Mikomi Sushi Monrovia — Restaurant in Monrovia

Impressed.

I usually don't go into sashimi territory when eating at a sushi place. I just go for rolls that have cooked fish, or at most, Spicy Tuna. This place made me realize that all the other places I've gone to try sashimi don't compare, quality-wise, to this place.

Arrived around 6:30PM and got seated right away. They got rid of physical menus to prevent the virus, so you would have to scan the QR code on the table for the menu. Just worried for the older generation who may not have phones and such.

ORDERS: Spicy Garlic Edamame: Good garlic flavor with a kick

Spider Roll: Surprisingly not my favorite here, which I thought I would like the most since it's all cooked and I usually get this. The soft shell crab inside the actually roll was small, but they provide a leg on the side.

Yellowtail Carpaccio: This was the first non-cooked thing I had here, and it actually tasted fine to me. There was no fishiness to it and the ponzu and truffle oil weren't overpowering. After this dish, I felt like it was easier to try the other non-cooked dishes.

Double Albacore Roll: The first bite had me a bit shook as the albacore wasn't fishy nor did it have a weird texture. The fried onions were the extra garnish we didn't know we needed as it made the whole roll complete. Ended up ordering two of these as it was definitely a favorite throughout the group.

Large Sashimi (30 pieces): This had 6 different sashimis - salmon, tuna, mackerel, octopus, albacore, and I think yellowtail. I only got to try 4/6, but the ones I did try actually blew me away with how I could handle it without making a weird face. Out of the ones I did try - salmon, tuna, mackerel, and albacore - my favorite was the mackerel and my least was the salmon.

Baked Scallop Roll: When this came to the table, everyone seemed a bit confused by it. We thought it would come with bigger pieces of scallop and on each roll. It ended up being really small scallops kind of placed all over. Not a big fan of it.

Spicy Tuna: It was good. Tasted like most Spicy Tunas to me.

Shishito Peppers: This was sauteed with sake soy sauce. I didn't really care for this, but it seemed liked by everyone else.

In the end, I'm glad I found this place on Yelp and chose to come here instead of AYCE. It is on the pricier side, but you pay for the quality. The server was really nice and cool too. He ended up taking a shot of sake with us and hooked it up with two extra bottles of Kirin when we thought they overcharged us.

Final Verdict - definitely...

I love this place because it was open. Let me explain.

I was at my kid’s friend’s house when I told my wonderful, deserving, loving, kind, smart, funny, outstanding children that I’d buy them sushi. One loves sushi, one hates it. Anyways when we left, we went over to Gin Sushi in Pasadena, our normal sushi place. They were closed for some reason. My heart sank as I noticed that the lights were off. Our sushi scavenger hunt has began, and the only reason it began is because my child begged me. Down the street, there’s another place called Yes Sushi. I went there once, but they didn’t have Diet Coke and I have a life threatening addiction to that good stuff. Whenever that place runs out of Sushi, we call it No Sushi. We drive over to the Islands in Pasadena because next door is a sushi place. Turns out, too expensive. I’m broke. In the same block, there’s another sushi restaurant but the wait was too long. I had somewhere to be apparently because I left. Maybe getting Diet Coke from McDonalds. Why does every sushi place have sushi in the name? Anyways, I find a place in Monrovia called Sakara Sushi. I asked my loving, deserving, wonderful, kind, smart child if it was open. He said yes, but half way there, he told me that it was permanently closed. Guess he isn’t so loving, deserving, wonderful, kind, or smart anymore. My other child tickles my cat’s bottom so he doesn’t have that title. I have no favorite children anymore. Because we’re in the direction, we go to a sushi place on lime ave but it was so cramped that my farts smelled really bad. My claustrophobic brain couldn’t handle that, and we got out faster than my farts. We walked down the street because we saw that a sushi place was down here. It was called Mikomi Sushi.

Now that my backstory is done, let’s start the review.

Mikomi Sushi is a great facility. It was love at first sight and it was cheaper than the 3rd sushi restaurant. The food was really good even though the portions were smaller than my love for squirting lemon juice into my eyes. It burns. Painful, would not recommend.

Anyways, the food is yummy and I got sushi within three minutes of ordering. If you ever find yourself promising your child sushi and the first five places you go aren’t an...

Been eating at Mikomi for several years now. It's a solid sushi spot for a quick meal or large group. I appreciate their variety - especially with how fresh the sashimi is daily. I am an anti-immatation crab meat person as I don't much care for how it dilutes the buttery flavor of the actual fish. This place has a lot more of those types of offerings than most of the local spots. A HUGE positive.

My go to rolls sans the ICM are Double Albacore Roll, Marilyn MonRoll, Crouching Tiger Hidden Albacore Roll, Cherry Blossom Roll. Again. The Sashimi offerings are solid as well; great cuts and reasonable pricing.

During the pandemic, their ordering system, takeout quality and overall disorganization of their restaurant was incredibly disappointed.

I'm really happy they're open again because take out sushi is generally disappointing.

Came back to eat here, in person, for the first time in a long time and gladly, nothing has changed. Unfortunately it's a mixed bag in that I was hoping to see some newer and more inspired menu offerings. That's probably the only gripe I have. They haven't really created a menu where they stand firmly apart from the competition.

In short, they're a solid spot - but I'm posting this in the hope that they read and consider this feedback as constructive. We need an elite, local sushi spot and Mikomi has the potential.

One more thing, while I love the attentive service - it's sometimes too attentive. During my last visit, we were asked "How is everything?", and "Can we get you anything else?" 4 different times by 4 different people. I know they've used the roaming server model in the past as well and recall being bothered by this as we were constantly interrupted. I think it's time to improve upon this model. Not unappreciative, just like my server to be in tune with the table vibe instead of approaching service...