And while sushi is in the name, there's a burger squatting on the menu. Sushi and burgers within two inches of each other on a menu is either reckless or genius. Here's the thing: the group that owns this spot, Vandelay Hospitality, has some great burgers on the menus at its other restaurants. Alas, we'll have to wait for our next visit to find out if it belongs here.
A large glowing tree in front of Sushi Anchor Bar makes for pleasant al fresco dining.
Lauren Drewes Daniels
Outside a beautiful oak tree splits the patio in front with some outside dining. The tree is wrapped in 1.21 gigawatts of lights casting their glow on beautiful diners. Every seat inside and out was taken on our recent visit.
Despite sushi in the name, the menu is a collage of moods. First off, if you're looking for the sushi bar, like at Pearl Sushi, which we wrote about recently, you won't find that here. But there is that old-stakehouse-vibes bar with Japanese whiskies taking up prominent real estate.
The bar area serves as a secondary to the dining room; each plot has a napkin folded in a triangle as a placemat, saying, "Yes, you can order from the full menu here." Long plates of sushi and baskets of dumplings dot the bar, flanked by chilled martinis. Two spots at the very end, near the hostess stand, provide a good vantage point for the restaurant, if you're into bird-dogging.
We started with the World's Coldest Martinis section of the menu. All priced at $13–$14, and there are a half dozen to choose from, most with hints of Japanese flavors. The Cherry Blossom is made with Nigori sake and sour cherry and is sweet, perhaps a great post-dinner cocktail. It didn't take any edge off at all, but who drinks for that anyway? (We jest.) A half-dozen other cocktails hit the high notes: a frozen margarita, a gin press, an old fashioned and an Okinawa sour. Sake can be ordered by the glass or bottle. There's also a page of wines, by the glass and bottle.
While a neighbor's basket of steamed pork dumplings ($14) looked enticing, we went with the hamachi crispy rice for a starter. Bricks of rice are festooned with a good schmear of hamachi and yellowtail across the top. It's a bit bigger than bite size and awkward to negotiate with chopsticks, but persevere ... the crunchy rice and meltaway hamachi are well worth it.
Before we get into the mains here, can we talk about the signature of a great dish? If you wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it, it's good, right? But then does that mean taxes, global warming and that thing we said in sixth grade are also great?
There are a dozen sushi rolls here, which some might say is a wimpy showing. But, substance can make up for lack of abundance. Having tried only one roll, we can't say for sure that's the case here. However, we gave it our best shot with what they coined as The Best Roll (photo at top).
For this riceless roll, salmon is wrapped around crab, which is topped with fresh tuna and bits of avocado with a drizzle of spicy ponzu sauce over the top. This is what I woke up thinking about instead of taxes. With that said, did it break barriers in the North Texas sushi game? No. Is it a good dish? Yes.
Our crispy rice and sushi was chased by lemon pie with tall toasted meringue and a thick nutty crust. What's that doing here, you ask? I don't care. I like pie and this was good.
Service here is doting and quick. With each order, I got an "Oh, soooo good" look. Never rushed nor ignored, dining is pleasant and relaxed. Jazz tunes play overhead. It's somewhere between a dark bar with good martinis and a decent sushi selection to go along with your burger or pie. It's fun, and definitely worth checking out.
Anchor Sushi Bar, 3130 Knox St. Sunday – Monday, 4–9 p.m.; Tuesday – Thursday, 4–10 p.m; Friday – Saturday, 4–11 p.m.
