MOMO Sushi — Restaurant in Minneapolis

Summary: Go here. Even (especially!) if you think you dislike sushi.

Have you ever had an experience that radically changed a viewpoint you've held for decades? I did. It happened early evening on Saturday, August 24, 2024. It was the day I went to MOMO Sushi.

I've never liked sushi, or so I thought. I've tried salad bar California rolls a couple of times and thought they were OK, but nothing more. Around 20 years ago, I was adventurous enough to try sashimi, and I very much disliked it. Until Saturday, I haven't sat down in a sushi joint since.

Before we left for the evening, my date, knowing I wasn't a sushi fan, hestitantly asked if we could go to a (different) sushi restaurant. We looked it up only to discover it was temporarily closed. Not wanting to disappoint her, I searched for an alternative and found MOMO. After checking their menu online to confirm that they also served what I considered "real food," I agreed to take her there.

Parking was ok. Not great, but without mush difficultly, we got a spot directly across the street. We were seated immediately in their cozy and pleasant patio. The service was good, with the waitress providing a sake recommendation when I asked. The prices were very reasonable, and the food arrived quickly.

None of those things are why I'd give this place 6 stars if I could.

That reason: The food. The sushi in particular.

Instead of ordering something 'safe' like stir fry as I had intended, I decided to give sushi what I thought would be one final try. We had an appetizer, and then for me (non-raw) dragon rolls of some sort and similar rolls for her except they contained raw fish. I fully expected to regret ordering the dragon rolls. Eel sauce? What was I thinking?

After fumbling with the chopsticks and being fully prepared to hate it, I ate one. It was good. Very good, in fact. I tried one of hers. Also very good, raw fish and all. This was an unexpected outcome.

It took more than 50 years, but I learned something about myself that day. Much to my surprise, I learned that I liked (good) sushi after all.

Thank you for that, MOMO Sushi. I hope to...

I've been here more than once. The food is GREAT. It's well prepared, fresh and creative, and on food alone I totally recommend this restaurant.

Service: My experience has been that they want you in and out as quickly as possible, so I'm generally prepared to order, eat, and leave.

I fully respect their desire to get tables turned and I'm not one to sit around yapping, but this last time was a bit too rushed.

Our server asked us if we wanted anything else or just the bill and our friend ordered a second beer. We were still eating the roll they had recently brought out. They returned with the beer and within minutes told us they had a reservation and needed our table. They told a young couple at a two-top next to us the same thing and they hadn't been there for very long at all. We thought this was weird because their website clearly says that they do not take reservations, but we thought perhaps someone had arranged a special party so we paid and left the table immediately. Our friend still had his newly opened beer so we all stood in the entry way for another 10 minutes while he finished drinking it. It was weird.

Atmosphere: The restaurant is cute and well kept. Be mindful that they have a 3 season style "porch" with some soft-side walls added on to the front of the building and they seat people there even in the winter. The wind chill was below zero when we were there and we sat in this area and it was a bit too chilly, especially when patrons entered and the wind got sucked into the seating area. I wouldn't want to sit in this section during winter again.

Overall: I recommend the food wholeheartedly. If it's winter try to sit inside. Eat immediately and exit...

Found this place on social media and wanted to check it out for ourselves. Read the history about the owner and what a beautiful story! We ate a late lunch and there was a steady crowd the entire time we were there. I've been wanting to try out momos for a long time. We did order those first and just be aware that it'll take about 20 minutes to make. We ordered the Tibetan momo, which is beef and some veggies in there. We also ordered the sushi bucket. We wanted a variety of sushi from nigiri, sashimi, and rolls. The sushi bucket came with a decent variety of items. I enjoyed most of the sashimi, one of the fish was still a little frozen, but none of it tasted fishy. One of the tuna nigiri was a little fishy tasting. The sushi was good, but nothing to brag about. The price of the sushi bucket was priced well for what you get. You get 7 momos and wow, I really enjoyed them. I would love to come back and try the other ones. They were fresh and hot! The hot sauce that came with the momos was nice and spicy! Not burn your mouth spicy, but a really good kick. It has a different taste that other hot sauces I've had. I mixed the hot sauce with a little bit of soy sauce and it was just amazing! There's a good variety of foods and options at this restaurant. This place is cure and cozy. All the workers were nice and friendly. We got seated right away, water was brought out right after we sat down, and we were able to order our food when we were ready. This place is in the perfect neighborhood. Glad we were able to try this out and had a taste of some...