Tiger Sushi

Tiger Sushi 2, on Lyndale and 28th in Uptown.



When I approached the 'newer' sushi joint in town I noticed the color and theme that they had going and thought to myself, "I am so happy to see in these troublesome times that the designer for Jamba Juice is still getting work." When we walked through the cool interior (obviously inspired by uptown fusion) I felt the urge to rock, considering the music was at 'rock concert' decibel level. We opted to sit outside and enjoy the 110% humidity level, which I obviously cannot blame on the restaurant....even though I might think it. Out side is a nice little patio that has sections that has a Minnesota nice feel to it: what I mean by that is that these pillars separate sections but get you close enough to someone in your section where you feel almost obligated to strike up a conversation. now it is uptown....so that is an invasion of another person's private imaginary bubble, even if it was the sushi bar, but I was tempted. Also they did a nice job separating it from the next building which people run through the patio to get to the street so they do not have to walk around.



Service:



The girl we had seemed like she had a big heart and was nice. Maybe it was a combination of the heat and the fact that we did not order expensive alcoholic drinks that she continued to pressure us into getting that we did not get much attention. It also made me think; am I being pressured so her tip percentage can go up or do you need to be 'sideways' (thank you Dierks Bentley) in order to enjoy the meal? It would have made for quicker service, or at least it did for the 'just friends' couple of gentleman that came about 10 minutes after and were festively perched behind us. I can say the same for the two girls next to us who were clearly in need of a cocktail after a long day at the hip marketing firm where they slave on facebook rather than work and were surely going home to grab two spoons and one tub of Cherry Garcia to gossip about who's cheating who. But I digress. After about three passes from our table she remembered my Sprite. God Bless her for it. She was a little flustered over something that happened I imagine and I will give her another shot, sometime.



The Food:



So I will admit, I did enjoy the food even though the price tag made me choke at first; I had no idea that Louis Vuitton made fish rolls. However I did jump to conclusions too quickly (a common problem among men my age), because once the maki came out I could see that you did get some decent amount of mercury poisoning and carbon monoxide for your coin. The last part was a joke...Laugh! Any who, we dove in with a Calamari stater that was a special on the day. It reasonably priced was nicely cooked; a little tougher than normal but it at least separated it from other typical restaurant squid which can usually be mistaken for onion rings. The spicy mayo that accompanied it was rather tasty and simple with a little bit of fire, but not even close enough to taint your buds for the rest of the meal. I was pleased, which I like being. I placed an order in for a few rolls, white tuna (usually a tasty treat, however a disappointment. I believe the fish was old), and was going to order Ama Ebi but she mentioned that I wouldn't get the heads with it....Heads cooked properly and well seasoned are amazing.

- The Dyna Mighty had a unique flavor that was would be recognizable. I'd give it a 6.5 out of 10. Good but not going to be on the list for next time. Hamachi is better for my liking as Nigiri. It had a little spice to it but was rather bland tasting and not visually stimulating as well.

- The spicy tuna was good. standard. A decent 'filler' roll so you do not fiscally go overboard while getting the raw protein fix.

- The Lucky 13 roll.  It was next and was impressive. The shrimp inside the roll was perfectly cooked which was very nicely paired with salmon and tuna. The avocado was rather ripe and wonderful; to give it a solid finish the seaweed salad and spicy oil were excellent flavoring, definitely well executed. 9.5 out of 10. The reason it does not get the full ten is that the rice (in all the sushi) was slightly under-cooked, not terribly, but noticeable. But even with the rice being a handicap it still sticks the landing and takes the gold medal for best of the night.


There will be more visits to this location as I have to have a night where I sample more in one sitting. This was a spur of the moment run and I was definitely satisfied, but not pleasantly. Going back for second round to see if the chef can bring the knockout punch. Bring the wallet though, like most sushi joints....it hits the finances in traditional *schmee* manner.



Food Executioner

*schmee* (ShhMEE) A word made by Sydney Ilten (Syd123@blogspot.com) to describe the rich and their languages. Should be used and spoken like Dan Akroyd in Trading Places. Adjective, formal noun, and can be used as 'verbiage'