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(From June 2009) Take a seat in the dining room, at the sushi bar, or at one of the teppanyaki grills, and try to make a choice from the tempting menus. Over at the grill they’re serving up the likes of chicken teriyaki and steak and scallops. At the sushi bar there’s a healthy list of options; we like the Dragon Eye, a roll wrapped with salmon, green onions, and spicy mayo and topped with avocado.

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(From September 2009) The several-month-old restaurant in Midtown is still something of an unknown commodity, and the tasteful room evolves into a clublike scene in the wee hours. First-time visitors might want to take advantage of happy hour at the bar (5 to 7 during the week and all day Sunday) and try the quick-seared bonito sashimi or a Spicy Mama roll (unagi and cucumber inside and spicy tuna on top, drizzled with chile oil). The dishes are as pristine as they are beautiful. Bar.

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(From March 2009) Sleek Oriental design greets patrons at the entrance of this Arboretum sushi haunt. Kenobi’s menu reflects the latest in (often costly) Asian food trends: Kobe beef cooked on a tableside hibachi and wild specialty rolls, to name two. The latter can get a bit ornate; the Lickety Split contains eleven ingredients, including at least four kinds of raw fish. Believers in “less is more” should look elsewhere. Even so, in some instances, such as a sesame scallop appetizer in which the shellfish has been tempura-battered and pan-sautéed with Japanese spices, the complexity works. Kenobi earns points for adventurous entrées as well—shaved ribeye steak wrapped around avocado and Japanese yams, anyone? Bar.

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(From November 2008) Katyites seem to love this pretty spot with slate-backed water walls, soft lighting, and bamboo accents. The usual sushi options are all fresh and delish, and happily for those who like a little heat applied to their seafood, there are numerous cooked dishes, including appetizers like a seven-spice fried calamari (with ginger sambal and lemon aioli dips) and the Crab Tower with snow and king crab, mango, cucumber, and avocado. Other satisfying choices include lobster ravioli and a nutty seaweed salad with mandarin orange. Bar.

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(From July 2008) A new member of Edinburg’s restaurant row, Maki serves an assortment of sushi, sashimi, rolls, teppan-yaki, and salads. All the ingredients were extremely fresh, and the service was top-notch. For the sushi-shy, the grilled teppanyaki dishes are a good bet and come with a choice of chicken, beef, or seafood served with a healthy portion of mixed vegetables. For the rest of us, there’s seaweed salad and an array of special rolls, like the rainbow, filled with crab, cucumber, and avocado and wrapped with salmon, tuna, and whitefish. Beer & wine.

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(From December 2009) Redecorated with apricot walls and slate floors, this popular pan-Asian spot—whose name means both “happiness” and “delicious” in Japanese—has taken on a new sophistication. The sushi is exem-plary, but the other menu items (which include Thai, Chinese, and even Korean) are definitely worthy of consideration. We chose crab rangoons, nicely grilled chicken satay, and plump pork-filled potstick-ers; all came with delightfully piquant dipping sauces. It’s a neighborhood favorite and a good family spot, so expect a wait. Bar.

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(From October 2009) What could be better than fresh fish served in the open air over the waters of Turtle Cove? No other local menu exceeds the Pelican Club’s variety of seafood, all of it wonderful, as near as we can tell. We were delighted with the pan-sautéed flounder with a sweet-sour tamarind sauce and saffron rice until we sampled an even finer cornmeal-crusted grouper served over cheese grits; both came with mixed grilled squash. The fresh house salad featured chilled mixed greens and grape tomatoes, and the jumbo lump crab beurre noir (sautéed in a vinegar-tinged brown butter) deserved a blue ribbon. Bar.

September 22nd, 2008 at 1:59pm
Libby says:
Pelican and Venetian Hot Plate are good. But my favorite place in Port A. is La Playa Mexican Grille. Be prepared for a wait. Relax and enjoy chatting with the other waitees in La Playa's front patio area and salivating as people exit and the open door wafts savory garlic. The food is a homestyle mix of grilled seafood and trad Mex dishes. All of it, from-scratch delicious.

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(From October 2009) Neon dapples the walls and reflects off the chrome of this seriously lounge-a-rama sushi bar. The approach to the food is surprisingly purist, never mind the California stylings of the red snapper–bound No Mercy Rolls, shot through with creamy avocado and sizzling chipotle. The pork gyozas are tempting morsels, nicely bathed in a soy-shallot dipping sauce; the fried rice proves most satisfying, full of chicken, shrimp, pork, and the occasional errant vegetable.

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(From July 2008) Curiosity led us to heed the word-of-mouth buzz and make our way to a small strip center near the entrance to the county park on Padre Island. Although we were dismayed by the loud music and indifferent service, we were impressed with the fresh sushi. Selections are served family style, appealingly presented, and supplemented by vegetarian and cooked items for those who shun seafood, raw or otherwise. Notably interesting was the seared tuna with jalapeños in a crispy fried roll garnished with wasabi and ginger. Bar.

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(From October 2009) Contemporary and elegant, with a black, purple, and red color scheme, this restaurant offers an East-meets-West theme reflected in the two circles printed on the place mats, menus, and wall decorations. The ten-piece nigiri sushi special provided a great selection of fresh fish, and the gohan teriyaki, grilled beef served on a bed of rice, was excellent. Bar.

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