New Tokyo now offers Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese food
The owners of two Little Tokyo restaurants in Springfield opened a third Japanese eatery earlier this year, then tweaked it to offer three kinds of Asian food.
New Tokyo opened May 13 and is located at 1402 W. Sunshine St., a shopfront formerly occupied by Vietnamese restaurants Rolls n Bowls and Pho Cafe. The space is expanded and redecorated, with a new sushi bar and approximately double the seating of the previous restaurants.
Originally just serving sushi and hibachi, New Tokyo added a new menu in July that includes many Thai and Vietnamese dishes, co-owner Chi Trieu said. Chef Thanh Nguyen, originally from Dallas, also joined the restaurant.
“We came in to do sushi and Japanese, but a lot of people love Vietnamese, and we wanted to get Vietnamese and Thai food in for serving people with the best in Springfield,” said Trieu.
Trieu said New Tokyo’s menu is wide-ranging, but these are some fan favorites on the new menu he and co-owner Myle Truong put together:
•Sushi rolls that feature shrimp tempura, such as the Hawaiian roll (with crab, cucumber, cream cheese, topped with tuna, masago, flying-fish eggs, crunchies and special sauce, $13.95). Sashimi and nigiri are also available at prices that reflect the relatively inexpensive sushi found at the original Little Tokyo on North Glenstone: $3.95 for two pieces of fresh salmon on rice pads, for example.
•Seven kinds of banh mi sandwiches ($6-10). Trieu said he thinks that’s the most variety of banh mi offered by any local Vietnamese restaurant. He said Springfieldians are very familiar with Vietnam’s baguette sandwiches, stuffed with pork, beef, chicken or tofu plus pickled vegetables, fresh cucumber, jalapeño and cilantro. He said he gets a lot of calls from customers asking to pick up banh mi for carry-out, which New Tokyo offers for its whole menu.
•Multiple pho soups with varying combinations of rare steak, brisket, well-done flank, tendon and/or tripe, or vegetarian, curry chicken or seafood for those who prefer something other than beef ($9.50-$10.95).
•Appetizers like Vietnamese egg rolls, deep-fried, or fresh spring rolls that come stuffed with shrimp and pork, tofu, grilled chicken or other varieties ($3.95-$4.50). New Tokyo also does Vietnamese chicken wings ($8.95).
•A list of hot pots that serve two or more ($29.95-$35.95). If you know to ask for it, you can even get goat hot pot: “lau de,” in Vietnamese ($45). These dishes are served in a pot that rests on a portable hot plate delivered to the table.
•Salads including papaya/mango/jerky beef salad ($12).
•On the Thai side, there are standards like pad thai (noodles with peanuts, vegetables and meat, $11.99-13.99) and lemongrass herbed chicken ($11.99), but also a big list of curry dishes ($11.99-13.99) that Trieu said is distinctive because it’s a lighter, soup-style curry rather than a thick curry.
In the next couple of weeks, Trieu said he plans to add a Vietnamese baked whole fish to the menu, seasoned with lemongrass and dressed with cilantro.
Trieu and Truong have been living in Springfield since the 1990s and opened Little Tokyo at 1635 N. Glenstone Ave. in 2002. A Little Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse, located at 2823 N. Glenstone Ave. near I-44, followed in December 2008. Business has been good, said Truong, prompting the third restaurant.
New Tokyo is open Monday-Saturday for lunch from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. and dinner 4 p.m.-10 p.m. It is available for private parties on Sundays, Trieu said.