Brother Nick Pick

Sushi House
5619 W Lovers Ln. (North side)
Dallas, TX 75209
Phone: 214-350-2100

My brother, Nick, found this place. No, Nick isnt a blood brother, more a brother in spirit, we are bound together by a sick sense of humor and the ability to find that humor in just about any situation. Oh, and we both love sushi and cheesy martial arts films like Kung Fu Hustle.

My experience was so good with brother Nick that I took Noeha here the other night to sample. She was looking for someone to supply the Japanese portion of her pan Asian party tomorrow night. She found it.

Atmosphere: None. Sushi House is a neighborhood joint and a low vis one at that. Tucked away into the Lover's Lane maze of look alike facades, it fades. Once you step through the small door, it still fades. The interior is certainly presentable and clean but nothing distinct and definitely nothing to leave an impression.

The Plate: The food, however, is fanatastic. In some respects I rate Sushi House higher than Reikyu, in others it pales.

The do-or-die selections: Yellowtail, Eel and Sea Urchin. Two out of three. The Yellowtail was awesome; smooth, buttery, cool and the portion was huge! The Sea Urchin was also good but a bit on the small size. The Eel, ugh, horrible. Maybe they were out of the good stuff but the one I had was gristly, undercooked and almost no sauce at all. Normally this would get them black balled in my book but they made up for it in a number of ways - all of which were interesting rolls.

The House Special Roll II. I don't think brother Nick heard my squeal of delight but it wouldn't have bothered him anyway since I heard his. Silently between squeals we ate this delicious blend of tempura asparagus, tuna, avocado and cucumber topped with a criss-cross of wasabi sauce and a smoky sweet plum sauce.

The Winter Roll. Why play? Go ahead and let the squeal out, you know keeping it inside will just eat you alive :) Wow, this is art; tempura shrimp, avocado, roe and cucumber on the inside with grilled yellowtail on the outside. A criss-cross of wasabi sauce on top of all that.

Special Cucumber Roll: I can't remember if this was the name of it or not. I was so fascinated by it that I forgot to write it down. The inside is a blend of crab and something else crunchy mixed in a spicy creamy sauce then rolled in thinly sliced cucumber. No rice. Very good and very inventive.

Other winners were the Philly Roll, Samurai Roll and the Sex On The Beach.

Service: Winner! Its owned by a Korean couple. Lira, the wife, hosts and waits while the husband, Koon, chops, assembles and rolls. They both do their jobs incredibly well. Noeha and I are late eaters so we arrived at 9:45, they close at 10:00. They never complained or hurried us, they simply went about their business until we decided to leave. Lira, when we asked her about catering, went out of her way to come up with appropriate selections that would stand up to a 4-6 hour party. She also agreed to present the sushi on one of her large decorative plates (as long as we bring it back).

Price: Moderate for sushi, however some of the special rolls are upwards of $13. I would expect about $20-$25 a head for a moderate combination of sushi and rolls.

Overall: Sushi House is a good bet for great sushi in a very casual setting with friends who do not like to see or be seen.

Sushi House
Dallas
Sushi