Mikado Japanese Restaurant

Allow me to preface this review by saying that the magical wonderment of this restaurant was made 10 times better by the fact that I had just been treated awfully at the nearby sushi restaurant Oh Yoko and was still shell-shocked. My girlfriend and my little sister, who were with me, were also still in horror at the treatment we received at Oh Yoko. Then we arrived at Mikado and it was like we had suffered through Sushi Restaurant Hell and thus been finally allowed to arrive in Sushi Restaurant Heaven.

The restaurant as a whole is very pretty. It has a nice atmosphere, beautiful plants outside, a nice outdoor sitting area, and most importantly, very very nice people working there. As soon as we walked in and asked to sit outside, the employees there were happy to help us and also concerned for our comfort, warning us that we might be cold. Once we were seated outside, our waitress Helen (ask for Helen if you go, she is lovely!) brought over rice noodles for the table and they were delicious. We ordered soon after and when I told Helen about all of our food allergy concerns (my sister and I both have serious food allergies, my girlfriend avoids them also for my safety), she was helpful, attentive, and patient. This is all in stark contrast to our experience at Oh Yoko where we were yelled at just for trying to find food that wouldn't send me to the hospital and told that we couldn't eat at Japanese restaurants!

Our food was served to us very quickly and we hardly had to wait at all. Mine was actually brought out with soy sauce on it (soy is one of my allergens) but Helen took one look at the plate and quickly apologized and took it away, bringing back a new soy-free order almost immediately. Everything was delicious and tasted extremely fresh, and it was all beautifully presented - and the prices here are extremely good for such a nice atmosphere along with such good food. When we had finished, Helen brought out hot towels for our hands and slices of pineapple for us. We all literally couldn't stop talking about how nice everything was.

We will definitely be visiting Mikado again in the future, and definitely asking for Helen again as well! I have no idea why this restaurant doesn't have a higher rating because it's the best sushi restaurant I have ever been to in NJ.