Minato Japanese Restaurant

When I stumbled upon this glory hole with 4 and 5 star reviews containing words like "Great", "Freshest", "Stellar" and "Best"... I asked myself "Why have I not been here?". Something smells fishy here and my legs weren't even open... Hmmm, I have to investigate further. Simply put... Has everyone lost their mind? Or am I taking crazy pills?

Sashimi - Oh dear, why is there more parsley than fish in this boat? Sprigs after sprigs of that garnish from the 80's....Dude, stop the madness and what have you been smoking? You got your standard (as in really standard) sashimi assortment but the size of the pieces were perplexing. These were some of the thickest cuts (not slices) of fish flesh I have ever had. Shit, they were sashimi steaks. It was so pedestrian, I thought I was standing at the self-serve sushi fridge at Publix. The fish wasn't bad, it was just boring as fuck. They had otoro but if you saw it, you woulda passed as well... Or pass out like I did.

Baby Octopus - It came out in a dish that you put soy sauce in. 4 tiny baby octopus... From a can. Chewy, tasteless, and a total waste of pouch space. Garnished with what else... Parsley.

Softshell Crab - This just keeps getting better and better... A hacked up crab-like thing that was thrown on a plate with what else, more parsley. Was this a Chia-Crab? Cha cha cha cheesy. This crab has been frozen for the better part of a decade and then defrosted like David Blaine... I bet you he has fresher crabs between his legs than this thing.

Hamachi Kama - Once again, another fucking parsley tree growing out of the plate... Is this a sooshee resto or a Fwench resto? Anyhoo, this thing came out upside down. It looked like a warm mess. It tasted like it was cooked yesterday, reheated in the microwave and used a Zippo to char the fins. The flesh didn't flake, it kinda oozed out like Neosporin. The skin had the feel of latex and none of that crispiness. It was such a let down. Thank God, I got the "small" order.

Uni - Upon inspecting the wooden tray of uni snoozing away happily in the corner of the display case... I decided to get an order (@ $9 a pop). Nothing can get any worse, right? Well, luckily, these gonads were fine and prolly the best things to go in my mouth that night. Imagine that, a pair sea balls... And a sprig of parsley.

Yakisoba - Oh, it's worse... WTF is this shit? When did soba turn into instant ramen noodles for this dish? These noodles were curlier than pubes and tasted like wax. Why is there broccoli in there? Who knows, prolly to keep up with the parsley theme. Slices of chicken that had the consistency of leather. So many unanswered questions that still baffles the mind... Like why isn't there any parsley in here. Just pathetic and incredibly bland. MSG STAT.

While the staff were lovely people who spoke multiple languages (Japanese being not one of them) and were gracious... I just don't know what their fascination with parsley is but I think it's disturbing. Death by parsley is not the way of the Samurai.

I'm not even gonna get into the obligatory miso soup and carrot/ginger salad... One word: Parsley. Oy vey.

Domo arigato for nothing...

Pass the crazy pills.

2697 Spring Rd
Atlanta, GA 30006

(770) 432-6012