Korea Gardens

Since moving to Austin, my sushi experiences have been a little disappointing. I expected to find lots of great sushi here, but so far it has been hit and miss. Part of the problem might be that I have been concentrating on the upscale sushi joints despite the fact that some of the best sushi I’ve ever had has come from restaurants in strip malls in low-rent areas of town. This weekend I decided to get back to my roots.

Korea Gardens is located right across the street from the Yellow Rose gentleman’s club on north Lamar. It’s definitely not the first place you would look for sushi. But I had heard good things about the place. The building is very inconspicous, but upon entering I was surprised at the clean well-lit oriental decor. I know Korea Garden has been around for a long time, so I’m guessing the decor is part of a recent renovation - but I could be wrong. The restaurant was about half-full on an early Friday night. I was glad to see a lot of asian people eating there, because that’s one of my litmus tests when it comes to a sushi place.

The staff was very friendly and helpful despite a little bit of a language barrier. They quickly had us to our seats and stocked up with Sapporo, edamame and miso soup. We ordered the sashimi sampler appetizer to get things started. Our waitress knew we were craving some yellowtail and when she mentioned this to the chef, he was kind enough to throw on a few extra pieces. The sashimi was fresh, delicious and melted the second it hit our tongues.

We followed up the sashimi and edamame with an assortment of rolls. I will admit that my ordering strategy was a little bit weak on this particular visit, but everything we tasted was very, very good. The rolls were tightly packed and just the right size. The chefs here also seem to love to use lots of brilliantly colored roe in various combinations. Everything was very attractive to look at and tasted just as good. My favorite roll of the mean had to be the dynamite. My vote for strangest roll would go to a little concoction called the Green River roll which involves kiwi and almonds. It was delicious but I was a little unprepared for the sweetness of it. It was almost like a dessert sushi.

After two rounds of beer and three rounds of sushi, we were full and ready to call it a night. It was a pleasant surprise to find that our check total was a little under $50. It may sound like a lot, but I am used to always breaking the $100 barrier when it comes to sushi.

In summary, I definitely recommend Korea Gardens. It’s one of the better sushi joints that I have visited in Austin and I will definitely go back. For cash-strapped sushi junkies, this place can’t be beat.