Chef Alan B.
Yelp
I had the pleasure of trying Sushi Mocki before a movie at Mockingbird station last Friday night. It was a little iffy to begin with. There is a sign on the door, ABSOLUTELY! No food or drink brought in from outside. Well, OK. It was 104 F outside and I had a can of seltzer water with me, inside a Koozie. After I was taken to a table, one server who had nothing to do with our table came over and said "I have to take your drink. The sign on the door states no food or drink brought in from the outside." I uncovered my can and handed it to the server (female, glasses, never saw a smile from her face the entire time I was there, and I had full view of the entire restaurant. Guadalupe' was our server and she was delightful. When I told her about losing my beverage, she apologized, brought two large glasses of ice water and again left the table. She came back with a bottle of Jarritos soda water, which was great and told me it was on the house. SURPRISE! OK. I am no longer pouting.
As stated, we were there to catch a movie, so we were watching our clocks. We ordered a pinot noir and a Sapporo and continued to look at the menu. Our server brought out a pinot grigio and it was immediately returned and quickly replace with red.
We ordered edemame and goyza as appetizers and to be followed with a spider roll and an Alaska roll. The rolls came out first (disappointing) and were presented beautifully, plenty of wasabi and gracious amount of picked ginger on the ends of our entree plate was added to our rolls. The appetizers made it to our table shortly after. I asked for garlic chili paste and was told that they "Only have sriracha." OK. I was just looking to add a bit more heat and flavoring to my soy and wasabi. Chefs do those kinds of thing, ya know?
The spider roll, my favorite to order when soft shell crab is available, was very tasty. I was hoping to see the tiny legs comin out of both ends, making the 2 dimensional sliced sushi roll view become 3D. Sadly it wasn't but, it was delicious. The Alaska roll was also fresh and tasty. The goyza was nicely served with 5 dumplings on a bed of mixed field greens and manicured vegetables. Each dumpling was a delight, flavorful, and the ingredients were not low quality, but freshly made by hand. RECOMMEND! The edimame was a large serving, so many that we did not finish them all. However my guest asked for salt to put on them. Guadalupe' brought us a small dish of course salt to sprinkle with our fingers across all those al dente cooked beans.
We also ordered the softshell crab appetizer as we were finishing our meal. It came out quickly and there were the little long legs I was looking for, four pieces of crab, looked like a sculpture. Bravo chef!
As I asked for the check, the owner (?) came over to the table to personally greet us, asked to bring us another complimentary glass of wine and beer. "Well, OK THEN!" He also gave us a VIP membership card good for 20% off our next check." Our check was unbelievable low. For everything I described, we were only charge around $62. Of course, Guadalupe' got a 20% tip, but still, $74 for what we got was worth writing about.
I must talk about the atmosphere. LOUD! There were four young women sitting next to us when we first arrived and they each had strong enough voices to go audition for musical theater, if not opera. As soon as they left, there was a calm in the air and food even tasted better. I know, some of you may say "What do you expect on a Friday night, right across from SMU dorms?" Acoustics do play a big part in understanding how to operate a restaurant. The energy of all the employees was high and viewing many other patrons, the energy carried over to those dining. What was missing for me was to be able to sit at the bar and see the chef preparing the food. Oh, the do have a bar, which is where they serve beverages. (sigh).
Anyway, to get to the point, I will be returning. Sushi Mocki has only been opened 2 months and it appears they have most of their act together, but I will make sure on my next trip to not bring in a can of water.