Bagu Sushi & Thai

Excellent selection. I had miso soup, seaweed salad, and a couple of rolls. Beer on tap was saporo. I recommend this place for Japanese and Asian cuisine

I definitely don’t understand the attraction. I’m not overly picky about family operated restaurant service, especially whether or not social niceties are exchanged, was I sufficiently pleased-and-thank-you’d. Service for me is whether the server delivers good food, properly composed, and did the kitchen staff make, in this case, a supposedly ethnic food that satisfies.
In all those cases, I’m giving out my first F-​minus.
The calamari ($ 10) was cold. It tasted okay salvaged by the fact they didn’t bread it like a clam strip. I ordered the Pad Woon San with chicken. Except for the cellophane noodles, all the chicken and scant vegetables were no warmer than room temperature. It flooded my mind with memories of spending a weekend out of town, in a Holiday Inn, laying on the bathroom floor with the worst food poisoning, ever. My friend ordered the drunken noodles with shrimp. He said the shrimp had been «laying out» a while…
They replaced my inedible (and tasteless) dish with something else for takeout which I appreciated, but I’m not going back anytime soon.

I’ve been coming to Bagu for a few years, and continue to love their food. Happy Hour sushi is always tasty, and love the dinner menu too. The Stir-​fried Cashew Chicken and the Pad Ped are fresh and flavorful. Service is always friendly, though wait times are sometimes long.

Bought their Groupon so I gave them a shot. I have only dined in one time with a couple girlfriends, service was definitely slow but they were friendly. Everything we had was delicious. Their Japanese Bagel Balls were a great hot app (a little heavy, but that was expected). I ordered the Sushi Platter and really liked their selection. My friend ordered the French Kiss Roll. it was AMAZING. Every roll I have tried since has been wonderful!

A little long of a wait to get food but worth the wait, very good homemade cream cheese puffs and good to very good sushi, pretty pleased overall but pretty slow service

If Unilocal offered half stars, I’d rate this place 3 ½ stars.
This was a decent place. Service was good for me. Our waitress was really nice and our food came out in a timely manner. The interior was cute and cozy enough. Anyways, on to the food cause that’s what I really care about. My sister and I ordered several, which we then realized it was a lot of things, off the menu and the specials on their board.
What we ordered:
–Poke Ahi (Cubed tuna in chili oil and herbs, topped with masago and quail egg yolk): It was good. Close to great, but just good. The flavors were mixed well and it was enjoyable. Would I order it again? Definitely.
–Ika Maru (Grilled whole squid served with grated ginger): Can I say, SALLLLLTYYY! Man was it salty. I’m hopeful that it was just that one that I ordered and that it usually isn’t that salty. I am really into how food is presented and this dish did not present well. It needs more color and less salt. I would not order again.
–Ceviche (This was one of their specials on the board): This was their version of Ceviche but it was do darn good and refreshing that I could not stop eating it and thinking about ordering another one. I felt that they used some fish sauce in this dish and if so, it worked. The taste was light, flavorful, and the selection of raw fish used was a perfect combination. I would’ve drank the juice and licked the bowl if no one was there. I would definitely order this again.
–Takoyaki (Another one from their specials board): If you dont know what takoyaki balls are, they’re little round balls containing pieces of octopus. I am a huge fan of takoyaki balls and Bagu did not disappoint on these. The inside of the balls were perfectly seasoned and cooked perfectly inside. I would definitely order again.
–Baked Mussels (5 Baked half shell mussels w/​spicy sauce): These were good. Not, DA BOMB, but good. I’d order again.
**By now we are pretty full but we still had 2 more orders coming**
–Triple Treat Roll (Marinated spicy tuna, salmon and yellow tail topped with tempura flakes): There’s nothing that I hate more than minced raw fish in rolls. I mean, are you sure there’s salmon in there? Because it looked like it was just minced tuna with a small slice of yellowtail. Pass.
–Tofu Laab (Couldn’t find the description of this on their online menu): Laab can be spelled larb also. If you’re familiar with laab, you know that the main ingredient is roasted rice powder. Well, I think they may have forgotten the rice powder or did not put enough to make it taste like laab. It lacked flavor and garnishes. My sister decided to take it home to remake it.
Overall, with the Groupon, it wasnt too bad. I would definitely go again, with a Groupon of course. There’s a small parking lot to the side of the building and plenty of street parking. It is on a busier street but you will definitely find parking.

Service is so slow and their bathrooms are ridiculously dirty. Highly recommend not eating here.

AVOID AVOID AVOID. Everything in this review is 100% accurate and truthful.
We first walked in and waited at the front before seating ourselves. Then, after 15 minutes, we received our menus. We ordered the Japanese Bagel Balls, which were delicious but portion was very tiny, and the Tom Kha Soup, which was not bad. The problem was that we received these appetizers after 45 minutes, and after I had to remind the waitress we were missing an appetizer, to which she said «you still want it?» No exaggeration.
After another 20 minutes (been there for over an hour at this point) we received our entrees. I got my Green Curry with a tiny plate of rice and a giant bowl of curry. When I asked if the rice refills were free (because there was no way that rice would be enough), I was told no.
This whole time we had not received water refills once and the ONE waitress who was running around taking care of the whole restaurant could not be flagged down for help. Our dishes came with no plates so we could mix the curries with the rice, and my plate came with no spoon. 5 minutes later, I was able to get my spoon and our plates.
Literally eat ANYWHERE else but here – any other Thai restaurant but here. So disappointed.

Good food, but portions are rather small. We ordered the Panang tilapia, Sunset, Special, Fuji rolls, and the pork ramen noodles. Venue has only limited seating and can get busy — best to make reservations.

Food was what you’d expect. Groupon was nice. What was a bummer was waiting almost an hour for a take out order of two sushi rolls. Im pretty sure they didn’t start making it until i was already waiting for 20 or more minutes. Bad service. A business shouldn’t do a groupon if they aren’t prepared to handle an influx or customers, even though it wasn’t that busy on a Wednesday night.

Pretty disappointing experience. We sat down and ordered…45 minutes later, we got our drinks. As our server dropped the drinks, she said she’d come back to refill our waters. Twenty minutes after that – no waters and no food. And no check-​ins from our server. We dropped some cash on the table to cover our drinks and got up to leave. Our server made eye contact with one of our friends as we were getting up… our friend said we were going and our server flippantly answered «Ok. Cool. Have a good night.»
The food that others were eating seemed good… it’s a bummer I won’t be back to find out.

Not exactly sure what to say here. It’s maybe not fair to write a review when you only had a beer. Why did I only have a beer? Well, after waiting 45 minutes for the beer I ordered, I finally got it. We waited another 20 minutes for any hint of the food we ordered. Not even a stop by from our server once-​not even to fill the waters.
We dropped enough money for our drinks and told our server we were leaving. Her response was «OK, cool, have a good night.» I’m guessing the problem was in the kitchen. 3 servers and 9 tables total. If you want to go, I suggest going on a week night. Unfortunately they are not prepared to handle a full house on the weekends.
Also, we had a reservation.

Found a Groupon for the place and decided it was a good deal. Had the Gyoza for a hot appetizer and decided to split the Pirates platter. It came out in a corny ‘boat’ platter. The miso soup was very good and it came with much more ingredients than any other sushi place I’ve been to. Lots of tofu, seaweed and green onions, very good. The ‘boat’ had a wide variety of sushi, sashimi, and a couple of rolls, one of which seemed to have been coated with tempura and quickly fried. This roll was very good and I wish I would have asked about it. Plenty of food for the two of us and a great deal with the Groupon. The staff was very nice and quick, we asked for some extra rice and she was back in just seconds with it. Some reviews were complaining about service but all I saw was top notch. Great food and with a Groupon? A heck of a deal. I will be back, Groupon or not.
I have to retract my comment, and apologize. I had commented that for having 8 customers in the restaurant that the food was taking longer than I thought it should. It wasn’t until we left that I realized there was a patio out back. It was at least 85% full. It just appeared with so few people inside that the food was taking longer than it should. We had another great meal here on Friday evening. Fresh fish, great shrimp appetizer, tasty miso soup, a great bargain when you factor in a Groupon.

Groupon = Cheap Sushi = Steve Is Happy. Rolled in here. Bagu apparently means «Our Bar.» I have no idea how that works so dont ask but the waitress had to ask and she said so. It’s slow, but if you go with good company, you don’t really mind… so make sure you take someone you like… or need a good reason to hang out with for a long time. Intimate atmosphere nothing pretentious, just a good old fashioned neighborhood sushi place. The plates on the wall are a clever idea, kinda cool. The sushi chefs and I had this awkward yet powerful eye contact for about 25 seconds that we will cherish and never speak of again.
The rolls. Try the one with the rainbow colored roe on my description. I chose that cause they were out of the Mango one. Roll «number 9» has a combination of cooked, vegetable, and just about every place has it so I judge a little on that roll… very standard, nothing too special but it isnt Kyoto-​bad so it’s all good. The tea was good, the person I was with couldn’t lift the pot though cause it was heavy, but that’s a good opportunity to look sexy and bust out the guns, and pour it out (or slingshots… whatever you work with) and look chic.
Not intimidating, people are nice. Sushi chefs are silent, but stare powerfully, and they have the one pie in the face machine on all the youtube videos. Worth a stop, even more worthy with the groupon.

We found this place when asking my very critical, slightly rude, not at all helpful of an ex-​boyfriend Siri (don’t pretend you don’t know him, everyone knows him. He’s a very popular man!) where I could find some of the best sushi I would ever put into my mouth. He happen to nonchalantly mention Bagu and at first I blew him off (let’s keep our minds clean here), but then the more I thought about it, the more I said «why not, the worst thing that could happen is food poisoning.»
Well let me tell you, that this place had some great sushi. It was full of flavor, texture, color, and it smelled great! I ordered the spicy salmon roll and the crunchy spicy tuna; each bite was like a new sensation in my mouth a mix of fish, seaweed, rice, and spicy sauce just made everything feel complete. I also had them stick some duck sauce in a ramekin dish, which added a new element to the rolls.
We got our order to go, as the boy doesn’t like sushi and even the smell makes his stomach unsettled; but while we waited the staff was extremely friendly! They offered is water, chatted with us a bit, and made us feel very welcome. The restaurant itself isn’t very big and they tried their hearts out to make it appear nice (to some the décor is great and to others it’s mediocre at best, but they tried and thus I give them credit) and it does feel updated and for the most part, clean.
For once Siri offered me something other than constructive criticism; he lead me to a place that served better than normal sushi, at affordable prices. Which is why I sadly have to admit, that I need Siri in my life otherwise I would be lost (literally, who else would run my calendar and set alarm clocks?). Will I be back? Yes, overall I found the food delicious and well worth the price.

Really Good Sushi. Very good fried rice. Went with a Groupon but I’d go back any day and pay full fare.
Service was good, place is small so maybe get a reservation.

Under staffed, poor cocktails and at best, mediocre sushi. Oh, and overpriced. A restaurant may be able to get away with prices like this if the atmosphere is incredible and the service was great, unfortunately it failed in both areas. Waste of time and money.

Above average sushi but sticky tables and menus! Needs to be cleaned more!
Cream cheese wontons weren’t the best, sort of like eating kettle chips.
Cleanliness was the main factor for only 3-​stars.

Decided to try out a new sushi spot. Overall, the sushi was good but seemed a little overpriced for the quality/​size of rolls compared to Wakame. The server was very nice which was a big plus for the experience. Favorite rolls are the #9 roll and Three Wise Men. I will probably go back as I didn’t get a chance to try the ‘Angry Salmon’ that is mentioned in a lot of reviews.

French kiss roll was amazing!!! Service was kinda slow but the food was really good! Definitely I will come back, more table will be better

Took family for dinner last night and had their pirate boat. It was excellent. Possibly the best sushi we’ve had in Minneapolis. Service was attentive. Good atmosphere. It was my third or fourth time eating here and frankly I didn’t remember it being quite this good. My only suggestion would be to ditch the fried ice cream and stick with just plain good green tea ice cream.

I’m trying to get away from my old sushi standby restaurant and try new places. It’s really hard because I can get delivery to my place from the usual sushi joint, but I’m trying! Bagu did not disappoint, thankfully.
A friend and I decided to go here before he heads to Japan and his sushi innocence will be lost forever like mine is, and it was a pretty good pick. (Aside: I won’t complain about how it’s not as good as Japan, because that complaint makes zero sense. You’re in the Midwest and they have to ship the fish in. Deal with it or move, jeez.) It’s your typical small restaurant space in South Minneapolis, but there was enough room between tables that it wasn’t completely distracting. The server was very nice, but very harried. She forgot to bring us our drink order, but made up for it by offering free dessert.
I had the edamame and spicy tuna rolls, which were both good. Nothing earth shattering or exceptional, but some solid deliciousness. The cheesecake roll for dessert is literally just deep-​fried cheesecake with raspberry sauce, and the actual cheesecake seemed pretty robust and flavorful. I think the dessert was my favorite, but it’s hard to go wrong with cheesecake.
I’d definitely go back.

can you ever really go wrong with Sushi? well yes, but not here. They have a great menu of both sushi and other Asian food which is great for a group of people who love different types of food. I have the #9 role which was wonderful and their cream cheese puffs were great. It is a pretty small place but the service was wonderful

I have been going to Bagu for years now. It has become my favorite sushi place. I have tried other places and they are good but Bagu is better. They have the best maki around and their newer creations like the FOB roll exemplify this. Great atmosphere and great staff make this place a must visit if you love sushi.

Fantastic, flavorful, spicy Pad Thai. Very generous portion, good value, and friendly/​prompt service. The one complaint is that our table was sticky. I look forward to returning soon.

Sushi has been at the top of my «favorite food» list since I was a kid, but used to be a food reserved for my yearly birthday dinner or a sub-​par grocery store convenience meal. Now that I’m an adult, I give into my cravings way more often — which means finding ways to enjoy my sushi while still not overdrafting my bank account. Last week during happy hour, Bagu in South Minneapolis fulfilled my desire for affordable sushi without sacrificing quality/​taste, thus living up to their Best Sushi Minneapolis 2014 award from the Citypages.
The restaurant is small, but was not overly-​packed on the early Monday evening when we visited. We were seated comfortably right away and took in the modern, chic décor. Service was great and well-​paced, and while their happy hour includes 2−4−1 beer and wine, the drinks are brought out one at a time so you don’t wind up with a warm second beer. In addition to drink specials, there are also discounts on select nigiri, maki (rolls), and appetizers. My date and I split a seaweed salad (the seaweed part was excellent but the chunks of cucumber lacked flavor and created an inconsistent texture… not bad, but the cucumber could be altogether skipped from this dish), a spicy salmon roll (fat chunks of fish with a light but lingering heat made for a pleasant experience here), a spider roll (soft shell crab, roe, asparagus, avocado… basically, the best thing you will ever put in your mouth), and (taking a cue from the Citypages article) a crunchy shrimp tempura roll. All were tasty, but the spider roll was by far the best. Despite the rave review, we found the crunchy shrimp to be just OK considering the fact that for only a few dollars more you can upgrade to the spider and enjoy meaty, rich bites of crab. Crab that may inspire dreams. Crab that may induce mouth-​watering fits just at the mere thought of it.
We also tried a good Japanese microbrew — not covered by the happy hour discount, but still tasty. We passed on dessert, but they do offer that as well as a decently sized menu of non-​sushi options (Thai-​influenced meals, from what I could tell). I was so stuffed after splitting sushi that the thought of ordering anything else sounded like pure gluttony, but we will absolutely be returning customers so we can branch out a bit next time!

What is this secret gem, only blocks from my house?!
Ok, I’ve seen this place and seen their Groupons a million times, but hadn’t ventured in until last week, when my sushi cravings were crazy strong.
Let me start off with happy hour. It goes until 6:30, which totally works as an early dinner. I think its Sun-​Thurs, or Mon-​Thurs, I forget. 2 for 1 beer and wine, $ 3 draft Sapporo. A few of your classic rolls on happy hour, along with edamame, potstickers, etc. Nothing crazy special on the list, but all really GOOD.
We got the potstickers and several rolls. The potstickers were pan fried and still pretty soft, but I really liked them. We also got a spicy tuna roll, which was honestly the best I’ve ever had. No joke. We also splurged and got one of their specialty rolls. I can’t remember the name, but it was life changing-​ly delicious. They have a little insert with the menu with random specials of the day, and they were close to happy hour prices, so I would totally recommend that.
I saw they have some Thai dishes on the menu, which I would love to try next time.
Again, as many have mentioned– check out the patio! We walked on a perfect summer day and no one was in the dinig area, which I thought was a bad omen. But, we went out to the back patio and there were maybe 10 tables, a water fountain, and tall enough fences you don’t see the dumpsters. It was totally adorable.
Oh, we also had some nigiri, which my husband loves and I… don’t love. I don’t what my feelings are towards nigiri at large. However, I ate a piece and it was great. It did not taste like fish (win!) and was easy to bite through, which is really all I ask. I know this may not be the most helpful feedback, but, its what I have. :-)

I was so impressed by the ‘angry salmon’ that this dish deserves 5 starts by itself. If you come here and don’t try this dish you’ll be missing out big time.
I also had a seaweed salad, with regrets because I can find it cheaper elsewhere and because the taste was average.
My third choice was the FOB roll. It was really good, excellent actually, better shrimp tempura than Origami’s. It is very very spicy though.
The location is fun, the place is small, but they do have a sitting bar and a television.
I’ll have to come back to try their Thai food, and of course to have another one of the ‘angry salmon’.

This is somewhat of a prelude to an anticipated review of Bagu.
I have tried Bagu before, Summer 2012. The hidden back patio is a winning feature and perfect for happy hour or an early summer dinner. The drinks are good and the food is presented nicely.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been back to Bagu since Summer 2012… because Bagu closes up shop every evening at the time that a typical evening (for those under 70 years of age) begins. A lovely dinner and cocktails at 8, 8:30? Nope, not when the restaurant closes at 9 pm! Perhaps an option for those who like to make quick work of a date night and be tucked into bed by 10 pm but for the rest of us, things don’t even really get going until an hour after this restaurant closes.
Have I wanted to return to Bagu this winter — yes, but every weekend it’s «oh, how about Bagu?» And then we realize it’s 7:30. It’ll take till 8:15 to get ready, 8:30 to get to there and till 8:45 to debate over a martini or wine and spring rolls vs. a seaweed salad. You can forget finishing that drink or even moving onto the entres. Show’s over at 9 pm.
I fully understand the investment vs. impact ratio that must be minded by smart business owners, and that operational costs climb the longer a service establishment stays open, but when there’s a demand, supply!
I hope to get to Bagu someday, maybe if I find myself jet lagged and ready for a night out at 5 o’clock central time.

I was really, pleasantly, surprised. Most of the time US Thai/​sushi restaurants are Thai restaurants that bung in sushi as an afterthought. I scanned the menu, seeing the usual suspects: miso soup, seaweed salad, California roll, caterpillar roll, and then… kampyo roll? It was like unexpectedly bumping into a relative when you’re on vacation at Mount Rushmore. And then futo (maki), which also included kampyo (dried gourd cooked in soy sauce and sugar). Hold on, the folks who put this menu together actually know something about Japanese food! I was floored, because these days even in LA a restaurant that serves sushi might not know anything about Japanese food.
And so, against my better judgment, I decided to throw them the grandma challenge. Would the futo (maki) measure up to grandma’s secret recipe? My verdict: not quite. But, it was definitely competent. The kampyo and shiitake mushroom tasted as they should. The cucumber was crunchy and fresh, and the takuan (pickled daikon radish) didn’t detract from the other flavors. The spinach was Korean style with sesame oil, but that was a welcome twist. The roll was not executed perfectly, but it was solid. The biggest shortcoming was the rice. It had vinegar, but not as strong and confident as grandma’s. Perhaps it’s unfair to compare a Midwestern sushi restaurant to grandma’s cooking, but I felt if they’re going to put kampyo on the menu, they should expect it.
The salad was pretty good, and featured the fresh vegetable dressing served in real Japanese restaurants. The miso soup was about average. Another nice surprise was the una-​ju (broiled eel served on rice). It was very tender, and not overcooked. I expected something that was precooked and frozen, but it tasted close to the kabayaki you might find in Tokyo. I was disappointed that I was too full from the futo (maki) to eat all the eel. I even liked the takuan, which is something I usually find too strongly pickled to eat.
My husband’s Thai food was also good. He ordered green curry, and it was pleasantly mildly spicy. The kick came gently, and took time to spread in your mouth.
I was so surprised by this place that under the non-​alcoholic influence of genmaicha (rice tea), I found myself telling our server enthusiastically, «This is real sushi!» (And that’s often not the case.) I also kept asking the servers about how they got the takuan, etc. Unfortunately none of them seemed to know much about Japanese food, and didn’t seem to recognize the terms I used. Oh well, as long as the folks who prepare the food have a clue. I’m giving this place four stars because they knew that you need to put kampyo in the futomaki, and they did a decent job.