Mr. Tuna — Restaurant in Portland

The food alone was tasty but the service was very disappointing. We ordered a round of teas to start -- one black tea and two ginger lemon. They came out and we were indifferent to the fact that the server actually brought two green teas and a black tea. All good, we like green tea too! We had also ordered edamame and seaweed salad as an appetizer. Edamame was cold which is new for us, but again, all good! We took one bite of the seaweed salad and did not care for it. We asked the server if we could swap it for the miso since we did not like it and had barely touched it, to which Kaleigh agreed. Great! Miso was finally brought after the rest of us had finished our entrees and it was alright. The ratio of broth to seaweed was unusual but the broth was tasty. When Kaleigh came back to clear plates, she spilled soy sauce through the grated table, noticed, and didnt say anyting as it dripped on to my friends jeans. Two of us saw her look right at it drip and not do anything as my other friend grabbed a napkin. When the bill arrived, we noticed that both the seaweed salad and the miso were on the bill. We asked for the seaweed salad to be taken off as discussed and she said "oh there is no way for me to take anything off". If that were the case, it would have been nice for her to say so when we asked to swap out a dish for something else. Additionally, she charged us for the $6 lemon ginger teas we did not receive, instead of the $4 green tea we did get. All and all while the sushi alone was good, the service and atmosphere really spoil the place. All of us work in the industry (some even owning their own resturants), so we hate to leave a poor review, but felt the need to say something. Would recommend take out sushi from this place to...

As someone who has been eating Mr. Tuna for years, in various locations, I was incredibly dissatisfied with the food I ate in the new middle st. location. I frequented the Mr. Tuna food truck in the eastern prom and in the public market house, and always looked forward to the 3-handroll deal with fresh fish and vegetables. Unfortunately, this is not what I received at the restaurant. The restaurant itself is incredibly cute and cozy, and the service was impeccable. Both of my waitresses were very kind and made sure everything came out quickly. I ordered the salmon handroll, the spicy tuna handroll, the tuna tataki handroll, and the sunomono salad. The handrolls themselves were great- fresh vegetables and seaweed, and I am a huge fan of the mixture of tempura crunch and plum in the handrolls. I particularly loved the fresh shiso and kizami wasabi in the salmon hand roll, I wholly regretted not getting just vegetable handrolls. The real problem here - ironically - was the tuna. I could tell that the tuna was not fresh, it was not that great pink hue that tuna should be and was stringy and quite fishy, in both tuna rolls. Again, everything else in the roll worked perfectly, I just wished the tuna went along with it. Alongside the tuna, the salmon in the handroll was sparse, dry, and slightly stringy. It did not taste very fishy, but still was not as fresh as it should be for the price. The sunomono salad was incredibly disappointing. I love sunomono salads at other restaurants, but this one felt like a bowl of bread and butter pickles and a huge scoop of seaweed. It did not feel balanced at all, however the portion size felt good for the price. TLDR: stick to the veggie rolls here, or maybe try the tuna not in a handroll. I want the...

Since 2017, Jordan Rubin had turned out terrific treats from his Mobile Sushi Bar, Mr. Tuna, in Portland’s Old Port area. More recently, he and his fiancé, (now wife) Marisa Lewiecki, opened Bar Futo and Crispy Gai, two brick and mortar spots in town.

And now, Mr. Tuna has a permanent home as well. Opened in May 2024, it’s a beautiful, new restaurant, located literally across the street from Eventide, and a few blocks from Central Provisions (where Rubin started out in Portland).

A few of the dishes I drooled over… (see photos)

📸 ➡ Mr. Tuna Maki Roll - Tuna, Avocado, Spicy Broiled Scallop & Crab, Tobiko, Eel Sauce, Scallions, Tempura Flakes

📸 ➡ Fluke - Daikon, Orange, Jalapeno, Cilantro

📸 ➡ Toro - Garlic Ponzu, Marinated Shishito, White Onion

📸 ➡ Tuna de Tigre - Diced Tuna, Coconut, Avocado, Cilantro, Red Onion, Crispy Shallots

Can’t wait to return at the end of this month! Put it on your list (it’s definitely high on my restaurant recos list on the very cool @beli_eats “Restaurant Lists Tracking” app).

BTW, as for sustainability, Mr. Tuna’s practices have been praised by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute for supporting “healthy coastal communities and a healthy ocean ecosystem.”

December 2024 Update! Tuna de Tigre Dish was selected for “The 26 Best Dishes We Ate Across the U.S. in 2024” by Melissa Clark of The NY Times...