It seems that there is a Chinese restaurant or sushi bar on just about every corner of the city. Most of these restaurants offer the same menu choices -- generally a blend of traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese cuisines -- but not all have the same quality of food. If you've ever eaten dry sushi, over-fried chicken, or rubbery beef, then you've been eating at the wrong sushi restaurants in Louisville. Next time, head to one of the following restaurants for a taste of Louisville's best sushi.
Raw Sushi Lounge
(c) 2008 Michael Maupin
Raw Sushi Lounge is located at the edge of Louisville's Fourth Street Live district. With more than half of the menu dedicated to its title food, Raw serves some of the best sushi in Louisville. If you think that sushi is supposed to have an overwhelming fishy taste and a barely-chewable seaweed wrap, then you have probably been eating sushi at the wrong places. The sushi at Raw melts in your mouth as easily as butter, and the blend of ingredients is seemingly scientific.
Kobe Japanese Steakhouse
(c) 2008 Jessica Elliott
For me personally, the attraction to restaurants where you sit around a grill and watch a chef cook your food while performing tricks is fun only if you're eating with a group of out-of-towners or children. When you're going out for dinner with your husband or another couple, however, watching a Japanese chef toss eggs into his hat seems pretty ridiculous. I was pleasantly surprised to find that you don't have to sit at a grill at Kobe Japanese Steakhouse in Jeffersonville, and I was elated to learn that the sushi is the restaurant's true highlight.
Kansai Japanese Steakhouse
(c) 2008 Michael Maupin
Kansai Japanese Steakhouse looks like a run-of-the-mill strip mall Japanese restaurant. On the outside, it is totally unassuming. However, when you enter the front doors, the warm orange wall paint is a precursor to the deep, rich flavor of sushi that awaits you. Kansai provides the Southern Indiana equivalent of Raw Sushi Lounge on 4th Street in Louisville. The flavors are deep and complex, the presentation is beautifully arranged, and the quality of the ingredients as a whole is top shelf.
Sapporo Japanese Grill and Sushi
(c) 2007 Jessica Elliott
While I prefer the sushi at Raw Sushi Lounge, I've had others in our area argue that Sapporo Japanese Grill and Sushi takes the cake as far as sushi in Louisville is concerned. Sapporo is located on Bardstown Road in The Highlands. Like Kobe, half of the seating at Sapporo is devoted to grill tables and half is devoted to regular seating, so you aren't forced to watch chefs perform tricks with your food unless you feel inclined to do so. Many enjoy the tricks performed at the grill tables, but the sushi and sake are truly Sapporo's best offerings.
