Saw this in the Daily Oklahoma. I was in Denver last month and ate at one of their locations. Looks like they are scouting for locations in the OKC area. Food is solid for a fast casual theme atmosphere. The rice and noodle bowls were really good. The sushi looked very fresh!

Oops. Should be "Tokyo". My bad:)

This will be awesome. Any idea where they may be looking?

Next to "Ricky's" Mexican Café.

We already have a Tokyo, so that name might be an issue. If you like sushi, I think it's the best in town.

Here is the link from the DO.







Retail business briefs for July 16, 2014 | News OK (http://newsok.com/retail-business-briefs-for-july-16-2014/article/5004918)

Should do well in Oklahoma.

They'll probably put it up on Memorial Rd., as they should.

Any relation to Eskimo Joe's?

:)

We already have a Tokyo, so that name might be an issue. If you like sushi, I think it's the best in town.

Which is like two kids in Jakarta asking.....'Who makes the best American hamburger? McDonald's or Burger King?'

Not exactly great options.

Which is like two kids in Jakarta asking.....'Who makes the best American hamburger? McDonald's or Burger King?'

Not exactly great options.

Are you saying that Tokyo is to sushi what McDonald's is to hamburgers?! Not even close, Tokyo makes good sushi and is probably the best in town, imo.

HOME (http://www.tokyookc.com/) is way different than Tokyo Joe's (http://www.tokyojoes.com). Tokyo in OKC is a one-off, the other is a chain, for starters....

Only ever eaten at Saii for sushi here in OKC, need to go to Tokyo, heard lots of good things about Tokyo...

Which is like two kids in Jakarta asking.....'Who makes the best American hamburger? McDonald's or Burger King?'

Not exactly great options.

I love your analogy. I've traveled to many countries where I have actually been taken by locals to McDonalds because they wanted to show off their "American Food" and figured I was hungry for some good ole home cooking. LOLROF Can't recall, but Jakarta may have been one of them. I know Beijing was (McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and KFC were the options there). And they thought the upscale option was Hard Rock Cafe or Planet Hollywood.

Are you saying that Tokyo is to sushi what McDonald's is to hamburgers?! Not even close, Tokyo makes good sushi and is probably the best in town, imo.

For the local market, it might be ok.....but you're not going to find 'good sushi' in Oklahoma. Speaking of the best sushi in okc, who has the best okra in Oslo.....or the best Tex-Mex in Tanga?

FWIW, Pizza Hut in China is quite upscale Italian eatery. McDonalds in Japan is far better than it is here, same for KFC Japan. I thoroughly enjoyed all three options when traveling to the central kingdom and the land of the red sun, as a welcome "American" break. While much better than what we have, it was nice to see their interpretation nonetheless.

That's an interesting take on McDonalds in Asia. I'm in Tokyo this week and ate at McD's yesterday. I've never found it to be that much different than in the States. Actually, that's one thing about the chains (Subway, Burger King, DQ, etc.) abroad......their tastes are consistent throughout.

FWIW, Pizza Hut in China is quite upscale Italian eatery. McDonalds in Japan is far better than it is here, same for KFC Japan. I thoroughly enjoyed all three options when traveling to the central kingdom and the land of the red sun, as a welcome "American" break. While much better than what we have, it was nice to see their interpretation nonetheless.

I wouldn't call PH in China "upscale". They are urban though, for the most part. And, they have options we don't have here....like eel. There are far far better Italian food options in the major cities. Locals don't go to PH in China because it is Italian, they go because it is American. Same for KFC. And McDonalds is virtually the same food world wide. Love it or hate it, McDonalds is extremely consistent. Haven't been to KFC in Japan, so what do they do better than here? Been to others in various places in the world and didn't find much different.

Speaking of American fat food chains, would be cool to see some popular Japanese chains come to Oklahoma...but it will never happen. Yoshinoya had a store in Dallas but it closed in 6 months. Would love to see a Mo Mo Paradise shabu shabu franchise.

Tokyo Pot in Stillwater offers the only shabu shabu in Oklahoma (as of a few years ago). Would definitely love for a place to open closer.


Speaking of American fat food chains, would be cool to see some popular Japanese chains come to Oklahoma...but it will never happen. Yoshinoya had a store in Dallas but it closed in 6 months. Would love to see a Mo Mo Paradise shabu shabu franchise.

FWIW, Pizza Hut in China is quite upscale Italian eatery. McDonalds in Japan is far better than it is here, same for KFC Japan. I thoroughly enjoyed all three options when traveling to the central kingdom and the land of the red sun, as a welcome "American" break. While much better than what we have, it was nice to see their interpretation nonetheless.
The KFC Homestyle was more like a Boston Market over there, I think the one that I ate at was in Harajuku. There is also a Shakey's Pizza in Harajuku.

Yeah, Tokyo Pot is the only shabu-shabu on the reservation but it's more of a mix between Thai, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. If you want real Japanese, you can buy the ingredients at the Korean market on 12th street in Moore and the Mizukon ponzu sauce at Super Cao Nguyen. You can make it better at home....and much cheaper. Oishi!

For the local market, it might be ok.....but you're not going to find 'good sushi' in Oklahoma. Speaking of the best sushi in okc, who has the best okra in Oslo.....or the best Tex-Mex in Tanga?

It sounds like you have had sushi in Japan. I have as well, and I can definitely tell that the fish over there is on a completely different level than anything I've had in the states. Much fresher, it's not even funny. But I just thought your analogy was way off. McDonald's is probably on the very opposite end of the spectrum of the best burger out there. And I don't think Tokyo is opposite of Japanese sushi at all. In fact, I think they're the closest thing in OKC to emulating sushi in Japan. Just felt like it was a bad analogy.

The one thing that I noticed is not just the fish but the seaweed in Japan has a much stronger flavor than what I have had in the US.

I love sushi - and I've eaten it in a number of cities in the U.S. - but I've never eaten it overseas to know what I'm missing. I read an article a while back that details how the sushi experience in America typically differs from the authentic one in Japan, and some of the things I remember are as follow:


Few - and by few i mean almost zero - use actual wasabi paste, but instead use a horseradish-based approximation
Whipping up a soy/wasabi paste to dip in (guilty) would be totally offensive in Jaoan, where the chef instead seasons your sushi to taste before serving. Whipping up your own soy/wasabi dip would be similar to putting ketchup or Heinz 57 on a great steak.
Similarly, rolling/scraping/de-splintering your chopsticks would be offensive, like telling the proprietor he was furnishing cheap and inferior utensils.
Ordering from a menu is not typical, but rather you establish a rapport directly with the chef, tell him what types of flavors you enjoy, and basically let him "program" a custom meal on the fly that takes you through a series of flavor experiences designed to flow together.

I'm not sure how accurate this is, but it makes sense to me based on what I know about Japanese culture. Anyone who has experienced sushi in Japan care to confirm/elaborate?

We had sushi delivered to the office one evening (we were working until about 12:30 every night), they used nylon, washable chop sticks and plastic or china bowls. When you are finished with the meal you put everything back on the tray and set it outside your door and the restaurant comes back later and picks up the dishes and utensils. I don't recall using bamboo chopsticks anywhere, they were all nylon or painted wood. We would go to a little shop that sat about 15 people right by the office, the menu was all in Kanji script on the wall and the proprietors spoke no English. We went with one of the architects in the office who used to live and work in OKC, his children still lived in Moore and he ordered for us (Katsudon), they also had no forks or knives, just chopsticks and the traditional soup spoon. It was some great food.

To clarify my above post, few AMERICAN sushi restaurants use authentic wasabi paste and nearly all use some sort of horseradish that they call wasabi.

I love sushi - and I've eaten it in a number of cities in the U.S. - but I've never eaten it overseas to know what I'm missing. I read an article a while back that details how the sushi experience in America typically differs from the authentic one in Japan, and some of the things I remember are as follow:


Few - and by few i mean almost zero - use actual wasabi paste, but instead use a horseradish-based approximation
Whipping up a soy/wasabi paste to dip in (guilty) would be totally offensive in Jaoan, where the chef instead seasons your sushi to taste before serving. Whipping up your own soy/wasabi dip would be similar to putting ketchup or Heinz 57 on a great steak.
Similarly, rolling/scraping/de-splintering your chopsticks would be offensive, like telling the proprietor he was furnishing cheap and inferior utensils.
Ordering from a menu is not typical, but rather you establish a rapport directly with the chef, tell him what types of flavors you enjoy, and basically let him "program" a custom meal on the fly that takes you through a series of flavor experiences designed to flow together.

I'm not sure how accurate this is, but it makes sense to me based on what I know about Japanese culture. Anyone who has experienced sushi in Japan care to confirm/elaborate?

I can't recall all of the above, but my wife spent a semester there doing research and she remembers a little bit. She actually says that most of the sushi places in Japan that she went to only used the wasabi paste. She went to a nicer restaurant once and they actualled grate the wasabi root for customers, but that is apparently very expensive. As for mixing the wasabi and soy sauce, she did this on the regular and never had any issues from chefs/restaurants. I remember doing it to, and never got dirty looks or negative comments. She did say that people over there did not de-splinter their chopsticks from what she remembers. She said some Sri Lankan ex-pat she had met told her that locals never did it; she did anyways to avoid getting cuts on her hands. As for building a rapport with the chef, so he knows what you like, neither one of us remember this. This might take place in nicer establishments, which I never really went to one over there. One type of restaurant I really liked, was what we called "conveyor belt sushi." The chef would prepare nigiri, put them on small plates, and place them on a conveyor belt that went around a circular bar where all the customers sat. You waited for what you liked, and grabbed the plates as they passed by. The server would come by and add up the plates you had, and charge accordingly. If there wasn't something you wanted on the conveyor belt, you would holler at the chef, and he would make it for you.

The main difference that I recall, outside of the freshness of the fish, was that I rarely saw any rolls over there. In fact, I don't recall eating a single roll in Japan. Everything was either nigiri/sashimi. They didn't do the crazy stuff that sushi restaurants here do, like splashing Sriracha all over it, adding tons of cream cheese, or deep frying everything. It was basically a piece of fish on a bed of rice (nigiri), which is how I prefer my sushi anyways. Also, sushi over there is not only much fresher, but is cheaper by a mile. I don't really eat sushi anymore b/c I'm sort of burnt out on it, but I recall two pieces of sake nigiri at Neko or Tokyo costing $5-6 several years ago. In Japan, I remember it being in the $1-1.50 range.

I go to McD's in Japan for EbiBurger and EbiBurger alone (shrimp hamburger), for real burgers it is MOS all the way. I find the chicken at KFC Japan to be much better than that here. I so do wish there were more Yoshinoya in North America. ....

And yes, I agree that people in China go to KFC/Pizza Hut for American but I find the food at PH is decidedly more Italian than the American counterpart, at least where my wife is from in Chongqing/Sichuan. Can you get Spaghetti Bolognese on a fine dish on white table-cloth with a glass of wine at a US PH? I'd call that 'Italian' and I'd call that a bit more upscale.

I go to McD's in Japan for EbiBurger and EbiBurger alone (shrimp hamburger), for real burgers it is MOS all the way. I find the chicken at KFC Japan to be much better than that here. I so do wish there were more Yoshinoya in North America. ....

And yes, I agree that people in China go to KFC/Pizza Hut for American but I find the food at PH is decidedly more Italian than the American counterpart, at least where my wife is from in Chongqing/Sichuan. Can you get Spaghetti Bolognese on a fine dish on white table-cloth with a glass of wine at a US PH? I'd call that 'Italian' and I'd call that a bit more upscale.

Ate at the PH in Guthrie (out by i35) awhile back and yes they had a number of pasta dishes, including Spaghetti Bolognese. I've eaten at a number of PH in China and they were nothing more than pizza places. Sometimes it just depends on the operator.

I never ate at any of the PHs in China, but they did look a lot nicer than the ones here in the States from what I recall.

I was in Tokyo in 1996 so things might have changed a bit in the years since. I do remember trying the Teriyaki McBurger, it had the quarter pounder pattie with a teriyaki sauce on it. They didn't have a regular quarter pounder so you got the double cheeseburger. We walked out of a Wendy's and there was a meeting of the Tokyo Hell's Angels going on at an Iraqi restaurant next door. He must have been running late since he was trying to park the big boat that was his white Excalibur car.

I think the tragedy here is that you guys are talking about coming over here to Japan and eating at fat food restaurants. You should have been eating the damn sushi, yakitori, yakiniku, shabu shabu, etc, etc. ;)

I think the tragedy here is that you guys are talking about coming over here to Japan and eating at fat food restaurants. You should have been eating the damn sushi, yakitori, yakiniku, shabu shabu, etc, etc.
We tried it to see what the differences were, it was interesting. We worked a lot of hours (OT pay was good) but we also took the time to go to lunch and dinner most everyday. We ate plenty of other places as well, I have quite a few cards from those places where I can't read a thing on them. When you are there for a few weeks at a minimum you have plenty of opportunity. When I was there it was the first time that I had tried sushi, never had any in OKC before that but then there wasn't the selection back in 1996 that there is now. One of the best meals was a Korean BBQ place and one of the most fun and good was a yakitori stand under the railroad bridges in Ginza.

Dave, we're just talking about the American foods overseas. Of course I mostly eat Japanese when in Japan or the various Chinese foods (mostly Sichuanese) when in China. But I am often overseas for long stretches; so there IS the need for a bit of comfort if it can be found. Sometimes, you just crave a real hamburger or steak after several weeks of authentic Sichuan or Guangdong cai.

My experience is that the 'American food' overseas is different than the home version, some better (as in Japan) but mostly worse (as in China, except the rather formal Pizza Hut 'or what my wife called 'Hoot Pi-za'). :) I'd say that overseas food in America (and yes, OKC) is better than American food overseas, primarily since most ethnic restaurants are run by immigrants. Not many restaurants overseas are run by Americans. With enough training and fresh ingredients, you can do some very good sushi/sashimi regardless of location - even in OKC.

Yep, sometimes you just need some taste of home.

We ate at LaJolla in Hiroo and it was pretty good Mexican food for Japan. My uncle who lived there from 1989 to 1997 said there was a newer place in Roppongi that was better, he lived in the ARK Towers there at company expense. Considering that was 17 years ago I am sure things have changed quite a bit.

Few - and by few i mean almost zero - use actual wasabi paste, but instead use a horseradish-based approximation
Whipping up a soy/wasabi paste to dip in (guilty) would be totally offensive in Japan, where the chef instead seasons your sushi to taste before serving. Whipping up your own soy/wasabi dip would be similar to putting ketchup or Heinz 57 on a great steak.

I'm not sure how accurate this is, but it makes sense to me based on what I know about Japanese culture. Anyone who has experienced sushi in Japan care to confirm/elaborate?

I just wanted to revisit these points. Great post but I'm not sure I really agree with the point about the shoyu and dipping your sushi like that. I spent 9 years in Japan and don't recall this being a big deal. I used to dip my sushi in the soy sauce like a potato chip into French Onion dressing and seem to recall my Japanese friends doing it all the time as well. I really don't think it's an issue. As for the wasabi and horseradish, I don't have a clue. Personally not a wasabi fan.

Great thread. All these earthquakes have me craving Japanese food.

being of Japanese ancestry I can answer this with some bit of clarity. ..

traditionally, one would not mix wasabi and shoyu together but would eat the sushi without accompaniment. The idea is to savor the natural flavors of the fish and the fermentation of the rice, and most true sushi chefs add all of the ingredients you'd need anyway (such as wasabi, vinegar, soy, etc) depending upon the level of chef and the type of sushi you're eating. I'd call this traditional/old school and you'd find this way in the finest restaurants in Japan and especially Kyoto where culture is King.

the 'new' commercial way of doing it is to mix wasabi with shoyu and dip, dip, dip. This actually is a good method of doing it if you're going to a low-end place in Japan or most western spots, as the sushi chefs haven't yet (if ever) mastered the chi of sushi/sashimi. Also, if the fish is not fresh you might want to use the paste to clarify any bugs - at least that's the western theory.

While I am a traditionalist there really isn't a right or wrong way unless you're in a cultured setting. In OKC, just do what you like and are comfortable with. Perhaps try the traditional way one time to see what you think, if you don't like it - then go back to paste. The most important thing is to enjoy the experience of sushi! And so glad OKC is stepping it up a bit, adding more (and better quality) sushi spots. ..

Gozaimas!