AFTER six hours of Christmas shopping in Garden City, I was losing the will to live.

The final straw was some fat guy dressed as an elf trying to sell me an air fryer.

Driving home, I was craving some comfort food to get over the PTSD of Kmart in mid-December – a sort of plastic grotto for the middle-classes.

Step forward Mikado – an unassuming sushi joint tucked away in the corner of the Bicton Central Shopping Centre off the Canning Highway.

This little hub of shops and eateries has picked up in recent times with Rym Tarng opening and the old burger joint replaced by Zab Curry House.

Mikado has been a bit of a stalwart there, serving up good quality Japanese tucker at reasonable prices for years.

With the school holidays upon us, I took my young son “Bamm-Bamm” along for the ride.

The menu had a nice range of sushi, sashimi, nigiri, bao buns, entree, salads and all the old favourite bento boxes, donburi and curries like chicken katsu and teriyaki beef.

On a hot day, the small interior was nicely air-con’d and there were a few tables and chairs and a display cabinet with sushi beside the till.

I usually go for sashimi and sushi, but post-Xmas shopping I couldn’t resist the old bogan V8 classic – chicken katsu curry ($16.90).

This was a fine specimen – sauce darker than a Norwegian mini-series, with just the right amount of spice, rice and battered chook.

The chicken was good quality – moist and tender on the inside, crunchy batter, and sesame seeds sprinkled on top for a savoury twist.

Bulking things out were some hearty chunks of potato and carrot.

A comforting katsu curry which had a nice, murky sauce that really gelled everything together.

Across the table my son was getting wired into his avocado sushi ($10 made to order). It was good value with plenty of vibrant avo in the large sushi wheels, and he couldn’t finish it all.

With my wife “Special K” and daughter Pebbles busy doing a pre-Xmas clean out of the house, we took them home some tuna and chicken katsu sushi (both $10 for six pieces) for lunch.

Both trays went down well and were pillaged in a few minutes.

If like me you’ve left all your Christmas shopping to the last minute, Mikado is a great pit-stop to refuel and regroup on your festive shopping odyssey.

By STEPHEN POLLOCK

Mikado Japanese Food
19/258-288 Canning Highway, Bicton
9339 6699