Norman's Japanese Grill

Norman’s Japanese Grill Is Open in Dallas. Here’s a Look at the Menu. | Eater Dallas

"Hottest-and-hardest-to-book is the Duro Hospitality pattern, and the trend continues here, a Western Japanese restaurant that opened on Friday, August 1 in Homewood’s former space and marries Japanese dishes, spices, and techniques with Old West archetypes, plus flashes of Chinese, Korean, and Thai. The menu ranges from edamame hummus—blended three times to a slightly granular, vegan, craveable spread—centered with an aromatic plum chutney and served with warm, shichimi-dusted wonton chips kept in the dehydrator, to cold-smoked hamachi where the pureness of tom kha sauce, fish caramel, papaya, and charred shiitakes lets you still taste the fish, a recipe chef Benjamin Norton has worked with his entire career. Udon carbonara nods to the team’s love of noodles and to the Charles, with egg yolks cured in tare, shiro dashi, dashi, black pepper, large daily-rendered pancetta, pickled mustard greens (the aha moment), and fresh lemon. Korean fried chicken evolved from karaage into a wet-battered, extra-crispy bird tossed about 80 percent in Norton’s mom’s gochujang sauce and finished with pickled cucumbers, negi, and toasted sesame. A 45-day dry-aged cowboy rib-eye is crusted with salt and black pepper on the grill kept from Homewood, brushed with tare before it comes off, paired with a punchy, spicy, acidic, crunchy papaya salad, and optionally finished with honey butter torched tableside. The sushi program runs with three chefs; if you order just one piece, make it the bluefin otoro topped with pickled red pearl onion, crispy garlic, and then hit with frozen foie gras. Pro-tip: order the Crazy 88, a mezcal margarita with wasabi and lemongrass. Open now for dinner, with reservations on OpenTable." - Courtney E. Smith