Japanese Restaurants in Randol Mill

Amid hanging parasols and Japanese art, Sushi Zone chef and owner Koji Aoki crafts classic sushi that's earned praise from the press for more than 10 years. Fort Worth Weekly commended signature rolls whose ingredients "make yummy sense" rather than trying for "flashy experiments." Chefs wrap these behind the glossy black sushi bar, where guests' chopsticks also nab just-sliced sashimi and hot appetizers such as baked green mussels.

Though its name suggests otherwise, the Forget About It roll’s unorthodox ingredients make it pretty memorable: the flavorful crunch of shrimp tempura is wrapped up with crawfish and accented by ginger cream. It's just one of the many unique combinations dreamed up by Piranha Killer Sushi's owner and chef, Kenzo Tran. Non-traditional sushi fixings are Kenzo’s specialty, from the White Lotus roll’s pico de gallo and truffle oil sauce to the Bullet roll’s cilantro chili purée and edible police officer’s badge.

That blend of the classic and unconventional runs throughout Piranha Killer Sushi's menu at all four locations including the newly remodeled location in Fort Worth. Besides distinctive rolls, the kitchen serves up dishes such as Korean beef in ginger marinade, salads with octopus and spicy conch, and blue crab fried rice. Ditto the drink menu, featuring specialty libations such as the saketini, a blend of vodka, gin, and sake with a cucumber garnish. The restaurant's whimsical take on Japanese fare hasn't gone unnoticed—media outlets laud it for its tasty creations and inviting decor.

Sushi Cafe owner Dae Woo calls upon nearly two decades of restaurant experience in Asia to cultivate a chopstick-friendly menu bursting with sushi rolls, tempura delicacies, and traditional Japanese dinner entrees. Artful arrangements of sushi decorate the restaurant’s bar, and steamy bowls of miso and udon soups obscure the view across booths nestled between wooden screens. Chopsticks clash over thick cuts of sashimi that await the winners on soft beds of rice, and thin slices of beef doused in korean sweet sauce represent the Asian mainland. As if to show off their culinary prowess, the expert sushi chefs dare diners to customize their own rolls and fearlessly dive headfirst into deep fryers to retrieve tempura vegetables.

When flights from Honolulu touch down at the airport, they occasionally offload more than just passengers—namely, MK’s regular shipments of Pacific fish. Behind the sushi bar, chefs roll traditional maki with this mother lode and gussy up their specialty sushi rolls with atypical ingredients, including mango sauce, mushrooms, and jalapeños, imbuing each bite with the melding of complex, harmonic flavors.

Extending their culinary gaze to create a menu of truly pan-Asian meals, the cooks also stir-fry Chinese-inspired entrees and grill orders of korean short ribs until they are as tender as a Shakespearean sonnet read in the original French. To punch up the authentic flavors of each meal, the kitchen team stirs and whisks together more than 40 of their own marinades, sauces, and spice blends, mixing tradition with innovation to create unique tastes that make each meal at MK's memorable.

After ten hours of slow-cooking, the barbecue ribs at Joe’s American Bar & Grill land on tables tender and ready to fall of the bone. Served with fresh-made coleslaw, these ribs are the centerpiece of a menu overflowing with upscale comfort food. Chefs cut potatoes by hand to accompany bacon cheeseburgers topped with aged cheddar and bread-and-butter pickles made in-house rather than flown in by a talking stork. Grilled pizzas are made fresh to order and never frozen, and hefty sandwiches and hand-cut steaks stack plates with sustenance. On the weekends, brunch dishes come out of hibernation to sate guests with made-to-order omelets and specialties such as eggs benedict and prime-rib hash. Diners enjoy the fresh air on the outdoor patio or cluster around the bar to keep track of sports scores or find out who really got married on Days of Our Lives.

Conversations pause and heads turn whenever servers at Japanese Grill carry their signature sushi boat through the dining room. Onboard the handsome wooden vessel, a dazzling spread of specialty rolls, nigiri, and sashimi showcases the sushi chefs’ culinary talents, creativity, and eye for aesthetic spectacle. Their repertoire of rolls ranges from classic crab california rolls to innovative Rock rolls with shrimp tempura, jalapeño, and sweet spicy mayo—each sliced and lined up on its own specially shaped plate.

As the sushi chefs work behind their bar, Japanese grill gurus busy themselves in the kitchen, sizzling up seafood teriyaki, flame bathing hibachi meats, and causing pots of udon noodles to boil with but one seductive glance. Meanwhile, out amid the burgundy booths of the dining room, bartenders dole out cups of hot sake and specialty cocktails beneath the glimmer of hanging blue lanterns and the flicker of flat-screen TVs. Come Tuesday, the restaurant erupts into a music-fueled party powered by karaoke jams.