Outstanding sushi! My husband and I have been enjoying this Japanese food almost every Friday. Each piece of sushi melts in my mouth. The flavor is perfect, and I can test all the fresh ingredients that they use. Midori's used to be located a couple of blocks away from my house. Unfortunately, the new location is a little inconvenient for us, but when we have the chance, my husband sacrifices some extra time for the sake of our palate. :) Keep it up, Midori's Floating World Cafe! ;) read more

This is NOT a pop-up but a real restaurant altho' they are not open for sit-down dining- TAKE-OUT ONLY (8/10/2025). The rolls & sashimi platter were all tasty. Be sure to CHECK YOUR ORDER! I ordered 4 rolls & I saw them put 2 containers in the bag (I assumed they put 2 rolls in each container). We got the order home only to find we were missing 2 rolls which sucked! Quite slow prep so allow 50% more time for your order beyond what ChowNow says. read more

I highly recommend Midori's! Always great food and wonderful service!! Delicious sushi and vegan gyoza!

Midori's Floating World Cafe re-opened as a pop-up in the Seward Cafe space and continues to have an extensive vegan-friendly menu of Japanese classics. They only do pick-up (no delivery). The kaiso (seaweed) salad ($4.50) and goma-ae (spinach) ($5.50) are both vegan by default and both pretty good, if not amazing. The veggie gyoza ($8) is vegan by default and has an excellent vegetable filling with a nice flour wrapper, lightly fried. I also enjoyed the inari ($2.75 each) which is a piece of lightly sweet fried tofu wrapped around a bundle of white rice. It's great comfort food. The vegan caterpillar roll ($7) was meh. I love the veggie tempura ($8), which is also vegan by default. It's hard to find vegan tempura (egg is normally in the batter), but Midori's manages to make beautifully crispy, delicate tempura pieces that also retain the flavor and integrity of the vegetable. The Japanese curry ($15) is vegan by default and tasty, though it lacks a protein option. It's better than the curry at Zen Box Izakaya but not as flavorful as the curry at Tori 44, for those keeping track (like me). The kitsune udon ($10) is similar to ramen, but features flat wheat noodles in a mushroom broth. I thought this was fine, but not terribly memorable. The tofu in this dish is lightly sweetened (same as in the inari appetizer), which creates a strange mix of sweet and savory. The witches noodles ($15) uses ramen noodles and has a mix of vegetables in a miso-base. That said, this tasted more like a Chinese stir-fry in a soupy broth; the miso flavor doesn't really come through. Lastly, we loved the daifuku ($5), a vegan red bean mochi. it's fragrant and perfectly sweet and fresh. Midori's still serves some of the best vegan Japanese food in town. Tori 44, Zen Box Izakaya and Ramen Kazama are other good options. read more

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I regularly order from Midori's and love their gyoza, sushi platter and bowls. They are efficient and reasonable.

A friend and I came here for some catching up and loved it. The decor is very cUte and almost like and eye spy game so many little displays & The ceiling is awesome nice low lighting. We came on a slow night and grab some happy hour deals which were great . Waitress was great as well checked in when need be and left us to giggle and crack jokes when need be . Would highly suggest trying this neighborhood spot out and fall in love as well . I had a green tea it comes with is only kettle and suggest any of them on a cold winter day ! read more

I've been going here for 13 years and it's my favorite sushi restaurant ever I recommend this to everyone who asks for an amazing meal

I would like to say our review is based on food, but we were essentially turned away. I love to support local businesses, but Midori's needs to decide if they are a restaurant open for business and staff accordingly or just close. The food may be good, but don't be open and then tell customers to leave because you are to busy. read more

Ordered takeout tonight. It's been awhile since our last visit. I don't know why we have waited. Doll got the Chicken Teriyaki bento box, I got the Sushi & Tempura bento box. The Shiitake broth was still hot, the chicken teriyaki was warm, the tempura was still warm and crunchy. Everything had great flavor, especially the shiitake broth. The salad dressing was spot on. The sushi was a little thin but very good and fresh. Doll could not stop raving about the chicken teriyaki, she finished off the entire serving. If this sits well in Dolls stomach, this will be on a regular rotation. Thanks! read more

Great great maki sushi. I tried the California roll and the shrimp tempura roll. Both were excellent! I did take out but when I went to pick it up I definitely thought the place had a nice atmosphere. I'm not sure exactly what their take out rules are. I know someone here mentioned they might not do it when they are busy, so I purposely waited until after the lunch rush. I called them at 1:20p (they close at 2) and the person who answered the phone had to ask if it was ok. Maybe I was too close to closing time. I don't know, but they made my sushi so I'm happy. :) I guess the best advice is to call ahead. read more

Midori's Floating World Cafe - California rolls (top) and shrimp tempura rolls - Sushi Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Disclaimer: I am vegan. I also do not post reviews with the goal of shaming a place into "doing better". I try to be objective as possible in my own perspective. I had the vegan vegetable sushi dinner and the daifuku, both vegan. The atmosphere: this is a small eatery that has decor on the ceiling, a small sushi bar, and a front counter to order drinks. This place would be good for a first date, though the setting would be quite intimate. It's not super fancy inside, but I do enjoy the decor! Very pretty. The service: very good. The staff has always been helpful and friendly. The food: The sushi rolls are very artfully done. All of the food is very tasty and cooked well. I have had their flowering tea in the past and that is a beautiful tea as well as a tasty one. I really enjoy this place for their sushi and their wasabi is thick and not like a sauce. I would come here again! I really love their sushi and food. read more

Midori's Floating World Cafe - Sushi Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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A fantastic spot for vegans! This is my guess of what authentic Japanese food is. Don bowls, bento boxes and sushi (with multiple vegan sushi options). The space is bright and adorable. Happy hour is 5- close every Wednesday. They also have lots of sake and tea. The food is 5 stars but the service was more like a 3. Friendly enough, but Very, very slow. Also, one of the servers had B.O. Sorry to call this out, but it was unpleasant during a meal in a small restaurant. Service aside, I will be back soon! read more

Midori's Floating World Cafe - Part of the veggie sushi bento box. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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Paid $19 for Chirashi Zushi that looks like I could have bought from a grocery store. None of the ingredients looked fresh, and the vegetables/fish that was there did not complement each other at all... I'd been missing familiar Japanese food and I guess I won't find any good options in Minnesota. :( read more

Midori's Floating World Cafe - Chirashi zushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Much like a Paas easter egg coloring kit or the quality of day time television, the service at Midori's never seems to change. Much like years ago: the place was virtually empty and yet when told I needed a few moments more to look at the menu the waitress was not then seen again for 25 minutes. This place really needs a flag or one of those electronic buttons to alert the watron staff that the customer is ready to order given the difficulty of getting service from the wait staff they seem determined to hire. I assume the owners realize this is Minnesota (, not Beijing, ) where whistling or whatever to get the wait staff's attention is considered gauche. read more

Had a lovely time here with my husband. Ambience was perfect, food delicious, and desert was something traditional with a twist. This place is truly a gem and can suit many people's needs and whimsy. Come discover for yourself! read more

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In my search for the best ramen in the Twin Cities, I had to stop at one of the standard bearers of authentic Japanese in the Cities. Midori has been around since the early 2000's, and they are still going. I remember coming to have sushi in my post-college days WAY before Jiro's Dream, and didn't even know that's what Midori's is...essentially Minneapolis' own Jiro's Dream. Onto the ramen. To be honest I only remember Midori's having the usual Soba and Udon, and didn't remember them serving ramen. I was delighted to see them show up on the best-of lists of ramen places. I ended up getting the Tokyo Ramen. It is a traditional clear broth ramen, served with pork and wakame. I'd have to say after visiting the trendy ramen shops obsessed with the full-bodied opaque kotteri (rich) Tonkotsu (pork bone-based) broths, it was incredibly refreshing to taste the clear assari (light) shoyu (soy-based) broth. It is the broth closest to my native taste buds of Cantonese noodle soups. Complex flavors, but subtle and never over-powering. It is what I have always known Japanese broths to taste like since I was a kid when my dad would take me to the Japanese places in Japan town in HK. Midori's Tokyo Ramen was served with a traditional roast pork, along with wakame, beni shoga, marinated shiitake, and nori. The beni shoga (preserved veggies) was a nice contrast to the rest of the bowl, and little flavor bursts are super fun! The shiitake was the most flavorful I have ever tasted. I want the recipe!! I realize that clear broths have always gotten a bad rap from my American friends, every since I moved to the US. But if you are willing to find the subtlety in lighter side of Asian cuisine, I would challenge my friends to discover the complexities in these flavors. What tastes "bland" to some is incredibly complex and satisfying to others. It boils down to cultural differences, and whether one has the will to venture beyond their own comfort zone to experience another's culture. It was happy hour, and I couldn't pass up the dynamite roll for $5. That was an incredible reminder of how awesome this place is. It is easily the best sushi in town. And that is saying something when pitted against Origami, Sanji-ya, Sakura, and Masu. I splurged and got the Daifuku (sweet azuki bean paste covered in a soft mochi rice shell). Oh man it's like I died and went to Japanese dessert heaven. lol. So far on my journey Midori's Tokyo Ramen takes the top contender for the assari (light) category of ramen. I'd imagine Tanpopo would give them a run for their money. I haven't been to Tanpopo for a long time. We shall see. read more

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I've been meaning to order takeout from this place--at their temporary location at Seward Cafe--for months and only just managed. WOW, I'm glad I did! The veggie gyoza are notably fresh tasting, the seafood salad is not too sweet, and the unagi was perfect. Now that I know, I hope I get it together to order from here a LOT. read more

This place is so cute. It's small but the menu is massive. It doesn't feel like it's trying so hard to be chic and I really appreciate it. Highly recommend any of the Donburi as few places offer such a strong menu. read more

I was really hoping to love this place. It's so close to where we live and I've been craving good Japanese food in this last little bit of pregnancy. I generally only write reviews when places are awesome, but in this case, I was disappointed enough to share. First, my husband and I tried to go in on a Saturday evening -- half the tables and the entire bar were empty with "reserved" signs on tables. It took a few minutes for anyone to acknowledge us and then when someone finally came over, they said (with a very bleh attitude) that it would be a 30 minute wait to sit down. I thought I'd give it another try this weekend and decided to pick-up. I placed the order right when they opened and they told me it would be 30 minutes. I went in to pick up my order -- again half the tables and the bar were empty with "reserved" signs -- they tried my credit card and the machine was broken (the way they were talking, seems like this happens a lot). They asked if I could wait 10 minutes, but thankfully I had cash. When I finally got food and ate the food, I got even more sad. It tasted like bad airplane food. Overly salty, stale, and tiny portions. :( :( :( read more

I tried to order food by walking in and the employees ignored my friend and I for 20 min (we were the only customers in the entire place) so we left read more

Truly, honestly, sincerely good. Came here on a Friday night with a party of 5. We had to wait for a bit to be seated because this place is so small (in a very romantic and intimate way) and they already had another large party finishing up. We started with some tea, miso soup, and a house salad. The salad was my favorite to start! The dressing was refreshing and light. From here we ordered veggie and shrimp tempura. My only complaint was that the portion was a bit small for the price, though still very good. Light batter, crispy, not too oily. For sushi we had a philly roll, kimchi hand roll, rainbow, spicy salmon, Cali, and spicy tuna. All the rolls were made fresh by the sushi chef and took a bit of time to assemble. Totally fine with me. The rainbow roll was especially large and my favorite of the rolls. Nearly too large to be eaten in one bite but I was up for the challenge. Towards the end of our meal the takoyaki which we had ordered at the beginning (which doesn't really bother me as long as we don't get charged for an item we didn't receive) came out and they were PIPING hot. They were luscious and smooth in the middle. In the center they contained only one small, though not too small imo, piece of tako. Any more and it could have been a chewy mess instead of a creamy. All in all, I think this place stacks up to other sushi restaurants in Minneapolis. I will be back and this time for a quiet romantic date. read more

Sometimes I just want a low key experience of good, solid Japanese food. Japanese food is dramatic enough, when done well. I like going to Midori's Floating World, because I can get a good bowl of udon noodles, good sushi, good donburi, and great tea without all the drama associated with other options in Minneapolis. I spent 2+ hours in the Floating World, leisurely, and it was a wonderful evening. Our service was good, not slower than any other Japanese restaurant in town. My Saikoro-donburi was great and my friend loved her tempura. We'll be back. read more

I have always heard about this place but no clue why it took me so long to get my ass there! This place is wonderful - food, friendly employees, ambiance, fun decor. My boyfriend and I stopped during lunch time, approx 30 minutes before they had to close at 1pm. At first I was a little irritated because I was so excited to try this place out and it's been forever since the boyfriend and I had gone out on a date. I thought that 30 minutes would no way allow me time to enjoy my food. Our waitress took our orders after giving us a few minutes to look over the menu. There is a variety of options to choose from ranging from hot and cold apps, to noodle bowls, bento boxes, salads and lunch plates. I ordered the sushi lunch which came with 6pc is chefs choice of nigiri sushi, 4pcs of California roll, 4pcs of kappa roll, a side of salad and miso soup. In addition, I also got the kimchi for appetizer and my boyfriend ordered the Tokyo ramen bowl. Everything definitely hit the spot and tasted ahh-maaa-zinggg!!! The salad was light and had this somewhat pickled dressing taste to it; I wish I knew the recipe. And the kimchi....I'll probably be asking for 4 plates next time! I also got to try my boyfriends ramen. I love how it looked so simple but tasted absolutely delicious! Presentation of food overall was well done, too! So we killed our food in 20 minutes and I left feeling very satisfied!! :)) I cannot wait to go back and eat there again. Next time, I want to go during dinner time to see what they have and also try some of their desserts. read more

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Midori's Unagi nigiri is my favorite bite of sushi, and possibly food, in the Twin Cities. The portion is usually gigantic compared to other restaurants, and it's always served much warmer. It just melts in your mouth. It plays against my natural inclination to save my favorite for last, this beckons to be eaten immediately upon arrival. I've been to roughly half of the more well known sushi establishments in town, and I find Midori's fish to be amongst the freshest. I've never had anything even close to being "off". I am especially appreciative of the fact Midori's offers several non-boring vegetarian sushi options. The service, while generally friendly enough, can be glacial. But I'm okay with it. I can plan around it. I'm happy to see a Mom n' Pop sushi place putting out good food. There are plenty of big restaurateurs in town who could put a million dollar space somewhere in Uptown that doubles as a would-be nightclub with pitch black rooms and blaring music, but I'd rather eat in a cozy place like this. read more

Midori's Floating World Cafe - Sushi Jo Dinner - Sushi Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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In my hunt for great sushi places in Minneapolis, Midori's garnered up quite a few great reviews. Thought I'd give it a try. Though the service was fairly slow (which I expected), the quality of sushi was better than I'd anticipated! I enjoyed a shrimp tempura roll and spider roll and left feeling satisfyingly full. I'm still looking for other great sushi places, but this wasn't too bad...and of course, I enjoyed the quirky music everyone always mentions! read more

Midori's Floating World Cafe - Shrimp tempura roll (left) and spider roll (right) - Sushi Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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I ordered the soba with tempura with bonito broth. This was my first time ordering this kind of entree and I was pleasantly surprised. At first I thought the bonito broth would be fishy but fish taste was well balanced. The portion size was perfect for the price. I definitely will be back because it seems like they do Japanese comfort food well. Also the decor is cute, the place is like restaurant you would see in an anime film. read more

Midori's Floating World Cafe - Sushi Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

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We were first drawn to Midori's Floating World Cafe because they clearly label what is gluten free on their menu (they are also great about labeling vegetarian items). We called in for a pick up order (during COVID). While they were out of several varieties of fish (probably because of COVID), we still had plenty of sushi varieties to choose from. We ordered the daikon radish roll, spicy salmon roll, philly roll and spider roll to name a few. It was so delicious and fresh! Even though the rolls were in to go boxes the presentation was lovely. They even gave us tamari in little packets which is rare! I think we found our to go sushi joint :-) read more

After two visits to Midori's, I can't help but walk away feeling a little bit flat. And with a matchless name like Midori's Floating World Café, that is a crying shame. My feeling is really just a reflection of the energy in this joint; while the interior is aesthetically pleasing, with hardwood floors and tall windows, I have not yet seen the place buzzing. And for me, a big part of eating sushi is the overall vibe...there's still a bit of magic around sushi, but that excitement can evaporate quickly if the setting is botched. Perhaps it's a simple matter of too much sunlight, something I never thought I would say as a born-and-raised Minnesotan...aka a victim of many dark winters. The sushi itself is done quite well...the raw fish served up in the Sashimi Appetizer (lunch menu) was excellent, though I would rather have picked the types of fish myself (as opposed to Chef's Choice). The HH menu offers up four options for $4 rolls: California, Spicy Tuna, Dynamite, and Philly...it would be nice to see a broader menu of options during the Happy Hour. If you're looking for a quiet environment to please the sushi connoisseur in your life, Midori's is a great pick. If you're looking for a swanky, swinging, chic sushi establishment, look elsewhere. read more

Had a vegan sushi plate and a side of soup and salad. Exceptionally clean place, and great presentation for the food.

I have to agree with other reviewers when it comes to the service of here. Its definitely not the swiftest. However, the staff was quite welcoming and the waiter, despite seeming somewhat timid, was nice and informative. When the place opened at 5pm, we were the first and only customers there for a while. It was nice to get a chance to check out the ambiance of the place without the distraction of other patrons. The menu was a little pricey, but well worth it. From the appetizer to the entree, everything was delicious. The portions are more than enough to get you full. This isn't one of these expensive places that give you a snack sized portion. You get a full helping and then some. My guest and I were both quite satisfied with, not only the presentation, but the fresh and savory flavor of the food. If you're a fan of sushi, I highly recommend Midair's Floating World Cafe. I will definitely be returning! read more

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Its true that the service here is quite slow, even on a slow day, but don't let that deter you from giving this place a try. When we arrived at 5:40 PM, we were told it was still happy hour until 6:30 PM. Yes! So we order right away from the HH menu. The food items start at $4 and the drinks start at $3. A few things we ordered: Dynamite Roll (tuna, salmon, yellowtail, spices): It was actually very flavorful and good. I had to order another one before HH ended. *On HH menu Spicy Salmon Roll (with asparagus and spices): This one was ok. It wasn't as flavorful but I did enjoy the crunch from the tempura. *On HH menu Takoyaki (steamed octopus & wheat dumpling): This is the first time I had takoyaki where it was less sweet and more sour. I liked it! I wished the dough was a little more crispy though. The takoyaki was drizzled with a gravy like sauce which didn't leave a lasting impression on me. *On HH menu Sashimi Dinner: Chef's choice. There was definitely tuna, yellowtail, salmon, tamago, squid, and tako. Each of them were really good. I ate the tako with a slice of lime that was thinly sliced. Great combo. All the cuts of fish really just "melts" in your mouth. There were no connective tissue on the tuna and the fattiness of the salmon was perfect. I was able to use my wooden chopsticks to cut through all of the fish. Shiitake soup: Came with the sashimi dinner. You have the option to choose this or miso soup. We chose shiitake to try it. It was decent but I prefer miso. Salad: Also came with the sashimi dinner. Smaller portion than most other places but the ginger salad dressing was good! The soy sauce seemed to be a little more saltier so I'm assuming they do not have the low sodium soy sauce. It was not in its store bought dispenser that we are used to seeing. I am definitely coming back to try other things like their donburi, bento box, and other rolls. They do not seem to have a designated parking lot but the metered parking was actually really cheap. read more

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This place used to be good, but not anymore. I'd rate the quality of the food at 2 to 4 stars (the tempura was good, the ramen was forgettable). But the size of the sushi pieces was TINY! We all looked at each other in disbelief when they put the plates in front of us. I'd estimate the nigiri pieces were a half to a third the size of what you would find at an average sushi bar. The sashimi was more like a fourth of normal size. And the quality of the fish was just so-so. The prices were average, around $5-7 for each pair of nigiri. My wife and I dropped about $65 on the sushi part of the dinner and we both left the restaurant still hungry (and disappointed). read more

I'm not a huge fan of sushi but coming here on a Wednesday night meant happy hour all day! Many rolls were half priced and the service was excellent. Definitely a hidden gem that I would come back to again! read more

Midori's Floating World Cafe - Sushi Bars Near Me - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Delicious take-out sushi! Loved the miso, rolls, nigiri, daifuku mochi, and seaweed salad! All so good!!! Can't recommend highly enough! So glad to be able to enjoy Midori's again! read more

Let me first start by mentioning the food here, especially the sushi, is delicious. No frills, but quality, fresh sushi. Definitely the best I've experienced in the Twin Cities so far. Boyfriend, boyfriend's mom, and myself called early evening on Friday asking if they might have any reservations left - and of course, they were full. We were advised to show up after 8PM for a better chance at a table. We rolled in around 8:30PM. The restaurant seemed full, but not packed, and we were the only ones in line for a table. A disheveled waiter who appeared to be on the brink of a nervous break-down approached us with the news that it could be two hours for a table. Confused, mostly because there didn't appear to be that many people, we said we'd at least put our names on the list. Not even 10 minutes later, a table opens up. We happily take it and begin to peruse our menu options. However, when we tell our waiter we would like to order sushi, again his face begins to pale and he warns us that Sushi could take over an hour. I'm just curious if any one else finds it as amusing as I did that a sushi restaurant is unable to prepare Sushi on a Friday night.... If you went to KFC, and they said, "We have biscuits and coleslaw, but we're out of chicken", wouldn't you think that odd? We decided to take our chances, and while we could never exactly pinpoint why exactly sushi was taking so long, the food was fantastic. So, things to know about Midori's are as follows: 1) Call ahead for reservations, and make sure that they will be serving sushi. They sometimes don't allow take out for sushi, and even in the restaurant they have some things they won't/can't serve for some reason. 2) Come with a mild tranquilizer for the waiter, and basic knowledge of CPR in case he suffers a stroke. 3) Try to ignore the Andrew Lloyd Weber being pumped through the speakers - it makes no sense, but then, neither does a lot of what goes on there. 4) Regardless of how bizarre your experience at Midori's might be, the food is probably worth it. read more

My review is from me and my friend experience last summer .. so quite a while ago. The food and the food quality was really good, but everything was super slow. We've heard about this place and how good this place is for quite a while, so finally we decided to go there. Because we've also heard that things are quite slow here, we decided to go there as soon as the place open. We actually stood out the front door waiting for the place to open, but we werent the first! We were a tad bit too late cos there was one guy already waiting right at the door. :D So we were the second table to order the food. We ordered sushi and sashimi lunch. The fish was fresh, and the rolls were all good. The problem though was that we had to wait for our food for more than half an hour. .. just a bit too long to wait for the food when you were the second customer of the day. It's definitely worth going back if you have tons of time to wait for food. read more

This is my favorite Japanese restaurant in the Twin Cities. Two thumbs up for their vegan menu! Also, two even more enthusiastic thumbs up because they didn't put filler cucumber (the grossest vegetable in all the land) in the seaweed salad like most places do! I wish this was a better place to bring a group or a date...the atmosphere is really lacking. I completely concur with Alison C...it's not a place where you feel like you can linger. read more

Imagine that your eccentric Japanese aunt decided to move to Minneapolis and set up a spot for her homesick expatriate friends. She's got grandchildren coming through creating crayon and finger paint art, which she mounts on homemade hanging decorations. She created a whimsical space with origami, upside down paper umbrellas, and colors that remind you of a Japanese summer festival. All her friends crafted decorations from Japanese materials scrounged up from somewhere, the likes of which you will never see in Japan but somehow still remind you of Japan, not Pier 1. She cooks up food just like her mom made in postwar Japan, and she serves them on dishes that look like they've been collected in Japanese fleamarkets over the past half-century. In the background she plays some CDs that she scooped up on her last trip to Japan. It's stuff that she likes, not J-pop her customers might prefer. I have no idea if that actually happened, but that's exactly how I feel when I walk into Midori's Floating World Café. As Asian food increases in popularity and availability, my expectations for Asian food, particularly Japanese food, just goes down year to year. I completely did not expect this place to knock my socks off. It started with the salad. The salad dressing seems to have been handmade, with fresh herbs and a taste that seemed both familiar and new. The rice was cooked perfectly, not overcooked and no browned bits from the bottom of the rice cooker (which does happen in restaurants, believe it or not). The rice was sprinkled with black sesame seeds, a nice touch. My mackerel box dinner had just the right amount of food, and was beautifully arranged. The mackerel was tender and cooked perfectly. The meal also came with small portions of seaweed salad and somen (thin noodle) salad served in sake cups. There were small slices of banana, orange, and apple carefully arranged, with a small cluster of Japanese pickles in the center. The restaurant seemed to have no interest in catering to supersized American tastes, or the Midwestern custom of fried things with cheese (although I did see some kind of cream cheese wonton in the dessert menu). For me, the real showstopper was the yakiniku (thinly sliced beef cooked with broth and vegetables). Most places season it with sugar and soy sauce and call it a day, and on a good day you might get sesame oil and hot pepper for an extra kick. This dish was made with love. The beef was simmered slowly with small slices of vegetables such as red bell pepper and kabocha squash, with layers and layers of flavor. I couldn't identify everything, but I definitely tasted ginger and the proprietor (I assume this was Midori) said it was cooked in vegetable broth. The menu was relatively standard for Japanese restaurant. Don't expect pages and pages of exotic rolls named after baseball players or inventive dishes like burdock root sticks served with Camembert cheese. But I have a soft spot in my heart for places that focus on the basics, and do them really well. This restaurant fits in that category. I imagine most Yelp reviews will focus on sushi, ignoring the fact that most real Japanese people don't eat sushi very often. But for your homesick Japanese friend or relative who really cares about Japanese food, you need to take them here. I think they would be pretty happy. read more

Food gets an A+. Service gets an F. Lets be real, I could have grown the hops and brewed my own beer faster than we got ours. The dining area is small, so groups of 2 or 4 at the most are best. Our group of 6 was kind of a challenge. I placed a reservation weeks in advance and when we arrived the table was in fact reserved, but it was also only set for 4, with 4 chairs. Minor delay, taken care of relatively quickly, OK. 25 minutes later, we still didn't get water or any service at all. I walked up to the counter where the server apologized profusely... and five minutes later we got water. We put our orders in for drinks and apps as we started to get hip to the time delay on things. Apps took about 45 minutes to come out. I think there were two servers and two chef/bartenders? So staffing seems to be a major issue. Two members of our group waited 40 minutes for their beer and one of them received the wrong one. I think every other word out of our servers mouth was an apology. Except the words that were in Japanese (bonus! one of our group members was Japanese) or the ones that amounted to "thats a lot of food, are you sure you want that much?" Don't doubt grad students who are eating on their department's dime. We could eat an entire supermarket out of food. The food was all quite good. The sushi (maki and nigiri) was all fresh and the rolls were done very well, nothing fell apart at all. We ordered half of the sushi menu and everything I ate was great and not fishy at all. Our Japanese professor ate the fried prawn heads or whatever they were. The rest of us were not quite as adventurous. It kind of weirds me out if my food is staring at me as I'm about to eat it. Anyway, our bill was pretty small for a large group of starved academics. So it is easy on the pocketbook, bonus. Food: A Cost: B+ ... but the service was so slow that I thought time had actually stopped while we were waiting for food. As if we had entered the fifth dimension of Japanese dining. I almost ate my own arm. Or the arm of one of my tablemates. If you go here, eat lots of stuff. And make sure you've blocked out half of your day. read more

Like other reviewers have stated, the service here is very slow. We probably spent around 3 hours here on a Friday night (7-10pm). We didn't have reservations but they were able to seat us for a three-top. Fortunately, we didn't have any pressing plans after dinner so it was ok. But definitely don't go here if you're in a rush! The sushi and tea we ordered was delicious! The rolls weren't slathered in sauces like at other places, so the fish could really shine through. We ordered the spicy tuna roll, salmon skin roll, number 9 roll, California roll as well as some salmon nigiri, chicken gyoza, and the takoyaki. All of it was tasty. Highly recommend if you've got plenty of time to eat and are looking for good sushi. read more