cooking

First Look: Sushi Bistro Rolls Sushi and Hibachi Into a Single Concept in Downtown Kirkwood [Photos]

In late February, Kirkwood welcomed a new seafood-centric restaurant to town: Sushi Bistro (343 South Kirkwood Road, Kirkwood; 314-966-5545). The sushi bar and hibachi grill is run by owners Jimmy Li and Zhenkun Lin with chef Andy Chi, whose experience comes from rolling sushi on the East Coast for ... More >>

Milagro Modern Mexican's Craig Bielke: Featured Bartender of the Week

The agave has been juiced, the limes have been purchased and the tequila has been stocked. Milagro Modern Mexican (20 Allen Avenue, Webster Groves; 314-962-4300) is ready to make hundreds of margaritas in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. Milagro isn't hosting a garish Cinco party, but as the winner of ... More >>

Takaya or Leave Ya: Didn't New Asian get old, like, ten years ago?

Slideshow: Inside Takaya New Asian

Thaidentity Crisis: At Ocha Thai & Japanese, it's too easy to lose your culinary bearings

Slideshow: Inside Ocha Thai & Japanese

Tokyo Seafood Buffet's Conveyor-Belt Sushi Is Mesmerizingly Disappointing

Avocado. Avocado. Avocado. Spicy tuna? Avocado. Avocado. Avocado? I'm standing along the perimeter of the rectangular sushi station -- I'd call it the sushi bar but there's nowhere to sit -- at Tokyo Seafood Buffet (8004 Olive Boulevard, University City; 314-991-1188), watching as plates of sushi, ... More >>

Drive-Thru Sushi Comes to Brentwood

A colleague noticed yesterday that the drive-thru hut at 8950 Manchester Road in Brentwood, which was the original home of Famous Szechuan Pavilion (8615 Olive Boulevard, Olivette; 314-685-0888), has new signage up advertising "To Go Sushi." Turns out that's not just what the new venture offers. Th ... More >>

Raw Yellowfin Tuna Linked to Salmonella, Recalled

A California company has voluntarily recalled 58,828 pounds of frozen raw yellowfin tuna associated with an outbreak of salmonella. According to the FDA, as of Friday, April 13, this oubtreak has sickened more than 100 people across twenty states and Washington, D.C., including Illinois (ten cases) ... More >>

Review Preview: Seoul Taco and Chop Shop

This week, I take a look at two of the more interesting food trucks rolling through our streets: the Korean-Mexican mashup Seoul Taco (@SeoulTaco; 314-517-9816) and the sushi truck Chop Shop (@chopshopstl). A sneak preview of my review after the jump.

The Five Best Sushi Restaurants in St. Louis

Selecting Riverfront Times' Best of St. Louis 2011 was no picnic. Choosing the winner meant several worthy candidates would go unmentioned -- until now. In this Gut Check series, we are chewing our way through notable runners up in a number of categories. To see hundreds more winners and finalists a ... More >>

Chop Shop Food Truck Launches Today

via Facebook​You know, I was just thinking it's been too long -- 24 hours, at least, maybe 48 -- since a new food truck hit the streets of St. Louis. Today, Chop Shop will make its maiden voyage, arriving at Purina headquarters (Chouteau Avenue between South Tucker Boulevard and South Seventh Stre ... More >>

Hiro's Welcome: The Loop's newest sushi joint has something extra to offer

The Sushi Roll Lunch Special at Thai Nivas

Deborah HylandThe Spicy Salmon Roll with Chef's Choice Nigiri at Thai Nivas.​The Place: Thai Nivas (11054 Olive Boulevard, Creve Coeur; 314-567-8989), a Thai/Japanese restaurant in the same Creve Coeur strip mall that also houses Pumpernickles. The Lunch: The Nivas Combo Deluxe (a choice from ... More >>

Hiro Prepares to Open in the Delmar Loop

Ian FroebHiro in the Delmar Loop​Hiro, a sushi and izakaya restaurant from 609 Lounge owner Bernie Lee, looks just about ready to debut at 609 Eastgate Avenue. It might have opened already, but calls this morning just before its posted lunch hours went unanswered.The address was previously the hom ... More >>

Review Preview: Izakaya Ren

Ian FroebYakitori tare and a bacon-wrapped shrimp at Izakaya Ren​This week, I visit the new Japanese restaurant Izakaya Ren (2948 Dougherty Ferry Road, Valley Park; 636-825-3737).The tako wasabi at Izakaya Ren is served in a bowl so small that a child could cup it in one hand. Tako is octopus, and ... More >>

Try the Yakitori Tare at Izakaya Ren

Ian FroebYakitori tare and a bacon-wrapped shrimp at Izakaya Ren​Whenever I recommend a new restaurant, I do so knowing that trying it represents a far greater investment for you than it does for me. Today, however, I can make a suggestion confident that, if I'm wrong, or if you and I simply have ... More >>

Would You Pay $40 for a Kurt Cobain Sushi Combo?

​The fine folks at Blue Ocean Sushi just dropped by with a menu folded into the shape of a collared shirt (see above). Down the right side there, you can see celebrity names; they continue on the back and, as it turns out, correspond to various sushi combo platters. Chuck Berry costs you $12 a ... More >>

Roll On (And On): When it comes to sushi, how much is "All You Can Eat"?

Review Preview: Sushi Ai

Image viaYou can eat a lot more sushi than this at Sushi Ai.​This week I visit Sushi Ai, an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant in Maryland Heights.In theory, all-you-can-eat sushi is a terrifying concept, the death blow to a noble cuisine struck by the imperialist reach of gluttonous America. I ima ... More >>

Yagu Asian Fusion is too flashy for its own good

The Sneak: Sneako Maki

Dara Strickland​The virtues of sushi as a food are significant, but its value to a sneak may be as elusive as a flying bird's reflection on a rippling pond. I've crafted these handy tables for you to compare the virtues of eating sushi in a restaurant to sneaking it into a movie theater. &nbs ... More >>

So Nigiri, and Yet So Far: Café Mochi bets there's room for another sushi joint on South Grand

Sea Change: Miso on Meramec's new sushi chef is the best thing since sliced fish

One Man's Fruitless Quest for Decent Chicken Teriyaki in St. Louis

flickr.com/photos/framboise "What this country needs," Woodrow Wilson's vice president, Thomas Riley Marshall, once famously observed, "is a good five-cent cigar." If Marshall were alive and living in St. Louis today, he'd no doubt opine, "What this city needs is some dece ... More >>

Rolls by Any Other Name: In Chesterfield, Momoyama's picks up where Yoshi's Sushi left off

Review Preview: Momoyama's

This week I visit Momoyama's, the Chesterfield sushi restaurant formerly known (and loved by many) as Yoshi's.I'm sure I've said it before, but a sushi restaurant is very difficult to critique, maybe the most difficult of all restaurant types, especially in St. Louis, where the sushi restaurants for ... More >>

Roll 'Er Derby, Part 2: Ian's sushi quest continues in Clayton and the Central West End

Roll 'Er Derby: Ian's quest for sushi domination continues with Mizu and Ki

Now Open: Tani Sushi Bistro

Asia, Lumiere Place's Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese/Japanese chow parlor/sushi bar, is all over the map

Review Preview: Asia

Three-Day-Old California Roll

$6.99
Straub’s
302 N. Kingshighway

Pacific Rimshot

Oishi offers Japanese cooking as performance art

Kids Today

Sekisui Pacific Rim has no problem making the grade

Raw Power

For all its trendy trappings, Modai Sushi Lounge is downright cozy

Best Sushi

Wasabi Sushi Bar

Best Fast Food

SanSai

Gateway to the East

Wasabi has everything a sushi-lover could want, from artful presentations to the legendary fugu

Shackle Up

Stir Crazy Café and SanSai Japanese Grill make it OK to embrace a corporate trend

Best Sushi

Sekisui

Wholly Rollers

The Drunken Fish is having an identity crisis, but many of the dishes are tasty and inventive

Sushi

Miso on Meramec

Star Fish

New sushi restaurant displays raw power

Sen Resurrection

Thai one on at the relocated, renovated Sen

Ichibantastic

New sushi joint is quite a catch

Tea and Sashimi

At Chá, the tea is sensational. The sushi, not so much.

Coeur Project

The hunt for authentic ethnic fare leads to a Creve Coeur strip mall

Best BLT Roll

Nobu's

Best Sushi

Sansui West

Japanese Cuisine

Robata of Japan

Hama Time

Renowned local sushi chef Naomi Hamamura opens up another location of Sansui