It was only a matter of time: A restaurant called Gangnam Sushi House has opened in Carrollton, at the intersection of Old Denton Road and George Bush Turnpike, serving an unusual combination of Korean and Japanese food.
No Psy-style rapping, says manager Nick Kin. Instead, it's a reference to a district in Seoul, Korea, and offers a tip-off to the restaurant's Korean roots.
"We have some specific menu items from Korea and Japan," Kin says. "Sushi, sashimi, sushi rolls — those are Japanese, and we do those. But in Korea, there is also a Korean-type of sashimi there. We are not mixing them; we're putting it all together as a fresh fish restaurant."
The restaurant's specialty is shared platters, with colorful, often-whimsical rolls cut to look like animals. The founder is Young Hwang, who has more than 40 years of experience at restaurants such as the similarly named KangMan Sushi in Atlanta.
Gangnam does a Korean twist on sushi that involves a secret sauce, Kin says. "Sashimi means a fresh cut of filet," he says. "The Korean type is a little different because they put a different sauce with it. It's a spicy, red-colored sauce with a sour-sweetened flavor. We put it together with sashimi."
Of course, Korean food is on an equal footing, with shared meals starring Korean specialties such as barbecue beef, accompanied by small dishes known as banchan.
"We built that into the restaurant design," Kin says. "We have private rooms that hold parties of six, plus a large room that holds up to 30 people for parties. Every room has its own door.
"There's going to be a little different design from the usual Japanese-Korean restaurant," he says.
Gangnam does sushi, sashimi and Korean dishes too.
