Since 1999, Abacus has represented the quintessence of creative dining injected with a good dose of common sense. Today, its neutral-beige interior feels like a time capsule from 1999; its menu, an abrupt collision between Texas steakhouse and Japanese sushi bar, is similarly dated. The good news is that the food can still be good, […]
Asian Fusion in Dallas Observer
Showing 1 - 22 of 23
There are few surprises at Nikky Phinyawatana’s Asian fusion restaurant. The Mint menu, much like its North Dallas counterpart, lists the regular players at first glance-satay, rolls, piquant Thai soups, stir fries, Mongolian beef. Then comes the house’s special pad Thai, which is available in the form of crunchy wonton strips, crab haul, low-carb (sans […]
If you’re looking to feed a crowd of people something other than the usual Tex-Mex or Italian, consider Caravelle. Its modest strip mall location conceals a massive high-ceilinged dining room decked out in entirely too much pastel pink, accented with giant chandeliers and gold dragons. The extensive Chinese-Vietnamese menu offers a little something for everyone, […]
Head past the art-splashed lobby of the Thompson Hotel and up to floor 9C, and you’ll find Catbird-a bar that’s not just a vibe, it’s a full-blown aesthetic. Housed in a former bank, you enter through a tunnel of flowers that feels like you accidentally wandered into an out-of-place wedding, only to emerge in an […]
advertisement
Cristina Mendez and John Pham opened Cris and John in 2017 in a North Dallas strip mall – bookended by a 7-Eleven and a laundromat – and have stood out with a creative blend of Vietnamese and Mexican street fare. The center of Cris and John’s menu is the phoritto, which piles all the goodness of […]
Just about every street corner in Dallas harbors a Southern fare kitchen offering deviled eggs, pork belly, burgers and the inevitable shrimp and grits. Many of them are good; some are excellent; most are forgettable. All, even the good ones, sort of run together. Except for the most daring of them all: Junction Craft Kitchen. […]
The restaurant is quite impressive, even from the outside. A doorman opens the large wooden doors and three hostesses with iPads at their fingertips greet you. Adjacent to the hostess stand is a Peking duck frying station with naked and fried red fowl hanging from hooks. It’s real in here.
The NorthPark outlet of the Arizona-based East-meets-West chain has a see-and-be-seen patio that seems to be bustling from open to close. You might try sitting at the bar with its 2,000-gallon aquarium backdrop. Either way, request Kona’s signature dish, the Macadamia nut chicken, or sushi rolls with fusion creations such as the Big Island meatloaf […]
Little Katana is an inventive offshoot of the tiny sushi bar in the Galleria expanded to a full kitchen that prepares dishes with Japanese, Korean and Thai influences. In addition to fresh and relatively inexpensive sushi, Little Katana offers a variety of steaks and other meats cooked on a custom-engineered grill to tame the intense […]
This is Loro’s second location in Dallas, near Addison. Here the menu is primarily pan-Asian with touches of Texas brisket. If it sounds like an awkward marriage, it’s not. It’s beautiful. Try green curry hushpuppies with a coconut chili ranch or a smoke prime bavette served with a shishito salsa verde. The sandwich selections here […]
advertisement
This sleek “edgy” restaurant lounge is earnestly hip. But don’t let that scare you off. The Korean creations are stellar and the sushi is top-notch, if you don’t let the intrusive techno-crud on the sound system spoil your appetite.
This Asian “tapas bar” is filled with clean, supple sushi, spectacular pad Thai and innovative little dishes with an Asian rip (lamb chops with wasabi port wine sauce). The interior is a compelling mesh of flowing curves (sushi and sipping bars) and rigid geometry (rectangles and squares) including a cascading fountain and a muscular water […]
How many diners know that the giant, 11-foot-tall stone horses flanking the entrances of many P.F. Chang’s symbolize the original Forbidden City in China, which was built for China’s first emperor Qin Shi Huangdi? Or that the restaurant’s founder, Philip Chiang, is still this successful chain’s consultant, and author of its current menu? People probably […]
Diners in Dallas / Fort Worth don’t head to Pei Wei for authentic Asian cuisine, but rather for non-traditional takes on Chinese noodle dishes and lettuce wraps. Large portions are the order of the day at the chain, whose restaurants combine faux Asian fare (Sriracha Chicken Salad, Crab Rangoon, and any number of pan-fried-while-you-watch entrees, […]
Royal Chopstix offers simple Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai and Singaporean dishes–spring rolls, egg drop soup and pad Thai for instance–in safe, mainstream guises that will fill the belly without siphoning the wallet.
advertisement
Shinsei has been providing pan-Asian flavors to the Lovers Lane set for over a decade, under the ownership of Lynae Fearing, former wife of Dean Fearing, and Tracy Rathbun, who is married to star local chef Kent Rathbun. Executive chef Carlos Capistran oversees a sushi-centric menu with the help of sushi chef Shuji Sugawara. But […]
Sky Blossom offers one of the best seats in all of downtown. The rooftop Vietnamese bistro and bar has a spectacular perch in the center of downtown with an open-air dining area offering a bird’s eye view the area. (The sky-high pool at The Joule across the street is a great conversation piece for sure.) […]
Brother to Little Katana on Travis Street, Stone Horse is the same copious blend of Japanese and Korean with little flecks of Thai and Chinese. Steaks are rich and juicy, sushi plows through the range of stunning to adequate to deplorable, with most hugging the former rather than the latter. Service is earnest if na
The most influential figure on the Dallas dining scene might be Teiichi Sakurai, who is doing his best to build one of America’s best Japanese food markets. Sakurai’s previous restaurants, Teppo and Tei Tei Robata, are both still open and still outstanding, and his ramen shop Ten is a cult favorite. But Tei-An is his […]