Letitia Rae B.
Google
CLEAN GRILL AWARD 🥇
FRESH ALTERNATIVE 🫑
CLEAN RESTAURANT AWARD 🥇
Date night Friday early evening 6:30 pm May 20th, 2022. We stopped at Hibachi Darma the new hibachi sushi-sake restaurant located in Mound Minnesota (my home town a few blocks down). We were the 2nd customers in at that time. We sat at the sushi bar. I ordered a Sapporo Asian beer and it paired perfectly with my dish. There is also a extensive Sake selection, even warm Sake as well. Other alcoholic beverages were available including wine. You can ask for a glass of water with ice, or you can have bottled water. There were also a few pop selections in a cooler near the Hibachi order area.
On first arrival the look of the restaurant is extremely clean and tidy with place settings at the sushi bar and a welcoming feel. Others started arriving just after we received our meals, and by the time we’d finished, the restaurant had a few more tables. I also noted a few carry outs. Not too busy.
Attentive staff and speedy response. You are given chopsticks, but regular table service with forks and knives are available just for the asking. Soy sauce is plentiful and right at the table in quaint small ceramic bottles.
The room is spacious and airy, with a large window, tables throughout and a long bench across the back of the room with tables attached. One huge farm-like table is great for large groups.
One thing I noticed while sitting at the sushi bar was a strong smell of either glue or paint that was a bit overwhelming at times. The place is quite new so I assume it’s something to do with newer construction of some sort.
Aside from that, we started with the California sushi roll that came with a good dab of wasabi and a bit of pickled ginger. Wasabi was fresh and kickin’! The pickled ginger was a bit on the dry side but flavor was great. The crab in the sushi roll was amazingly delicious and fresh, and the first try of their sushi was a hit! There were many other selections of sushi, some specialty rolls that look amazing and are higher priced than the regular rolls. Check the menu for those price differences.
We also had the Miso soup and Onion soup, both of which were warm & delicious and a welcome difference from other soups in the Mound restaurant area. A good sized portion as well! Don’t be afraid of trying those soups!
Our entrees came within 10-15 minutes and were piping hot with steam rolling. We ordered the Hibachi chicken and the Hibachi shrimp dinners. Both included a large mound of fried rice mixed with some vegetables & egg. Also came with fresh sautéed zucchini with sweet onions and mushrooms in a delicious light Asian sauce - it was just the best!! You also get a huge amount of chicken, sautéed in small pieces and they throw in a few pieces of shrimp as well. The shrimp dinner had the same rice and sautéed veggies with grilled (or sautéed) shrimp piled high. The overall flavor was perfect and what I’d expect for this type of dining experience, and for the price.
Prices were inching toward being a bit high for the dinners but in all actuality were generally consistent if you were to travel out of the area and pay for gas and have a few drinks. Sushi and the items offered here in this restaurant are not inexpensive to import.
We decided to support our local business by staying close to home, and it was worth it.
The only negative I could say was the chicken pieces were a tad bit dry. However that is remedied by pouring some of their white sauce (YumYum) over the entree, and adding a bit of their soy sauce (which I noted was a bit different than your home soy sauce, in that it was a bit sweet) - plus you can ask for a side of Sriracha hot sauce, all those sauces put together were absolutely delicious !!
By this time we were getting very full, and asked for to-go containers and small one ounce snap lid side containers to take home some YumYum and Sriracha sauces. This will make the BEST midnight snack warmed up in the microwave. Given 5 stars for delicious fresh hot Asian cuisine dining! WE’LL BE BACK
