I have a few addictions in life, some cheap (York patties) and some not (international travel). And then there are those in between that can keep me from my travels — namely sushi. I could eat it every day for the rest of my life. I couldn’t make my house payment if I tried this however, not even my little house in St Joseph’s (that’s the other side of Eastern from Germantown). So I am always on the lookout for sushi bargains. I know, it kind of makes you cringe to throw those words together. But sushi on the down low doesn’t have to mean expired fish. If you know where to look, Louisville has sushi for those of us on a budget.
We’ve talked about Oasis’ happy hour [ http://www.louisville.com/content/keeping-stimulus-money-home-oasis-sushi-bar ], and I like this Preston Highway hole in the wall, but Song Kim determines the happy hour prices on the fly and in his head. I like a little more certainty than that, so I turned to Maido’s Super Happy Hour. Dollar sushi! I haven’t been so excited about sushi since the time I took a cruise with free sushi every day at 5.
I had the day off work recently and persuaded my husband to leave his job on time so we could make haste to Frankfort Ave. and hit Maido before 6. Here’s the deal – there’s a regular happy hour that goes until 7, but Super Happy Hour ends at 6. So if you want the dollar menu, don’t be late.
For a buck, you can choose from miso soup of the day, yaki onigiri, edamame, japanese pickles, cucumber roll and kanpyo (like a winter squash) roll. Another dollar lets you choose from treats like sushi croquettes and California rolls. The menu tops out at $6 for the Serendipity roll (spicy crab & roasted garlic inside, salmon and avocado outside), normally $10.
We made it at about quarter till 6 and got one of the last remaining tables. With plum wine for me (a dollar off) and a beer for my husband, we studied the menu, gleefully picking out our bargain sushi. I chose a couple $3 rolls from the regular happy hour menu to round out the cheapie snacks, and we settled in for plate after plate of our thrifty sushi dinner. All in all, tip included we spent about $40, with drinks. Maybe not Happy Meal prices, but sushi *is* my happy meal, and most sushi dinners ring in at least twice that, and for less food than we had.
MAIDO
1758 Frankfort Ave.
894-8775
Super Happy Hour (Mon-Fri): 4P - 6P
Menus: http://www.maidosakebar.com/menu.html
