New Orleans’s sushi scene has changed considerably in the last few years, with the arrival of restaurants like Yo nashi, Nagomi, and Yakuza House. Bisutoro continues the trend, one that comes from chefs trained classically in Japanese sushi — simple but elevated. It’s an incredible spot to try rare fish, specialty sake, and other traditional Japanese specialties.

Oak Street’s revival continued with the debut of this modern Japanese restaurant from Jacqueline Blanchard, the founder of upscale culinary shop Coutelier. Blanchard’s ode to a traditional izakaya, Sukeban is a sleek shop that serves a succinct menu of sashimi specials, rotating handrolls, and a handful of traditional Izakaya sides, like Japanese potato salad and ohitashi (spinach, dashi, and bonito flakes), in addition to robust beer and sake offerings. Don’t expect a typically vast sushi menu here — it’s small, succinct, and excellent, and the price point is a bit higher than others.

This Elmwood newcomer offers a variety of sushi and sashimi entrees, including the Love Boat, a Mizu specialty that includes 25 pieces of sushi and six unadorned pieces of sashimi, a true boatload for two at $45.95. There’s also a la carte options, stir fries and noodles, and a $6.95 menu of chicken or shrimp tempura for the kiddos — it’s exceedingly kid-friendly.

Nobu is an upscale Japanese lounge with locations around the globe that was founded by chef Nobu Matsuhisa. Now, New Orleanians have access to Nobu’s world-famous dishes — like yellowtail jalapeño, crispy tuna sushi rice, rock shrimp tempura, and black miso cod — in Caesars Hotel and Casino downtown. The 175-seat restaurant with a bar and lounge area, sushi bar, and the chain’s signature dining pods is a luxe, splurge-worthy dining experience with 15 sushi roll options (hand rolls or cut) including toro scallion, spicy scallop, soft shell crab, and eel cucumber.

This CBD restaurant serves eight to 10-course tasting menus in the Japanese dining style of omakase Thursday through Monday evenings. Yo Nashi is from owner Kyle Payer and chef Mackenzie Broquet, who spotlights local ingredients and flavor with Japanese technique and presentation. The $89 menu usually includes a variety of sashimi and sushi along with a seafood entree from the kitchen.

Gert Town is lucky to have Asuka Sushi, a contemporary-meets-traditional sushi spot now in a new home on Washington Avenue. There are funky roll options like the Saints Go Go Go with tempura crab, cream cheese, and salmon atop eel and spicy sauce, and the el diablo, a mix of spicy salmon, tuna, and yellowtail spiked with jalapeño, chile, and ponzu sauce. There are also plenty of deep-fried rolls — a good fit for this city. 

Located near the AMC Elmwood Palace movie theater in an inconspicuous strip mall, the casual and colorful Kyoto 2 is a hidden gem, delivering consistently fresh seafood in generous servings. The best deal of all is the chirashi lunch special — a heaping bowl of fresh fish over fresh daikon radish and sushi rice for under $15. It’s big enough to split.

New Orleans is truly experiencing a pinnacle of sushi excellence in 2024 — look no further than Seiji’s Omakase, located inside Little Tokyo restaurant on the Causeway, as proof. The newly-renovated, 17-seat sushi bar has its own room in the restaurant, where chef Seiji Nakano holds court with four and eight-course exhilarating omakase dinners (lunch is a la carte, which is also an option at dinner). Nakano creates a memorable — and mesmerizing — meal that lacks pretentiousness; a truly special, even heartwarming experience.

Certainly one of the oldest sushi bars in the greater New Orleans area, Shogun has been serving a wide variety of fresh sushi since 1982. Sit at the bar and ask for the chef’s choice — the delectable sashimi just keeps on coming. Even under new owners (the same folks as Sake Cafe Uptown) Shogun remains one of the best sushi spots in the area, continuing to set the bar among its peers.

Daiwa in Metairie on Vets Boulevard is a spacious restaurant with a vast menu dominated by a multitude of roll options, many offered in soy paper instead of seaweed. There are also seasonal specialties featuring less common fish like Japanese striped jack and diver-harvested uni. Lunch is a super bargain — and portions are generous.

Flouting “California style sushi,” Metairie’s Kanno proffers the usual, along with an entire section of skinny rolls sans rice and soy paper. Available in half and full roll portions, these pared-down rolls include the likes of the Elvis roll (named for the chef), made with salmon, avocado, and both snow and blue crab, and the protein roll, with spicy tuna, snow crab, avocado and salmon. A hefty sake menu includes sparkling sake, though it’s not always featured.