MIKA SUSHI — Restaurant in Monterey

Decided to check out this restaurant as a local. Brought a party of 5 who were interested in sampling all portions of the menu. Admittedly the number of items on the menu was daunting but I chose to ignore that which proved to be a mistake.

I arrived first and the staff was warm, welcoming, and more than acommodating. My primary goal was to suss out how good their Tonkatsu Ramen was because they advertise a house broth, but they have a very large menu encompassing many aspects of Japanese cooking. Hell, they even offer Bulgogi which is Korean BBQ. We ordered appetizers, mains, and entrees. Here's the trip report:

Appetizers of spicy Edamame and Tempura vegetables were ordered. The vegetables were phenomenal. Delicious. Crunchy. I love tempura batter. Heck yes. Edamame was ok. No major complaints.

Sushi rolls started to come out. Rice was strangely dry. Rolls felt out of balance. One person got the Spicy Dragon Roll which was waaaaaay oversauced and the balance was lost. Dad got the combo box which had Terriyaki Chicken but also included California rolls which were more or less bland but.... sorta ok if you closed your eyes?

Mains. Oh god. DO NOT order any sort of soup at this restaurant. The 'Tonkatsu Ramen' was a thin milky-colored flavorless broth on top of CORN (why is there corn in ramen) and a handful of packet noodles which clearly stuck to each other. The egg was actually pretty good and well-cooked, but the pork was a huge mystery. Devoid of any sort of flavor, my estimation is the pork had been sitting in a sous vide water bath for over 18 hours and had lost all texture. To combat that, normally a chef would throw it on the grill to introduce a sear. Instead I was greeted with an unappetizing ribbon of fat that my mother later questioned me on. "WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST EAT IT???"

Because, mom, it looked like phlegm and I didn't want to say this and spoil everyone's appetites.

When the waitress did check on us I indicated how awful the Ramen was and she apologized and took it off the bill. Again, staff very welcoming. DO NOT expect authentic...

Revised - 04/26/2021. Wow what a difference a month makes. Went back for my birthday and it was not a good experience. Quality of food different. I ordered agedashi tofu and it was very bland.. ordered uni as well and had a bad taste. Asked to take of bill,, they refused. Server didnt feel right that owner wouldn't remove, so she didn't want to give us bill. Said she would take care of it. Talked to chef and he stated uni is from different place, so taste differently...to me ... it was the grade of uni served and also they got this Thursday and I ate uni Monday...so definitely not fresh. So disappointing. Finally took uni off bill, but they wouldn't take tofu off. Paid the bill. Tipped server and called it a night..

First time here....

If I could give this place 10 stars I would....just amazing!! Really enjoyed the chefs interpretation of traditional items. Definitely a go to spot even though I live in Monterey....totally...

Eating sushi in Carmel, it’s what you’d expect. I would not recommend this restaurant. I think the restaurant really tries to make a mark with its sushi but it misses on all points. If you never had sushi before, you might enjoy the meal.

We got the $145 sushi platter - the cuts of fish did not taste fresh, and the assortment was lackluster. The presentation made me lose my appetite, and was not worth what we paid. 1/5 stars.

The rolls were marginally better, but Mika tends to try too hard to make them special, like adding a misplaced WHOLE carrot or nuts in the sushi. The tempura was overbreaded, the ginger slices were the size of apple slices. Save your money and...