515 4th Street, Santa Rosa CA 95401
(707) 544-8399
Parking: street parking in front, pay parking lot in rear
http://www.texwasabis.com/
Last Visited: December 29, 2004
Food: 3 stars
Atmosphere: 3 to 4 stars
Service: 3 stars
Price: $$ to $$$
Tex Wasabi’s is located in downtown Santa Rosa. I went there before Guy Fieri became famous.
The first thing to be said about it is that it has flare. Outside, you can see the torches with the lights placed in such a way to make the torches appear flaming. The concept is certainly the first of its kind in Santa Rosa.
This looks like it would be a great place to go out with your friends for some drinks and to unwind. There are two units adjacent to one another – the unit with the entrances has the bars and the adjacent unit is the dining room. Front and rear entrances lead to the bar. There is a sushi bar near the rear of the room with a glass case displaying fresh fish, octopus, and other seafood. Patrons can sit on the raised high back chairs at the bar and watch their sushi being made. The front entrance leads to the alcohol bar on the left and on the right are small tables lining the walls also with raised high back chairs. This bar is long and takes up most of the room. It’s dark rich color along with the dark floor contrast with the creamy colored walls. The yellow/orange lamps add to the mood of the room.
Between the two bars is the entrance to the dining room. In this room are large tables seating anywhere from two to six people. It’s very spacious and what’s nice is that a table for six is often used to seat four. Mirrors line the side of this room, giving the room an open feel. Adjustable track lighting sits above the tables, and additional recessed lamps also light the room. There is a window in the front of the room that brings in natural light. The tables have a mixed green surface and are dark burgundy near the edge. The dark burgundy runs throughout the room, below the mirrors, and on the wall behind the sushi bar in the dining room. From the ceiling dangle large Asian folding fans. On the wall is a large wood frame that has clean lines.
The tables have plates with small dipping sauce plates on top. A fork and knife are folded into a black napkin roll. Multiple wooden chopsticks in their paper wrappers sit in a holder on the table along with the drink menu.
Service was prompt and courteous. So onto the food.
- Killer Egg Rolls – A new addition to the menu based on customer feedback, two egg rolls are cut on the bias and served on a black triangular plate on top of red cabbage. Mandarin oranges decorate the tips of the plate. The egg rolls contain marinated chicken, cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots, ginger, onion, and garlic. A teriyaki dipping sauce accompanies the egg rolls and there is a drizzle of the sauce on the egg rolls as well. The egg rolls themselves are hot with a crispy wrapper. There is a nice blend of flavors. The presentation was very nice, but the word egg roll really conjures up something different in my mind. Chicken is basically never used in an authentic egg roll. I would have preferred that this be named killer chicken rolls or chicken egg rolls. $6
- Vegas Fries – Shoestring French fries are tossed in buffalo sauce and served with bleu-sabi. These shoestring fries are turned orange by the coating of the buffalo sauce, and actually seem hotter when dipped into the sauce. They’re piled high on an oval metal plate and taste good when hot out of the deep fryer. Of course, as the meal winds down, you’ll find they may have gone soggy, but are good if you like buffalo wings. Probably best eaten with a large group of people unless you’re a fry maniac. $4
- Pulled Pork Sandwich – Three pork sliders are served with your choice of one side. Three small square buns are in a row and ready to be pulled apart. They’re filled with a thin layer of coleslaw on top of a layer of pulled pork in barbecue sauce. I selected shoestring fries as my side, and they were lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. The sandwich and fries were also served on a metal plate with a slice of orange and some decorative greens. Not what I was expecting, but okay. $7
Sushi rolls range from $5 to $15. The sushi is presented well on square white plates, and small rectangular plates. One comment from another member at the tables was that one of the larger rolls (the Tres Amigos) was cut too big so that it was difficult to eat. The comments I heard about the gringos rolls, in particular the Jackass roll (French fries and barbecue pork paired with avocado), was that it didn’t taste right although it was creative.
I seemed to have missed the southwestern part of the décor. Aside from the bar in the front, most of the décor seemed to be aimed toward the Asian side rather than the BBQ side.
It’s hard to pinpoint what I don’t like about Tex Wasabi’s. The food is fresh. The presentation is nice. Service is good. So what’s wrong? Well, one thing is that when I asked for extra napkins to wipe my hands after eating my pork sliders, I got cloth napkins, and in fact, I found a hair on my new napkin. I prefer paper napkins when wanting extra napkins. Yet that’s not it. Maybe it’s because the napkins are black, so you can’t see where you’ve touched it, and you can’t find a new place that’s clean to wipe your hands because you don’t know what’s clean. Well, it’s probably the hair on the napkin.
Price is okay for some items and on the expensive side for other items. It’s still hard to decide what I don’t like about the place, but it boils down to being good at more than one thing or really excelling at the one thing you’re good at. In this case, I would prefer to go to two specialty restaurants, one for my barbecue, and one for my sushi. Tex Wasabi’s is creative, but just not a combination that interests me. It’s new and different, but not quite what I’m looking for. Check it out and decide for yourself.
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