Miyabi 9 is only a six...for now

Miyabi 9 is located at 512 East Grand Avenue in Des Moines.

As sushi becomes more and more popular in Des Moines, more and more sushi restaurants are opening their doors.  Enter Miyabi 9.  Miyabi 9 is handling the cuisine part admirably, but not doing so well on the restaurant side of things, yet…

Miyabi 9 is located east of the capital complex on Grand Avenue in a nice little building...or so it appears from the outside.  The inside of the restaurant leaves something to be desired.  I am hoping that they just aren’t finished working on the décor because otherwise…  The restrooms are fabulous, but that is about it.  You sit pretty much in the dark, which is good because if you could see the ceiling and the poorly decorated walls, you would think that Miyabi 9 was just a TV show set and not a real restaurant.  I honestly don’t know how the sushi chefs see what they are doing at the sushi bar— it is that dark at times.  The tables are a little too close together, and the seats along the wall are just a long, hard wooden bench.

All that being said, Miyabi 9 serves pretty decent food.  They offer a large variety of sushi ranging from $3.50 to $19.95 in price.  I recommend the $7.95 Sunshine (tuna, mango, cream cheese), the $4.95 Salmon Caviar, the $10.95 Spider (fried soft-shell crab, eel, and a spicy sauce), and the $8.95 Miyabi (scallops, salmon, and bay leaf, deep fried).  They offer a variety of salads from $2.95 to $9.95.  Appetizers run from $3.50 to $12.95, and feature a $6.25 Tempura Shrimp & Vegetables and the $12.95 Lava (scallops, crab, and mushrooms baked with volcano sauce.)  Lunch specials run from $6.75 to $12.95, $17.95 for their 2 deluxe sushi lunches.  Dinner meals run from $12.95 to $17.95, and feature a variety of teriyaki and tempura dishes.  If you are looking for something truly different, try the Nabeyaki Udon (chewy udon noodles, tempura shrimp, chicken, fish cake, and vegetables in a seafood broth with egg.)  Desserts include a delectable Tempura Cheesecake (cheesecake fried in tempura batter, then topped) and Mochi Ice (a rice cake shell with ice cream filling, in green tea, mango, and vanilla), both at $4.50.

Miyabi’s service is good, and they are very helpful in explaining what things are if you are new to their restaurant.  The restaurant is clean, at least what I could see of it.  If Miyabi 9 can fix up their dining room maybe I could give them a 9, until then they will be a Miyabi 6 in my book.