Mizu Sushi & Hibachi Restaurant

A new hibachi and sushi restaurant called Mizu, just opened up across from Cracker Barrel this week. I've driven by a few times to check it out since I heard that there would be a new hibachi spot coming soon. I heard they were open so I had to get over there and check it out. It's in the building that was originally called The Rib Crib.

The staff was friendly and sat us immediately in a booth. The woman brought menus and a sheet of paper for the all-you-can-eat lunch of sushi and hibachi. It's encouraged to only order one of everything at first, and then ordering more when you are done so food isn't wasted. The food comes pretty quickly so it wasn't a problem for me. There are salads, appetizers, sushi, hibachi, fried rice and Japanese noodle dishes.

Starting off I chose the green salad that comes with ginger dressing. There were other options, too, including a cucumber salad and couple others. I also chose some crab rangoons and chicken dumplings. Each item came out quickly. My husband and I shared the appetizers and also ordered some chicken fried rice. I enjoyed everything and appreciated that it all came so quickly, especially during lunch. The crab rangs reminded me of the money bags at Tuptim Thai only a little crispier. The sauce was sweet, but not real thick like that bright pinkish red
sweet and sour sauce and I enjoyed it. The dumplings came with a sauce of its own and was pretty tasty, too. Everything was hot and fresh.

Next came the thin Japanese noodles and my hubs got the steak hibachi so we could share and get a little bit of both. I got the chicken noodles and the portion was just right. Because of the set up and it being all you can eat, I appreciated the smaller portions so I could have a little bit of everything. Also, once you finish you can always order more if you still want it. The steak hibachi came with
a good portion of meat, sauteed veggies and some fried rice. Again, the portions aren't heaping but they are still generous, and there is the option to order more for up to two hours. We still had sushi on its way so I knew I would still need to save some room for that and didn't order additional portions.

The last thing to come was the sushi. We ordered a spicy tuna roll, a volcano roll and a rainbow roll. The volcano roll was my favorite even though it was pretty spicy, at least for me who is pretty sensitive to spicy foods. This one also looked pretty cool because it was cut differently and stood up to resemble a volcano with the red sauces dripping down the sides as if it has just erupted. The rainbow roll was good, and the spicy tuna roll was alright. I wasn't a fan of the spicy tuna roll because it had too much of the crunchy stuff that's usually on top, on the inside. Maybe if it just had less crunchy stuff I would have liked it better, I just didn't like this one. Other than that the sushi was fresh and full of bold flavors. That volcano roll I would recommend to anyone who wants to try something a little different.


For $12.99 at lunch I felt like the price was perfect for what can be ordered. There is a two hour time limit, but who has two hours to eat lunch most days? I get full pretty fast, too, so I don't even need an hour. I think it would be the perfect place to take a group of friends and order everything on the menu and share it and hang out for awhile. I'm excited that it's local and right down the street and I look forward to returning soon. The dinner for 2 is $30, which is a great price, especially for a date night or a night out with friends.

Kyoto

(this still shows the location as Kim's Vietnamese, but trust me, it's Kyoto now)

I've been trolling the Topeka Restaurant Group on Facebook for a couple months now and the consensus is most definitely that Kyoto is amazing. So, I decided to go check it out and see for myself.

Ryan and I ordered sushi and hot food from the hibachi. For sushi we got a rainbow roll, my favorite, and he got some other sashimi that I'm not too fond of. The rainbow roll is basically a California roll topped with raw salmon and a white fish (the menu said "white fish" so I'm not sure the exact type it was) and this particular sushi chef decided to top his with roasted garlic. I liked the garlic, but Ryan did not -- he scraped it off of his portion. I didn't mind it because there was a small amount on each piece of sushi and I felt it complimented without overpowering the raw fish.

After our meal, our waitress asked us if we like sushi and if she could recommend a few rolls to try next time, (there will be a next time and soon). She pulled out her phone and showed us three or four rolls that are her favorite, including the Hawaiian roll. That's the one I'm looking forward to ordering next time.

I ordered the hibachi ribeye that comes with a soup, salad, rice, noodles and vegetables.

The salad had a sweet ginger dressing -- that I could have drank by the cupful -- with crunchy noodles, carrots on iceberg lettuce. The soup was just a broth with green onions and thinly sliced mushrooms floating around in it. I liked it but the weather was too hot for me to want to eat much of it. I ate my entire salad because that dressing!

The hot food all came on one plate. The noodles were thin and sweet, I could eat just those for dinner they were so tasty (with a cup of that ginger dressing, of course). The fried rice was steamed and then fried and chewy but in a good way. The vegetables were cooked just right, al dente and not soggy. There was a lot of zucchini and carrots, my favorite.  My meat was cooked a perfect medium rare just as I asked and I really just have no complaints about anything at all.

The portions were huge and even though the menu is pricey, you get your money's worth. I have lunch for tomorrow.

When we were on our way out, the waitress asked us if we had ever tried their Ramune drink, a Japanese soft drink. She said it's made with real sugar. We were intrigued so we said of course we'll try it. The one we tried was strawberry flavored. When she opened the drink, I was confused about what exactly she was doing, but with further research on the good old world wide web, I found out all about it. Sometimes, this soda is also referred to as marble pop, and that's because the bottle is sealed with a glass marble. It's opened by forcing the marble out and into the the drink, where it clangs around while you drink.  Hey, but who cares about a marble, the soda was good and I would buy one next time I'm there.

I will return and try other items on the menu. The people working were friendly and seemed like a family. The atmosphere was inviting and there was a cute little kid walking around smiling at people. He even said goodbye to us and followed us to the door waving. How cute. I can't wait to return.

Chow Time Buffet #8

The third time's the charm. Or so I'm sure the owners of Chow Time Buffet #8 hope. After two failed attempts at opening Asian buffets at 17th and Wanamaker, a third one is now open, under a new owner. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that the owners are from Georgia where another Chow Time Buffet is located.

Many people I've talked to are skeptical about this third restaurant so I decided to check it out.

When I first walked in I noticed the new owners redecorated, but I did recognize some of same decor from the previous restaurant (just like the signs on the buffet, really). A couple walls were knocked
 out but the buffets were all in the same spots. Now, there is a chocolate fountain along with a variety of ice cream on the west side of the buffet. The hibachi grill is still on the north side of the room with the sushi across from it on the south side of the room. I noticed there was an entire buffet full of American-style food such as pizza, mac and cheese and meatloaf, if that's what you want. I didn't try any of that because I came for the Chinese food.

The sushi was about what you'd expect -- smaller portion sizes than if you ordered a roll at a sushi bar but fresh and tasty. They had a wide variety and a sushi chef actively building more sushi and making sure everything was fresh.

The cold bar had in-shell cold shrimp on ice and cocktail sauce, a variety of composed salads and a basic salad bar. The hot food had all your basics, kung-pao chicken, chicken and broccoli, white and fried rice, sauteed green beans, egg rolls and much more. One item that I found weird was this shiny roll-looking thing. When bit into it was kind of weird because it wasn't like the dinner rolls I'm used to, it was chewy and you could hear it. Inside was some kind of orange stuff, which I think was soy or something. Yeah, not gonna try that again.

My only complaint is that the crab Rangoon didn't seem to be fried long enough. The bottom part was kind of soggy and soft, and didn't seem to be cooked long enough for me. The egg roll was the generic kind you find at most Chinese restaurants, same with the sauteed green beans. The white rice was soft and fluffy, the chicken and broccoli was good. I appreciated that it was pretty fresh so the broccoli still had a bit of crunch left to it. Overall, I was satisfied with my meal.

My favorite part was the dessert. Most of the time, desserts at Chinese buffets aren't the best. I was impressed with their selection and with the quality of the products. In the photo to the right, you will see I tried a little bit of a few things. Starting with the donut on the left: It was caky and frosted and tasty. I was surprised that it was soft and sweet and not crumbly. The banana cream dessert right above that was good, too, with vanilla wafers in it and everything. I wasn't a fan of the apple salad next to it. The dressing wasn't sweet enough and didn't really add much to the flavor of the apples. To the right of that, I tried a large marshmallow dipped in the chocolate fountain. It was good, but I think I'd rather have a s'more. The fried Chinese donut below was typical of most buffets. Basically, it was fried biscuit dough tossed in sugar. Always one of my favorites. Last, on the bottom of the plate, is a mini cinnamon roll. It was cold, but it was still soft and good. I was surprised that I liked it. But, I was surprised that I liked as many desserts as I did. I usually end up wasting most of my desserts and this time I practically cleaned my plate.

The food was good, everything looked clean and the waitstaff was friendly. I hope this time the place lasts because I didn't find anything wrong about it, except for that weird roll. But hey, I saw another girl get one and she ate the whole thing, so who knows.