Maiko Sushi Lounge

08/12/2008 Posted by smoothlikebuttaah

We came in to Maiko on Tuesday evening excited considering we had never been there before. We were seated and then it was downhill from there. We ordered mushroom miso, vegetable tempura and two sushi rolls all at once. The miso tasted like soy sauce. The vegetable tempura was very disappointing. It took our waitress twenty five minutes to get us our rolls. My date actually considered grabbing the rolls off the bar, where we could see them stagnating for 15 minutes. In the meantime we looked at the art on the walls that represented 90’s deco and the cheesy carpet that resembled a Las Vegas casino that is about to be demolished.The atmosphere could not par up to how much they charged for food, especially because the food was also not that impressive. We checked out the rolls under the bad lighting and we were wondering WTF the chef knew about sushi. The website boasts this great looking presentation and it is non-existent. Moving on, the orange tuna roll did not have any hint of orange, was mostly rice and the fish was not fresh. The Maiko roll was all hype also.The best part was our waitress was gone the whole time. …no exaggerating and my date asked her where she had been, and if she had been in the back smoking a joint the whole time. Instead of being comical about it to chill out the tension, she freaked out and had an enormous attitude. She asked if we wanted to talk to her manager, getting way louder than our decibels and we just said, “no, we just wanted to let you know we were not pleased with the service.” Not even mentioning the ridiculously large bill for the quality and quantity of the food. She chickened out bringing us back our change and had some random guy from the back do it, while he told us to ask for him if we ever had any problems again there. It would have been a nice gesture if he had told us his name! Way overpriced, but I guess they have to pay the rent for that bangin’ location.

Pros: none

Cons: ambiance, food, service, & value

05/15/2008 Posted by ChucoMonster

I have to admit, I am no expert on sushi. But I eat lots of it and, before sushi, I would NEVER eat any fish. But Maiko is one of the only places that I like to go to eat sushi in Austin. I've been to here quite a few times over the last few months, and their menu seems to be getting better! The menu seemed a little small, and didn't have too much variety, but now it seems to be getting underway. I only wish they had more vegetarian options — not many places in Austin offer a good selection of veggie rolls, so this is kind of disappointing. However, what they do offer is delicious — the rolls are not too small and have the right balance of rice, fish, and flavor. I admit, I get the same stuff all the time, but every once in a while, I get adventurous and try some different rolls — so far I've never been disappointed (anything I haven't like was due to my own personal tastes). I also enjoy the appetizers, like the tempura. The Maiko Salad is one of my new favorites, as well — it's tangy and sweet, with goat's cheese. Delicious! The hot rock is always fun, but more important, yummy. And instead of just ordering the miso soup, I like the wild mushroom miso soup. It's worth the extra $2. I've also tried their delicious desserts! (Yeah, I like to eat!) I was pleased with the truffles and with the sorbets. A friend and I shared both theses desserts and we both found them to be not too filling, and so were a nice end to the night. The service could use some work, but in the last few times I've been there, I had a waitress that was both attentive and nice. She wasn't too much of a bother, but didn't ignore me. It is a bit pricey, but I understand it's a business — profit is important. Nevertheless, I'm never bothered to drop a good amount here.

Pros: Tasty sushi, good menu selection, great atmosphere, sushi chefs are always fun to talk to

Cons: Service could be better, not enough vegetable rolls offered