Page 68 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2016

KYOTO
story by Brian Lamar photos by John Stricklin
Chef Anthony Nguyen, Kyoto Japanese Cuisine Ocean Springs
ADDRESS:
3942 Bienville Blvd., Ocean Springs
PHONE:
228.447.3238
HOURS:
Mon. - Thur.
11 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. and 5 - 9:30 p.m. Fri. - Sat.
11 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. and 5 - 9 p.m. Sun. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
For the casual diner delving into the world of Japanese cuisine, the exotic- sounding dishes, foreign-sounding ingredients and style of cooking can be daunting. Kyoto Japanese Cuisine in Ocean Springs has a positive outlook on gaining new customers and is dedicated to purchasing much of their seafood from local distributors.
“We hear from non or first-time customers that they aren’t sure about Kyoto because they don’t eat raw fish,” said co-owner Tuyen Tran. “There is
so much more here than sushi and raw fish. Most people are very pleased with many of our shrimp or steak dishes.”
The menu (or food novel rather) is 11 pages with more than 30 appetizers from everything to perfectly grilled shrimp skewers drenched with a
delicious and savory homemade teriyaki sauce to the crowd favorite hello boom- boom, which is a golden fried shrimp
or calamari served with a mild honey sauce. An often overlooked appetizer
is the cheesy and savory sliced New York strip rolled with mozzarella and scallions drizzled in their signature teriyaki.
For the second round, fresh catch aficionados will love the seafood soup, a hearty bowl of shrimp, scallops, clams, fish and vegetables. For the Japanese cuisine traditionalist, the house salad is good, but typical. The ginger dressing however is made in house from fresh ingredients and gives it an authentic taste and feel. For the more adventurous gourmand, the baby octopus salad is a healthy portion of
68 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • July 2016
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ABOVE: SASHIMI dinner. RIGHT: SHRIMP AND VEGETABLE tempura.
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