The first sushi review. It didn’t disappoint! I found this little gem in one of my favorite little areas of SoCal, Oceanside/Carlsbad. As the saying goes, everything’s rad in Carlsbad! Mikko Sushi followed suit!
Well, it didn’t take long for me to find a sushi spot to review. And, I gotta say, this one delivered!!
Mikko’s popped up a in a couple different convo’s but the one that set it off was when my boy Mike recommended it.
You know Mike.
He’s the guy that makes me look small in pictures and has me saying, “I want to be like Mike!”
(disclaimer: Mike offered me $20 to put in the good word for him on this high trafficking blog… I declined and told him I’d do it for free, because I’m a good guy like that. Afterwards, we hugged, fired up a cigar, and stroked some golf balls.)
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If this is your first reading of Nick’s Picks, please find my scoring breakdown here. This will learn you a thing or two on what I look for when I review a restaurant. You might find it to be a bit entertaining too.
The Ole Ford Sitting Out Front of Mikko Sushi in Carlsbad, CA
Atmosphere
I certainly appreciated the diner like feel of this place. Laid back and casual suited my just left the beach attire. (I actually just left the gym but before that I was at the beach). It was a refreshing change of pace from the typical sushi style layout. Mad props!
Score: 7.8
Service
I seated myself, diner style, and chose a nice, comfy booth. As stated in “Other Notable Factors,” in my Restaurant Review Scoring article, this was my first meal of the day. (Roughly 5 PM).
I ordered 3 rolls and an entree (more on that in the food section). The waiter acted surprised and said something goofy like “oh, brought an appetite with ya, aye?”
What do I look like? A child?
And, little did he know, this was quite a conservative order for Ole LaToof. Especially, after a workout and all day hanging at the beach.
He could’ve redeemed himself if he would’ve come by and said that he was impressed with my hedonistic devouring of every morsel of food. But, I rarely saw him. Which was fine, I’m not a needy customer anyway.
I got the food fast. No problems there. However, there was a slight disconnect in the service department.
I asked him what his go to sushi roll was and his recommendation (Samurai) was spot on!
Please, don’t misinterpret that the service wasn’t good. I have ZERO complaints.
Could it have been better? Of course.
Score: 5.1
View / Ambiance
Nothing special here. Being right off a relatively busy intersection amped up the diner feel. I can dig that, for sure. And although, I will also prefer a beach, mountain, or city skyline, I can appreciate this view for what it was!
Score: 6.6
Social Media
I’ve jokingly said this quite a bit lately but there’s some truth to it, “if you’re not on Instagram, you don’t exist.”
While Mikko’s is on Instagram, they might as well not be… 0 posts… that’s certainly gonna bring down the score!
The website is solid though! Displaying everything you need to know about the restaurant in an easy to find fashion.
I think Mikko’s is really missing out on the opportunity to spread their message and have new customers come try their great food!
Score: 3.8
Food / Drink
This is what we come for, no? This will make or break a review, easily! Here’s my order:
Below Left: Carlsbad Roll Top Left: Samurai Roll Right: Chicken Teriyaki Bowl
Sushi
*** California (Hand Roll)
*** Samurai (Server Suggestion)
*** Carlsbad Roll (When in Rome)
*** Chicken Teriyaki Bowl
Some things I’ll probably add to “Other Notable Factors,” as it relates to sushi, is that I’ll always get a California Roll. This roll is responsible to introducing sushi to the U.S. I can appreciate the history of that and will show my appreciation by ordering one.
California “Hand Roll”
This may lead to an endless journey to finding the Best Tasting California Roll. Who knows.
I accidentally ordered the hand roll instead of the cut one. A hand roll is one that’s wrapped in seaweed and able to be eaten by hand, which I did.
The Samurai Roll was a solid recommendation from the server. Spicy tuna and shrimp topped with seared salmon…. holy smokes, delicious!
The Carlsbad Roll I got because, well hell, I was in Carlsbad. I don’t even think I knew what was on it when I ordered. It came with yellowtail tuna and a jalapeño. It wasn’t as spicy as I had anticipated and I enjoyed it!
I capped things off with the chicken teriyaki bowl. A solid bowl with mixed veggies and rice. I wish it would’ve had double the chicken but I think I could always ask for that.
Overall, I was super impressed with the food and presentation. Heck, my water came in an old mason jar. Reminded me of my childhood as my parents kept old jars to drink out of too. Pretty sweet.
Score: 9.1
Price
Completely blown away with the price, in a good way. I just so happen to catch them during happy hour (on a Sunday). That’s just that Ole LaToof good luck for ya!
But, I must say, that glancing over the menu at prices, it wasn’t crazy expensive. Everybody knows that sometimes you can pay an arm and leg for good sushi. That’s not the case here.
Hell, even a want to be travel blogger can feel good about handing over his hard earned plastic for this meal.
Score: 9.4
Overall
If you average the above scores, you’ll get something like 6.96… That hardly does Mikko Sushi justice. The social media score is clearly bringing them down.
I think all the scoring is relatively spot on and can’t bring myself to change any of them. I’m willing to use my veto power here and override. After all, this is my review and my blog. Don’t like it? Take a hike! (on Saint Mary’s Glacier)
I reserve the right to not count the social media score into the overall score, as it does not directly affect the food or my experience at the restaurant. But oh boy! Could Mikko really hit a home run with a decent social media score… nonetheless…
Mikko Sushi was a great place to grab food. It’d be an awesome spot to bring friends and family to eat. I’ve gotta go with a strong overall:
Score: 8.1
I’m really enjoying these reviews. I’d expect to see them coming pretty regularly. If you have any spots that you’d like me to review, please comment below!
If you’d like to treat me to a meal for reviewing your place, that’d be just awesome! However, you won’t be able to buy a good review!
While the sentiment will be greatly appreciated, an honest review will still be delivered. You wouldn’t want Ole LaToof to be a sell out, would ya?!
Of course not…
Until next week my friends, stay #Relentless
