Former Kome Sushi Chef Opens a New Japanese Food Truck in South Austin

A former Kome and Uroko chef opened a new Japanese food truck in Austin. Little Nishi is parked at the Ira’s and Bev’s Food Truck Park on 1311 South First Street in the Bouldin Creek neighborhood as of mid-September.

Little Nishi serves a wide variety of temaki, aka hand rolls, with fillings such as the avocado with a peached miso and crispy shallots; the Saba with cured mackerel, shiso, cucumbers, ginger, roasted cherry tomatoes, and garlic; the barbecue eel with smoked brie, a citrus soy glaze, and Thai chiles, and the blue fin toro belly, with kazami wasabi, shiso, and nikiri. Then there are sashimi pieces such as tamago, hamachi toro, and salmon. Other dishes include a creamed corn with Japanese mayonnaise, panko-fried slow-roasted pork belly yuzu cream and pickled onions, taiyaki, and mochi ice cream.

Little Nishi chef and owner Joel Taylor had worked in various sushi restaurants in Austin when he moved here in 2011, and landed at Kome, where he eventually became the head sushi chef. When the restaurant expanded with Uroko in 2019, he became its tamaki chef..

Little Nishi’s hours are from 4 to 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday; 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and then from 4 to 9 p.m. Thursday; 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and then from 4 to 10 p.m. Friday; noon to 3 p.m. and then from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday; and finally 1 to 9 p.m. Sunday. The food truck park has outdoor dine-in areas. Takeout orders can be placed online, and there are Uber Eats deliveries available.

Little Nishi