Midori's Floating World Cafe

For carry out only, this little nook is very cozy and welcoming. I really enjoyed the flavors of both the gyudon and unagidon that my partner and I ordered. Incredibly friendly service, too! The waiting area is filled with art, which I think brings a nice touch to the decor. I'll definitely be back to explore more menu options!

Absolutely delicious. Beautiful preparation and presentation even on to-go orders. It is a lovely new location, and carry-out only right now. Masks requested for pick-ups, and even when it looks like they're not busy, they probably are. So mind the cue and the pick-up time. It is so worth it. The best and most beautiful sushi in town.

We ordered vegetarian sushi platters, tempura, some sides and mochi daifukus for dessert. It was a feast for the price and everything looked so nice. This was one of the best takeout experiences I have had during COVID. They are worth the little extra time it sometimes takes them to get all the details for you. What a treat! (I plated the pick up order in the photos)

Order online for carry out or dine in. Order ahead. Beautiful restaurant. Food was delicious. Husband got the salmon poke bowl and I got the unagi donburi. Ate them so fast that I didn't get pictures of the food.

Gorgeous presentation (restaurant takeout isn’t usually this pretty!), delicious sushi, and friendly owners. Always happy to support local small businesses so they don’t disappear. I’ll be back soon!

We really enjoyed our visit to Midori's. My daughter is taking an intercultural class in college and one of her assignments was to go eat at one of 10 or 12 restaurants, and Midori's was on the list. She had never been to a Japanese restaurant so she explorered a new dish and really enjoyed it. I stuck with teriyaki chicken which was excellent. We tried some fried wonton desert and ice cream stuffed mochi. The food was delicious from soup to desert. Service was excellent as well. It was a slow night so we got extra attention.

Excellent quality sushi, delicious and fresh. Pleasant restaurant, good service. Midori's is the best restaurant sushi we've had in the twin cities (we've tried a lot). We got sashimi, fried scallops and gyoza, all amazing. This place embraces the slow food movement; quality takes time. Service was good, not rushed or slow. If you're looking for dine & go, look elsewhere. If you're looking for exquisite, traditional sushi made by Japanese hands, this is the place for you.

Very accommodating to a vegan diet. The prices are fair and the quality superb. Nice tea selection too. Small yet comfortable sized dinning area, I liked the atmosphere.

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.

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.

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

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! ;)

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!

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

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.

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!

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. :(

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 !

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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. :( :( :(

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.

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!

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.

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.

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 :-)

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!

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.

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).

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!

Delicious miso soup. Perfectly cooked rice with blackened sesame seeds sprinkled on top. Excellent quality of sashimi on my plate along with an attractive and simple presentation. Good service and decent prices. Pleasant and calm atmosphere. As I made my way out to leave, I passed in front of Midori's prep area and was amazed to see those jewel-like small slabs of fish - they looked to be so precious underneath that chilled cool glass case. I look forward to returning.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

The service was well below average. The quality of the meal was not worth the nearly $150 spent on it. We waited nearly half an hour before our drink order was even taken, waited an additional 20 minutes for drinks to come out, and nearly walked out. There were several mistakes with our food order, and then the power went out in the restaurant. I must admit that I was pretty confused and surprised after hearing such good things about this place. The only redeeming quality was that they do have a few types of fish on the sushi menu that you don't always see around Minneapolis. I also found the spam sushi pigs to be painfully adorable. That said, I would not eat here again. Apparently it is a shadow of the quality that it used to be.

Recently went here for lunch. I got the vegetarian combo bento box, which comes with salad, choice of soup, vegetable tempura, rice, and tofu. The veggie tempura was the best I've had and the salad dressing was amazing; the meal left me feeling satisfied and not weighed down. The outside is kind of unassuming but inside is cute. I will definitely be back!

We used to love this place. Hadn't been here for a while and were excited to eat here tonight. We walked in the door at 6:20 on a Friday, half the place was empty but had reserved signs on the tables. The waiter that greeted us (generous to say it was even a greeting) was rude and told us it was going to be at least a 45 minute wait. We asked if we could sit at the empty bar and he said it was reserved as well. Shocked we said we would just leave. He didn't say a word and turned around. We will never come here again. So disappointed.

I came here for dinner and ordered a sushi bento box with a variety of fish. The fish was not the best quality as it was unusually firm and seemed to be a little old. I originally chose this restaurant because it was mentioned that it had vegan options for my partner. She liked the options but most sushi places offer the same options. There are better options for sushi around the cities.

My fiancé and I arrived shortly before 7 p.m. on a Saturday evening for date night, ordered our food around 7:15, and then waited and waited until after 8 p.m. before being served. The people sitting next to us, who had arrived and ordered a while after us, were served their food at least 10 minutes before we were. Once our food did arrive, the sashimi appetizer I ordered... wasn't very appetizing - the pieces were cut exceptionally thin, and were gummy (like octopus, except salmon shouldn't feel like octopus in your mouth). And because at this point I was hangry and just looking for things to be grumpy about, I noticed that the wait staff didn't even refill our water glasses until about 75 minutes into our visit. As respectfully as I could, I enumerated these issues to our waiter, who verbally apologized, but then presented me with a full bill anyway, with no adjustments. After I'd paid, I explained to him that because of the poor service we'd received (and because he had chosen not to adjust our final bill), I could not feel comfortable leaving a tip, and planned on writing a negative Yelp review. He once again apologized, but for a second time chose not to put his words into action by refunding part of my money. Very disappointed. Two last notes: if, by chance, anyone from the restaurant management reads this review and would like more information about our experience, please feel free to reach out to me. And second, the veggie sashimi my fiancé ordered, was pretty good. It was just too little too late to assuage my disappointment.

A little pricey, but worth it. The service was excellent, and the sushi chef - the first time I had ever seen a woman actually preparing the food - was awesome. The ladies running this place and know exactly what they're doing, and this was definitely some of the best sushi that I have ever had. My colleague and I racked up a bill of over $100 for lunch, which is not to be taken lightly. That said, it was still delicious and worth it. Highly recommended.

I come here with my family for big events and am always enthralled by the quality of the raw fish and freshness of the tempura! i usually get the salmon teriyaki bento box and it is very delicious and very filling. also fairly cost efficient ! overall great place but fairly slow service hence the one star off but they are indeed understaffed so it makes sense

Midori's and Fuji Ya are easily the best quality sushi in the city ( but midori's is cheeper! :)

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.

Went here for lunch the other day and my friend and I ordered a lot of food. The tempura lunch plate came with miso soup and a delicious salad. I loved the sesame dressing. The number 9 roll and the spicy tuna roll were really good and I was most excited about the onigiri which I haven't seen at a restaurant in Minnesota yet! I would definitely suggest the ume onigiri over the shiso. The service was nice as well, the waitress was attentive enough while giving me and my friend enough of our own time.

Super yummy food. Great atmosphere. Great service. A lot of vegan options. The best sushi I've had in the Cities. Def try the veggie tempura. Will gladly be back. Tom is a great waiter, too.

I haven't had sushi since being pregnant so I was very excited for this place. The decor was cute and it had a nice ambiance, but the food and the service...no. The nigiri was tough, smelled fishy and I had a hard time eating it as it was too chewy. The spicy tuna roll lacked flavor and had big thick pieces of tuna, yet it was still not proportionate to the amount of rice in the roll. Our waters were never refilled. My husband did like his bento box and tea but for the sushi, I would not go back.

The food at Midori's Floating World Cafe is excellent. I've had both the mackerel and salmon bento boxes, and both are fantastic. The sushi is also superb. They have a pretty inspiring selection of teas as an added bonus. The staff there are very nice, and when I was last there I saw what appeared to be a family coming in who were regulars (the staff knew their names), which is always a good sign. I highly recommend a visit. I think I'm going to end up being a regular there. Thanks for the great dining experiences, Midori's Floating World Cafe!

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.

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.

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.

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.