Yeah, we too were nervous eating raw fish at a place whose name conjures Burger King. But the just-opened Sushi King (3401 Kirby Drive, 713-528-8998) is a wonderful Japanese eatery. Husband-and-wife owners Keeper and Christine Lin, who are also responsible for Kaneyama on Westheimer, have teamed up with executive chef Fumi Hirose to create Sushi King’s menu. Try the sashimi salad ($9.50). The presentation is very stylized — can you create a salad following feng shui? — with sculpted wisps of fried sweet potato waving over slices of sashimi shrimp, tuna and yellowtail. The plate also features a tiny pastry bowl filled with crisp greens that sits next to cold sliced beets. Dab the fish and veggies into the au poivre sauce drizzled on the plate, and don’t forget the boiled quail egg. It’s only fuchsia because of the beets.
This article appears in Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2005.