Japanese Food

Tokyo 101 is a new Japanese restaurant that opened in 2010 in Mayfaire Towncenter, just steps away from Cinema 16. The restaurant is noted for its beautiful decor, its very extensive sushi menu and for the traditional Japanese food it offers. The restaurant also has special prices at lunchtime during the week and offers drink specials as well.

On the menu are several dishes featuring either yakasoba or udon noodles and a large selection hibachi entrees too. All are available for lunch or dinner. Hibachi items include soup and fried rice at lunch and a salad is added at dinner. Tonkatsu or torikatso, deep fried pork or chicken cutlet in panko with vegetables, also is served with soup, salad, and steamed or fried rice.

A large number of tempura dinners, including calamari and vegetable, are on the menu. Tokyo 101 offers a sizzler platter, comprised of chicken, shrimp or New York strip steak served with onion, zucchini, broccoli, carrot and mushrooms and again served with soup, salad and steamed or fried rice. There also is a moderately priced children’s menu for those under 12, and the restaurant offers gluten free choices too. Portions are very generous and most people wind up taking quite a lot home. Tokyo 101 is available for catering and are happy to provide delivery service too.

Located at The Forum on Military Cutoff Road is The Bento Box, a sushi restaurant that has settled into its larger space after moving two years ago to have room for a full bar and full kitchen. Any type of sushi you might crave, all prepared with great skill and care from the highest-quality ingredients, is available. Some favorites include an aptly named delicious roll, which can be made with either spicy tuna or spicy salmon, served with seaweed salad with wasabi tobikko and sesame seeds, topped with avocado, tempura crumbles and two fabulous sauces; a totally tuna roll made with tuna, avocado and wasabi tobikko wrapped in a sesame soy and a thin cucumber sheet with ponzu sauce or a killer carrot roll, with asparagus, scallions, avocado with shredded carrot with spicy kolchijan and drizzled with chili oil. There are numerous additional vegetarian rolls on the menu. Try the hacked chicken appetizer for a refreshing start to your meal.

Save room for a chocolate potsticker after your meal: it is Belgium chocolate wrapped inside a homemade wonton that is cooked just until the chocolate melts, then served in a puddle of delicious caramel. You can order just one, but why would you? The restaurant is open Monday through Wednesday from 11:30 until 9:00 p.m., Thursday and Friday from 11:30 until 10:00 p.m., and Saturday from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The restaurant is closed on Sunday to spend quality time with the family.

Sixteen sakes, an extensive wine list and a large number of special drinks such as a Pomegranate ginger mojito are found at YoSake, located on the second floor of the historic Roundabush building on Front Street. The restaurant has a full pan-Asian menu as well as all types of sushi available nightly from 5:00 p.m.

Among the favorite entrees are caramelized jumbo shrimp served with vegetable tempura and a warm soba salad and spicy braised coconut chicken served with fresh fennel, fresh chilis, tomatoes, spinach and rice. Firecracker shrimp is another popular choice. Don’t pass up dessert either: fresh mango cheesecake or scrumptious coconut banana ice cream are available.

YoSake has half-price sushi and appetizers each evening from 5:00-7:00 p.m. and a local service industry special on Tuesday night, with a 20 percent discount on food from 7:00-10:00 p.m.