This is the latest venture for Thom Chantharasy, who owned Sekisui in Clayton. A tiny spot (once a Church’s Fried Chicken) in Maplewood, it has a pretty big menu. With only about 10 tables and a handful of counter stools, you can pretty much count on waiting for a table. A few heat stands provide an outdoor waiting area, and in warmer weather, picnic tables outside expand the seating options.
Another thing diners should know is that cooking in this tiny space creates issues that may impede their enjoyment during an hour-long dinner: steamy heat and burnt-food smells. On each of three visits here, I kept thinking something must be wrong with their exhaust system.
As for the food, there is an extensive sushi menu and a fairly comprehensive menu of Asian hot foods, especially Japanese dishes, most of them very tasty. A starter of shrimp Shumai ($6) was delicious, especially the vinegary ponzu sauce that accompanied it, but the small dough pockets were not house-made. The Crispy Eggplant ($9), however, is, and it should not be missed. Three thin eggplant slices are tempura-battered, fried, and topped with generous mounds of sashimi tuna. Adding to the flavors and textures are slivers of seaweed.
Ramen is a big thing here, judging from its many incarnations and the innumerable ways to customize your noodle bowl. Our Ramen Yashi (vegetarian, $9) was a good example of what is appealing about ramen: the veggies were raw, fresh, plentiful and tasty. The broth had good flavor, too. Among the bounty in our bowl were corn kernels, cherry tomatoes, shredded cabbage, scallions and mustard greens (an optional add-on).
Bar B Que don ($9) was salty, sweet and delicious with the flavors of teriyaki, tender roasted pork, and soft Japanese rice. My only complaint was the amount of fat on the meat—I like my meat well-trimmed, which this wasn’t. We ordered a side of skewered, bacon-wrapped enoki mushrooms, just because it sounded unique—kind of like mushroom rumaki—but the bacon wasn’t crisped. (If you don’t like fat-laced pork, you won’t like under-cooked bacon.)
The seaweed salad with cucumbers was passable ($5), but a sushi roll called ‘The Maplewood’ ($10.25) was much better. It had salmon, ‘crabmeat’ and avocado wrapped in a short roll (five to six slices) that was tempura-battered and deep-fried—very tasty.
Japanese Curry ($10)—which came with your choice of fried chicken, chicken katsu (breaded) or fried mackerel—was very flavorful. A deep brown in color, it was sweeter than most curries, with a light bite. The dish came in a bowl with white rice, chunked potatoes, sliced carrots and bits of pickled lotus root, which added a tart, vinegary element. The Japanese Fried Rice ($9) is quite good, oily and filled with an assortment of goodies: shrimp, fish cake, roasted pork, egg bits and tangy pickled mustard greens.
For dessert, there’s Fried Cheesecake Tempura ($7), which is pretty good. Three giant cheesecake balls come deep-fried in tempura batter and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Overall, the food here is very good. If they could resolve the exhaust issue and get some of those cooking fumes and smoke out of the ‘dining room,’ this would be a real little gem.
amuse bouche
the scene | Tiny Japanese restaurant
the chef | Thom Chantharasy
the prices | $8 to $18 meals, $4.50 to $11.50 rolls, $9 to $12 ramen/udon bowls
the favorite | Crispy Eggplant, Bar B Que don, The Maplewood sushi roll, Japanese Fried Rice, Japanese Curry
chef chat » thom chantharasy
pedigree | Twenty years working in Japanese restaurants
favorite ingredient | Soy sauce
favorite restaurant | The Tenderloin Room at The Chase
most memorable dining experience | It was at my first Japanese restaurant when I was a freshman in high school. I was with my sister in Nashville, Tennessee, on Second Street. It was then that I decided I wanted to cook Japanese food.
guilty pleasure food | The ends of the roast pork that goes into the ramen
7260 manchester road | 314.899.9595
