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(From January 2012)

Sushi and a show! This Tokyo-style steakhouse cooks up tender beef, juicy chicken, and succulent seafood amid spinning spatulas and towering onion volcanoes. Sit around the hibachi to make friends and chat with the chef. You can make a meal from the ample starter selections; we’re especially keen on the walnut shrimp and the gyoza. Sushi and sashimi are ocean-fresh and varied: you’ll find conch and eel along with traditional spicy tuna and California rolls. For dessert, abandon all dignity and opt for a potent tiki drink, served in a wacky cup. Bar.

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(From July 2011)

Others have packed their woks and rolled, but Emperor Garden is still fired up with an expansive and bold menu that’s like the Top Forty of Asian cuisine. We like the Singapore-style Sesame Beef, darkly mysterious with ginger and sealed with a flourish of sesame seed crunch. Tuck into Thai Basil Seafood, stir-fried but succulent and draped with fresh, aromatic basil. Or try the heady Garlic-Frittered Chicken, anathema for after-dinner kisses but worthy of a solo guilty pleasure. Sushi rounds out the menu with some predictable forays into California rolls and tempura-battered morsels like shrimp and eel. Bar.

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(From January 2011) KABUKI ROMANZA Yeah, yeah—another Japanese steakhouse. Not so! Yes, it has the usual teppan-style favorites, but the sushi bar is where it’s at, and what sets it apart is the freshest, most varied menu in town. Buttery salmon and tuna nigiri are must-haves, as is the spicy Romanza roll (cucumber, yellowtail, salmon, avocado), all prepared by expert sushi chefs. The main restaurant’s decor is charmingly outlandish: a giant boat with a rain and light show every 45 minutes. Come for the show but stay for the sushi and sake! Bar.

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(From May 2011) More than fine sushi, this high-energy spot experiments with unusual techniques and unlikely combinations. Ex-ample? Let us mention dessert first—a sponge cake–like frozen chocolate mousse sprinkled with cilantro and de-hydrated meringue chips. (Yes, it was excellent.) Other standouts? Smoked duck over greens with wasabi vinai-grette; grilled yellowtail with brussels sprouts, tiny mushrooms, and grapefruit “pearls”; and braised pork belly with spinach in a dark, sweet gravy. Übercool. Bar.

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(From July 2011)

This downtown spot was humming on a recent weekday evening. We sipped wine and watched the giggling girls at the next table snap smart-phone photos and Facebook them. When our food arrived, we got on task. The tuna tataki—togarashi-seared Hawaiian ahi with whole grain mustard and avocado salad—got us going, as did the delicious wild salmon with goat cheese, serranos, and a sweet onion sauce. Our server recommended the seared escolar with truffled ponzu and garlic chips, which we thanked him for. Alas, we found the Japanese Bagel—smoked salmon with cream cheese, avocado, and fresh strawberries with a honey-miso glaze—too sweet for our taste.

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(From December 2010) This up-the-escalator mall site is a go-to spot for Rice Village shoppers and multigenerational Japanese-American families. We found the fried pork dumplings so meltingly good we wished we’d doubled our order; fortunately, the crisp vegetable tempura that followed helped assuage our grief. We finished with a chef’s choice sushi platter and gave it (and him) high marks. Look for special seafood flown in from Japan’s Tsukiji market on the weekends. Bar.

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(From January 2011) We go for the sushi (thoughtfully cut bite-size), the superfresh sashimi, and, especially, the locally caught shrimp and snapper. Our friends applaud the noodle soup topped with supersized tempura shrimp. Steamed dumplings and edamame win all of our votes for appetizers. Bar.

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(From October 2010) Though sushi bars proliferate, we still gladly drive to Midtown for a visual feast as stylish as the food. The sushi chefs take center stage, serving up elegant rolls (blackened tuna with crab and jalapeño) and luxurious sashimi (bigeye golden snapper flown in from Tokyo). We also thoroughly enjoy the robata steak skewers, the pepper tuna salad with arugula and goat cheese, and the exotic mushroom papillote with bok choy in lemon butter. Bar.

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(From June 2011)

We decided, across the board, to try new dishes, and what an adventure it was! Shishito peppers, quite pleasant except for the fiery orange ones, and popcorn crab, to-tally edible soft-shell babies, made for two mind-expanding appetizers. Japanese snapper carpaccio sprinkled with tomatoes and Asian greens was piquant, while marinated tuna with avocado and cashews pleased with its crunch and layers of flavor. The only item that disappointed was the washu beef and potato croquette; the small bits of beef were mixed into a mushy mix of potato, and the panko crust had an oddly sweet taste. Walking through the Japanese garden to the front door is a lovely touch for this wildly popular East Dallas eatery. Bar.

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(From February 2012)

We let our server do the talking on a recent cozy evening inside this tiny red-walled cottage. And as we sipped on a lovely albariño, taking in the animated tables around us, artfully arranged plates of delicious sushi and sashimi appeared: striped snapper; baby yellowtail with ponzu and Thai chile; oak-grilled escolar with candied citrus, yuzupon, and myoga (amazing); bigeye tuna with pumpkin seed oil and Fuji apple, and silky Japanese sea bream with the perfect pop of sea salt and mint. Chef Tyson Cole’s vision impressed once again. Next visit we’ll resume our spots at the bar; we missed watching the sushi chefs and learning about flavor pairings and combinations. Bar.

Friday, September 19th, 2008, 1:50 pm
sushi lover says:
This is the best restaurant in Austin, period. AMAZING food! And where else do you see guys in cowboys hats eating sushi.

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