Little Tokyo

Little Tokyo 

590 Asbury Dr
Mandeville , LA 70471

(985) 727-1532


Rating: Four Stars

Little Tokyo is great sushi restaurant.

Located off the beaten path on Asbury St., Little Tokyo may be the best sushi place on the Northshore. The restaurant is very small inside and the parking outside is odd (parallel parking on the side of the building), but their service and food is very good.

Service was excellent. The restaurant wasn't full and we were seated immediately. We had two excellent servers. One of the servers was brand new, but she did an incredible job.

Upon seating everyone at the table was brought a bowl of clear broth soup. It had noodles and was very good. They did bring us a spoon, but that may have been because we had children with us.

We started with an appetizer of gyoza which was very good. We ordered some cooked dishes for the kids which were massive. They actually let us order the lunch portion since it was for kids, but it was still enough that they could have shared.

Our rolls were very good to excellent. The rolls came with 6-8 pieces per roll and two was more than enough food for one person. The rolls were reasonably priced and amazingly fresh.

We really enjoyed our meal at Little Tokyo and will gladly be back.

Kieth Young's Steakhouse

Kieth Young's Steakhouse

165 Hwy 21

Madisonville, LA 70447

(985) 845-9940

Website

Rating: Five Stars
 

Kieth Young's is my favorite steak house on the northshore. If you have been to Young's in Slidell, Kieth Young is a member of the same family,  but the two restaurants couldn't be more different.

Keith Young's is a classy place and you should dress nicely. Upon entering there is a large, nice bar to have a pre dinner cocktail or beer. They have an excellent wine list, and a pretty good selection of beers.

On our last two visits we ordered the nightly specials and the scallop appetizer.

The scallops come in a beurre blanc sauce. The scallops were perfectly cooked, and the sauce is amazing.

The two specials consisted of a 2 1/2 pound lobster and a bone in ribeye.

The specials come with a salad and a side. I opted for their balsamic vinaigrette. It is homemade and excellent.

The ribeye is massive. It is enough food for at least two people. It was perfectly cooked (Kieth Young does all of the cooking himself) and tasted wonderful. To me, the bone adds so much flavor to the ribeye. I wanted to just gnaw on the bone to get as much meat as I could. I didn't though, only because this is a nice place. I finished steak and received compliments from the waiter. Apparently most people couldn't finish it. I should have brought home more than half, but it was that good.

I am no fan of lobster. To me, it has no real taste. I could dip my Danner boot in butter and it would taste good. That being said, my dining companion loved it.

There was no possible way to cram dessert in after 2 pounds of meat, so we opted not to eat dessert.

On previous trips I have had the regular ribeye and double cut fillet. Both were excellent.

If you are looking for a very nice steak and seafood restaurant, this is it. The restaurant gets very busy, so make reservations.

Friend's Costal restaurant

407 Saint Tammany St
Madisonville, LA 70447
(985) 845-7303

 Website 

Rating: Five Stars

We hadn't been to Friends in a while so we decided to have dinner here.

We made reservations which are quite important on weekends. It tends to get busy.

We arrived on time and were promptly seated. The restaurant wasn't very crowded condsidering how full their parking lot was.

We started with sauteed crab claws and calamari. The crab claws are incredible. They are sauteed in what I believe is the sauce for bbq shrimp. It is wonderful and spicy. After eating this appetizer you will have probably consumed several sticks of butter, but who cares. It is that good. The calamari were also good. It comes with a side of marinara for dipping, and there is a habenero on top.

Our entrees included the special grilled fish (escolar), crab meat salad and fried seafood platter.

The grilled escolar was very good. I had never heard of escolar, but it was very tasty.

The crab meat salad was very good and had a good amount of crab meat.

The fried seafood platter came with shrimp, oysters (I substituted more shrimp), catfish, a crab cake, sweet potato hush puppies and fries. It was very good. All of the fried seafood was cooked perfectly and tasted great. The crab cake was also very good. The seafood platter was $26 and is enough food for two people. There were at least 10 shrimp, two or three catfish fillets, a crab cake, two hushpuppies and a mountain of fries.

The service was very good. Our server was very attentive and friendly. This was really a good experience.

We didn't go outside on the deck, but there were a good amount of people out there. There was live music and a great view of the river.

I highly recommend Friends and think it is the best restaurant of its kind on the Northshore

Kazuko Sushi

Kazuko Sushi

1680 Hwy 59
Mandeville, LA 70448

985-626-8118 

Website    

Rating: Four Stars

Kazoku is a great little sushi restaurant located on Hwy 59 near the Donut King.

This place has amazing sushi. Their rolls are priced between $4.95 and $11.00 or so. The ingredients were fresh and obviously high quality. I tried a dynamite roll, spicy tuna and salmon tempura roll. The spicy tuna roll was my favorite. The tuna was so fresh and clean tasting (if this makes sense). This may have been the best sushi I have tried so far.

I had heard great things about their tempura (fried) cheesecake. I didn't care for it, but the rest of the table devoured it in seconds.

The servers were very friendly, but as the restaurant got crowded the service suffered. It took far to long to get our bill, but they had gotten crowded.

Our table ordered six rolls which was enough for three people. The bill was only $33. They do have a special deal where selected rolls are two for $7.99 which is really a great deal.

They do have kids meals on the menu. I believe they have a choice of tempura chicken or shrimp and it comes with steamed or fried rice.

I highly recommend this restaurant.

Papa Murphy's Take and Bake Pizza

Papa Murphy's Take and Bake Pizza

1680 Louisiana 59
Mandeville, LA 70448

985-626-6988

Website

Rating: Four Stars

Papa Murphy's is a new type of pizza place. Instead of cooking your pizza, they make it and you take it home to cook. I was very leery of the concept, but decided to pick up dinner the other night.

As I walked in, to the left was the pizza making area. The area is protected by glass, but you can watch your pizza being made. We opted for a stuffed pizza which was called the Big Murphy. It was loaded with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes and topped by another piece of dough. The ingredients looked to be fresh and of very high quality. When the pizza was ready they handed it to me with instructions for cooking.

They had freshly packed salads and cookie dough to complete your meal. We picked up a ceaser salad and it was enough to feed three. The salad had the made on date on the packaging and was fresh and tasty.

The pizza turned out perfectly, but be warned, it takes nearly 30 minutes to cook. I could have done without the extra dough on top, but the pizza was great.

The prices were very reasonable. Our pizza was better quality than Domino's and it cost less.

I will be back, and I recommend this to anyone looking for a good pizza.

The Country Kitchen

2109 Florida St

Mandeville, LA 70448

985-626-5375

Rating:Four Stars

If you are looking for a fancy place, you will be disappointed. If you're looking for great food, great service and a laid back atmosphere, this is your place.

The restaurant looks as if it hasn't been updated in some time, but that is part of the charm. The servers are great and the food is some of the best traditional breakfast food on the Northshore.

In my opinion they have the best western omelet of all the breakfast places in the area. Other breakfast standards, like pancakes, biscuits, etc. are all very good. Their coffee is also particularly good, and if you want, you can get a large carafe for the table.

They can get crowded, but you usually do not have to wait for a table.

I would avoid the booths, especially on the ones on he right side as you walk in. They are not designed for tall people. There is a bar of torture that will destroy your kneecaps and/or shins.

For a casual traditional breakfast meal, you cant beat the Country Kitchen.

Del Porto

Del Porto Restaurant

501 E Boston St

Covington, LA 70433

985-875-1006

Website

Rating: Five Stars

Located in historic downtown Covington, Del Porto is very good.

This was an attractive, hip restaurant. We were seated immediately by a very friendly host and that quality service extended through our meal. Everyone who we encountered were professional and provided great service.

We started with beef carpaccio. Never having eaten raw beef, I was skeptical. It was amazingly thin slices of raw beef with lettuce, sauce and crustini bread. Together it was a unique, but very tasty bite.

Our next course was salad. Each of our salads had amazingly fresh greens and homemade dressing. They were also very good.

For entrees we had the fish special and the steak. The steak was my entree and it was one of the best steaks I have had. The "painted hills" New York strip was cooked perfectly with crispy potatoes and was truly amazing.

Del Porto isn't cheap. Our total for two diners with drinks and tip was $212, but this is one of the best restaurants on the Northshore. I highly recommend it.

One interesting thing I noticed is the bar scene. The bar was crowded with women who were just having drinks. This would probably be a great place to get a drink if you're a single guy.