First Taste ― Yoichi Brings Next Level Sushi Experience to Fort Worth

A new sushi restaurant has quietly opened along Magnolia Avenue. It has transformed the former Shinjuku Station space into one long sushi bar, offering dinner and a show by the expert sushi chefs. After a few weeks of soft opening in October, Yoichi Omakase & Handroll held its grand opening on November 1. Here’s what to order and everything you need to know about this trendy new Japanese restaurant.

Yoichi Omakase & Handroll, which translates to “night market” in English, was founded by three chefs ― Ian Kim, Mark Kim, and Ilwon Suhr. The three sushi chefs met while working in Dallas at Reunion Arena’s Crown Block.

Ian Kim was responsible for setting up the original sushi bar at Crown Block. His resume also includes the likes of Nobu Dallas, at Uchi, where he worked with James Beard Award-winning Chef Tyson Cole, and at Sushi by Scratch, for Michelin-awarded Chef Phillip Frankland Lee. How’s that for street cred?

When you enter Yoichi, you are met with a traditional Japanese call-out greeting, “irasshaimase” (pronounced ee-rah-shy-moss-eh). It means “welcome, please come in.” A server will show you to your seat at the long sushi bar and direct your attention to the daily specials written in English and Japanese on a wall board.

A Special Omakase Experience

The paper menu allows you to check the items you wish to order. First-timers will want to dive into the 12-course omakase meal for $89. Omakase is trendy and equates to chef’s choice, so you get a taste of what they have created for that day. It serves up a stunning array of very special items.

The meal begins with miso soup, and kushi katsu ― a panko-crusted and fried vegetable course with ponzu dipping sauce. It consisted of skewered okra and a Japanese pumpkin slice on the night we visited.

Then the Amuse-Bouche is presented, a chef’s special handroll creation. Ours was wrapped in a crisped nori sheet with crunchy quinoa topping. Then the omakase box of nine sushi creations is presented in a wooden box. Each compartment contains a jewel, almost too pretty to eat.

It was explained to us that the first row of madai (sea bream), kanpachi (amberjack), and hotate (sweet Hokkaido scallop, lightly torched) was to be eaten first, as it was the milder fish. Next, we should work our way to the bottom row, containing the stronger fish. It was Blue Fin akami (lean tuna), Botan Ebi (sweet shrimp from Canadian waters with nori and salt), and Sawara (Spanish mackerel dressed in seaweed and salt).

Finally, we were to save the best for last. The middle row held Salmon crudo (in a sweet miso sauce), a special combo sushi, smack dab in the middle (fatty tuna wrapped in a fresh shiso leaf was topped with creamy uni and caviar), and a Hamachi crudo (yellowtail in garlic ponzu sauce). Every bite was perfection.

The Rest of the Menu at Yoichi Omakase & Handroll

If you don’t choose to go the omakase route, you’ll still leave full and happy. Appetizers include miso soup, edamame, shishito peppers, and wasabi-flavored baby octopus. There are four fabulous crudos to choose from. The Hamachi (yellowtail) is served in a mustard garlic ponzu with onion chips and Thai chili. The Salmon crudo comes with sesame miso sauce, bubu arare (tiny toasted rice crackers), microgreens, and truffle oil.

The Blue Fin Tuna is one of the prettiest and most unusual flavor combinations I’ve ever tried. It is served in a puddle of coco zu (vinaigrette), with tiny cubes of coconut jelly, fresh mint, and honeydew melon. Likewise, the Madai (delicate snapper) was dressed in onion pear zu and topped with crispy Kataifi (that shredded phyllo that makes Dubai Chocolate so amazing). I would highly suggest you begin with a crudo dish.

Expertly Crafted Handrolls

There is a selection of special sushi items served one piece per order, perfect for mixing and matching. But the handrolls are the other star of Yoichi’s menu. You can order them individually or in sets of three rolls (for $15), four rolls (for $22), or five rolls (for $29). For those not familiar, handrolls are wrapped in seaweed sheets and served one by one, so the seaweed doesn’t get soggy.

Three stand-outs include the Salmon handroll served simply with sushi rice, Maldon salt, and crunchy onion. The Toro Toku gets a touch of sweetness from pickled daikon radish. And the Crab handroll is decadent, filled with snow crab in a garlic brown butter sauce finished with lemon juice and zest, then lightly torched.

Top-shelf sakes are served by the bottle (ranging from $33 to $90), or there are a couple that are single-serve juice box style. There is a nice selection of Japanese whiskies and beers as well.

The History of Sushi In Fort Worth ― How We Got Here

The Japanese Palace (which celebrated its 50^th anniversary this year) was the first restaurant to introduce sushi and sashimi to a wary and uninitiated clientele back in 1989. It remains one of the best in town, especially its clean sashimi.

Over the past 36 years, plenty of sushi spots have followed suit. Most of them serving simple, cream cheese-laden, deep-fried, and mostly anglicized (read dumbed-down) concoctions for our market. Tasty but not at all traditional.

A few rarities have really pushed the envelope. Among them, Tokyo Café owners, Jarry and Mary Ho, and Casey Kha introduced Fort Worth’s first izakaya experience at 711 Magnolia ― Shinjuku Station in 2011. Shinjuku brought interesting (more flavorful) handrolls, marinated crudos like the albino salmon, and its famous scallop and tuna tartar served atop crispy slices of daikon radish. It closed after a 12-year run in 2023, leaving behind the cool, shotgun-style space, which is now inhabited by Yoichi. We miss it desperately.

Then, Little Lilly Sushi was one of the first to really showcase fresh slices of nigiri (sushi rice topped with fish) and sashimi (traditional Japanese slices of fish). It opened in 2012, bringing an array of fish that we had not seen before in Cowtown.

More recently, Chef Jun Mo Yeon planted his Hatsuyuki Handroll Bar on Foch Street in 2018. The 25-seat U-shaped bar instantly became Fort Worth’s most authentic and elevated option, serving artistic handrolls and nigiri creations that guild-the-lily.

Yoichi Pushes Fort Worth’s Sushi Game Even Further

Yoichi Omakase & Handroll brings Fort Worth its first omakase-style sushi experience, with dramatic effect. I don’t often rave about new restaurants … this is me raving!

The ingredients and flavor combinations shine. It’s not just clean-tasting, fresh fish; every dish is a well-crafted bite. Many of the dishes encountered on my first visit are even better than you’ll find in many parts of Japan. Flavors, textures, and unexpected counterbalances are thought out. The dishes and friendly atmosphere is truly something special.

Fort Worth foodies are ready for better quality, “real-deal” sushi experiences like this.

Yoichi is a no-reservations, get-in-line-early kind of place. So, bring your patience and courtesy with you when you arrive. The delightful and attentive staff deserve it. They’ll give you the same hospitality and engaging experience when it’s your turn to dine. The current hours are Sunday through Thursday from 4:30 pm to 9:30 pm; Friday and Saturday from 4:30 pm to 10:30 pm.