Origami (Uptown location) – Minneapolis, MN

D.Rough and I had some friends in town and we decided to get dinner with them. Much to our chagrin, they had chicken wings the previous night so we couldn’t take them to the world’s greatest wing place – D-Spot. They love sushi, so we decided to go to Origami. We hadn’t been to the new location in Uptown yet, and they have a really reasonable happy hour.

D.Rough and I showed up early, specifically so we could have a drink and a chat about our day. I really like doing that, for that record. She got a Penny Dropper (I can’t remember what was in it, but it was damn good) and I got a Mango Chu-hai (fruit puree, vodka, and club soda). Both delicious and refreshing. We also (our friends don’t know this) ordered some Takoyako, which is deep fried octopus dumplings – basically the octopus version of the conch fritters we ate in the Bahamas every day – like a hush puppy.

It came with a drizzle of eel sauce and a dab of seasoned mayo – delicious. There were only five, but D.Rough and I were able to share the remaining 5th wheel and both eat half. Great crunch on the outside of the puff ball and the octopus was soft and not chewy/rubbery. Great appetizer. The server even cleared it away from the table before our friends go there to judge us. Hahahaha

Once our friends arrived, we pretended like everything was all bright and new and we had just gotten there. It’s like two separate happy hours!!!! I ordered the lychee-tini that I had my eye on earlier, and D.Rough got a pinot grigio.

The happy hour menu has a lot of different drinks on it, but the food menu is just as impressive. It was difficult to decide what to get. We made our server laugh when we ordered, “Futo Maki through Spicy Crab Maki”. The server heard those two rolls, and we corrected him by emphasizing THROUGH. So he added Spicy Yellowtail Maki, Spicy tuna Maki, Spicy Scallop Maki, and Spicy Crab Maki to the order. Hilarious. Thankfully, he hadn’t brought up the appetizer we had snuck in before our friends got there. Hahaha.

I’ll make this review really short, we made a mistake and ordered basically five of the same thing and one roll that actually tasted different than the other five versions. Completely our mistake. That being said, the rolls were pretty good, they just all tasted too similar in our minds. The Futo Maki is quite good, despite it being vegetarian (have to get my digs in where I can). The ingredients were fresh and it’s kind of an oversized roll. I liked it a lot.

The other rolls, like I said, were good, but they all tasted pretty similar. So you have five bite rolls, and five of them that tasted the same. That means you have twenty five pieces that tasted the same. Thankfully, they WERE good, otherwise, it could have been an nightmare.

Overall, aside from ordering error, we were happy with our meal. The happy hour menu will for sure keep us coming back, and I’m looking forward to trying some of their whiskey – which is one of the best selections in the area.

Top 5 things about Origami Sushi (Uptown)
1. Takoyako – octopus dumplings
2. Substantial happy hour menu
3. Very friendly staff
4. Futo Maki roll
5. There’s a parking ramp above it and a parking lot right outside (both cost dollars, but are close)

Bottom 5 things
1. We ordered all the things that taste the same (delicious, but the same)
2. The Chu-hai wasn’t very boozy
3. The restaurant isn’t visible from the main street – you have to mean to go there
4. Nothing else was a down-side
5.

www.origamirestaurant.com