Sushi Cafe goes West, adds hibachi

Back in 2011, a sign just east of the Pleasant Ridge Town Center on Cantrell Road promised a Sushi Cafe would be coming soon.

"Soon" meant nearly four years.

The second location of the modern maki-and-more eatery (the original is at 5823 Kavanaugh Blvd. in the Heights) is finally open in west Little Rock, sharing the Eleven Two Eleven strip center with an insurance office, dentist office and dry cleaners.

The chic interior of Sushi Cafe West reminds us of the original, even if the mood is calmer and not as clublike. There are several seating options: in the bar (on the other side of the lighted wine rack) with flat-screen TV viewing, the padded stools at the sushi bar or the banquette-lined main wall, which can sometimes mean dining too close for comfort with strangers.

Twice we were seated along the main wall and twice we thought we got the worst table in the house. One dinner visit was right next to -- I mean right next to -- the register, so my view was of servers' behinds as they ran tickets. The other dinner visit was right by the continually opening door on a busy, blustery night, keeping my companion's teeth chattering. It was the table below the curious flat screen that shows only images of food (but without helpful labels to know what items we were looking at).

Seating issues aside, we enjoyed two seamless visits with fine food and excellent service, and without waits (word to the wise: Get there early or make reservations).

What separates the already popular Sushi Cafe West from its larger Heights sibling -- besides a mere four miles -- is an easier time parking (with an actual lot, instead of street parking) and more menu options. Whereas both offer the same sushi and basic entrees, the new location has a teppanyaki grill capable of cooking some 20 hibachi specialty entrees ($13 for Chicken Teriyaki up to $50 for a Royal Feast for Two), served with soup or salad, a shrimp appetizer, seasonal vegetables and steamed rice ($2.50 for fried rice, $3.50 for fried noodles).

Note: Teppanyaki is merely a cooking method here, not a Benihana-style entertainment attraction. While you might spot a chef cooking shrimp by the sushi bar, there is no ringside seating, no excessive clanging and no onion ring-volcano trickery.

The first visit, we ordered the Treasures From the Sea ($30), a hibachi entree of lobster tail, shrimp and scallops. It was preceded by soup (on a cold night, we chose the salty, comforting miso soup over a salad). We didn't get a separate shrimp appetizer -- perhaps it was folded into the seafood dinner? Regardless, what we received was an ample amount of saucy, perfectly cooked shellfish and vegetables, including onions, carrots, broccoli and mushrooms, and a nicely seasoned heap of eggy and sesame-seedy fried rice, worth the upgrade charge.

Beyond the traditional selections, more exotic hibachi choices include Miso Chilean Seabass ($29), Panko Crusted Red Snapper ($19) and NZ Rack of Lamb ($24).

The rest of the large and varied menu is arranged into categories such as starters, salads, SC Street Inspired Specialties, SC All Time Favorites, OMG!!!, West Side Sushi Cafe Specialties, Redefined House Grilled Burgers & Steaks, All Star Lunch and Kids Meal (with only one listing: $8 for grilled chicken, New York striploin or shrimp with fried rice).

A menu "favorite" we sampled was the SC Grilled Ahi Tuna ($24). It featured a proud piece of medium-rare fish that was a bit bland, needing a tad more loving than the drizzle of balsamic glaze that accented the plate more than the fish. It was served with grilled asparagus and pineapple fried rice.

There was plenty of flavor -- not to mention plenty of food -- in the "street-inspired" Golden Thread Spicy Beef Noodles ($14). The pile of noodles tossed with vegetables, rib-eye strips and scrambled eggs, accented with chopped cilantro and a lime wedge, was enough for three meals.

Another starchy delight was the West Fried Rice ($15), a mix of rich blue crab, scrambled eggs and vegetables topped with shrimp, made pretty with cilantro and lime.

Who orders a burger at a sushi place? We do, if it's Sushi Cafe. And we did -- the Fried Teriyaki Burger ($13), one of six "redefined" burgers on the menu served with sweet potato waffle fries ($2.50 tempura sweet potato fries; $2.50 parmesan truffle fries). Cooked to the requested medium-rare, the gourmet Angus beef burger, served with grilled pineapple cheddar, lettuce, tomato and onion on brioche, was as delicious as it was distinctive. And the tempting tempura version of sweet potato fries reminded us, fondly, of something we might eat at the fair.

As for sushi, a paper menu of nigiri, rolls and sashimi is available, as is a list of combo specials at lunch. We revisited two of our favorite specialty rolls, the Dynamite ($13), featuring a lightly fried seafood mix and jalapeno, topped with spicy crab, and the Tuna Lovers ($12), with spicy tuna inside and topped with seared tuna on the outside. Both were as artful and awesome as remembered.

Eric E. Harrison, my colleague who visited separately, reports: "The Chirashi/Sashimi Plate at Sushi Cafe West ($28) is, believe it or not, almost a bargain: nearly 30 pieces of very fresh raw fish -- tuna, salmon, smoked salmon, yellowtail, red snapper, octopus, mackerel, escolar, plus some surimi (quasi-crab) sticks and sweetened egg, plus a quartered orange, a huge dome of rice topped with fish eggs and sesame seeds, plus the escolar comes wrapped around a decorative "ice cube" that flashed through a range of colors. (Very eye catching, but we hope somebody checks subsequent diners to make sure they're not epileptic.)"

Lunch items include everything from Japanese bento boxes ($9-$12) and hibachi ($8.50-$19) to American sandwiches, like Home Run Philly Cheese Steak Wich ($8) and Kobe Hot Dog ($9 lunch; also available as a $12 dinner).

We'll have to venture back to try lunch sometime soon.

And we don't mean in nearly four years.

Weekend on 03/05/2015