A new family-run Asian restaurant has opened in Plano with some fusion dishes that are one of a kind. Dami Korean Fusion & Sushi debuted on March 1 at 17421 Preston Rd., south of Frankford Road, in the same center as Sharky's and Pera Turkish Kitchen, in a space that has housed more than one sushi-hibachi restaurant in recent years.
But Dami won't be doing hibachi. Instead, the restaurant is combining the sushi chops of chef Yong Jo with the Korean dishes of his family.
"I do the sushi, and my mom is doing Korean dishes," Jo says. "We're trying to create a fusion with Japanese, Korean, and American dishes, and also trying to make Korean food better known."
The menu offers traditional Korean items such as bulgogi, which they make with marinated pork, and bibimbap, the rice bowl topped with vegetables and a fried egg.
Samgyeopsal is a shared dish with pork belly and kimchi.
"We layer it with tofu, so you get the saltiness and spiciness from the pork and the kimchi, and between that, there's tofu, a soft taste that unites it together," Jo says. "You usually eat that when you're drinking. We want to create a place where family and friends can come together. We've tried to make the environment warm and inviting."
Some dishes cross borders, such as crispy tuna, a sashimi entrée which incorporates guacamole and tortillas. "I was trying to do sashimi with a Southern twist," Jo says.
Another invention is called "Korean style seafood pizza" that uses the word pizza liberally.
"It's not pizza in that it doesn't have cheese, but it has seafood with lots of scallion," he says. "The pizza crust is not a traditional crust, although I do make it with flour. It's fried, almost like a pancake."
A massive selection of sushi rolls includes some with rice, some without; some with raw fish, some with cooked; and some that are deep-fried, almost like a spring roll.
They're still working on getting their liquor license, so for now it's BYOB. It also has a philosophy.
"The story about this restaurant is that we believe food is medicine," Jo says. "If you eat good food, you don't get sick. We do eat fish, beef, proteins, but we eat vegetables. I have noticed in America that people often eat a lot of meat only, and you don't need that much. We're not trying to eat meat all the time. We're not trying to eat vegetables all the time. It's balanced."
