Yuki Izakaya

After dinner we had to go pick up another friend from the airport. So now it's time for dinner #2. Hahaha.

My bf has mentioned that he wanted to take us to this place near French Quarter. He said it was a cool little place and the food was good as well.

Yuki Izakaya

525 Frenchmen Street

New Orleans, LA 70116

(504) 943-1122

http://www.myspace.com/yukiizakaya

Price: $-$$

It's a tiny little Japanese dive bar and restaurant. The place only housed about 4 tiny tables and 1 sort of larger table and the bar. Dim red lighting and there's a live DJ playing music. The whole place is decorated with old school Japanese decorations and posters and they were
showing Anime/Japanese movies on the wall. It was like something you might find in New York. A little gritty, but very hip. It was really cool! :)

We had to wait quite a while for a table to open up. In the mean time we studied their menu. They have some traditional Japanese dishes and some not. Their sake list is pretty extensive and also some interesting cocktails.

When we finally got a table, we made our orders.
The guys decided to get a bottle of Akitabare "Northern Skie" Sake (720ml; Junmai/dry, well-crafted sake, round and smooth on the tongue, understated refinement evokes the northern province where it is meticulously brewed) $36~ For the price/quantity ratio this was the best choice. The waitress also said that the sake was very good. I don't like sake so I didn't think it was good, but the guys really liked it. They said it was really smooth.

I like sweeter drinks so I opted for the Green Lagoon (Yuki's original green tea cocktail: Rum, Sake, Triple Sec, Pineapple Juice, Green Tea Powder) $8~ I was a little hesitant on the green tea powder (I've had green tea liqueur, but not powder in cocktails) but the waitress assured me it's one of their top sellers. It was super green! And quite tasty! You can taste the green tea but it wasn't overpowering. The pineapple juice added sweetness to it and the alcohol taste wasn't strong at all. Yummy!

We got some food to share...
Grilled Beef Tongue $8~ It was a tiny little plate but the meat was flavorful and tender. Don't be scared...it's basically just slices of beef. Pretty yummy!

Vegetable Gyoza Dumplings $5~ I liked how they used the spinach wrappers and had a nice crispy sear on the bottom. But the filling was weird. It was really mushy, and I couldn't tell what the ingredients in the filling were...

Ramen Noodle Soup (with egg and braised pork belly) $9~ This was a pretty good sized bowl. The noodles were slightly overcooked in my opinion. I like noodles with a bit more bite to them. But the broth flavor was pretty awesome. The 2 large slices of pork belly was tender and fatty and oh so delicious. Overall it was a good dish... great on a cold day!

I got the Agedashi Tofu (fried tofu with tempura sauce) $5~ I liked the fried shell of the tofu, but when it got soggy by the sauce, it got kinda sticky and mushy. I'm wondering if they put some sort of corn starch in the breading. But I really liked the flavors. Even though it was fried, I didn't feel like it was heavy or greasy. And I didn't mind the sogginess.

Shichimi Peppered French Fries (with wasabi mayonnaise...) $5~ This was basically like Ore-Ida fries but it was AWESOME! Definitely the surprise of the night. Who knew a Japanese place would have kick ass french fries?!? :P The fries were crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Nice and hot with spices sprinkled on top to add extra flavor. The wasabi mayo was a nice addition. You can taste the wasabi, but it wasn't overpowering for those who can't stand the kick of it. We ordered a 2nd plate of this. haha. It's a great snack when you are drinking.

Tuna Salad (Tuna, onion, wakame seaweed, and ponzu) $9~ This was really good. Nice big chunks of tuna, really really fresh. It was great with the onion, seaweed and ponzu on top. The ponzu was kind of acidic so it was a good sauce for the raw fish to eliminate some of the fishy flavor.

Our waitress, Nataliana (sp?) was totally cool. She was from Belarus which was really interesting! I think she basically ran the place by herself...and yet she was very attentive to our table. :) My friends talked her into taking a shot with them. haha. She made a special mix: Sake, vodka, lychee juice and a piece of lychee. I didn't take one, but my bf liked it.

We had a great time here. I wish we had something like this in Dallas, but I have a feeling it would be packed all the time!! Definitely go check this out if you want to go somewhere different in New Orleans!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~