Top Knot

Got lucky enough to be able to go to the soft opening and was super excited. We are big fans of Uchi downstairs so we knew it would be an experience.
We sat at the long table across from the kitchen and it was excited to be able to see all the food walk by. The atmosphere is nice with the cute twist on the design.
The waiter gave about 5 recommends (Hot Fried Chicken Bun, Yucca Chips, Gai Lan, Diver Scallop, Miyazaki A5) and we took them all plus added a couple. We were most excited about the Miyazaki A5 as we saw the couple next to us raving about it. This is an item I highly recommend as it basically melts in your mouth and you will want more!
We ordered the Sweet Gem Caesar, which is said to be able to be eaten with you fingers, but it does get messy. If you are not a huge fan of huge amounts of Parmesan (which I am not) I wouldn’t recommend getting it as it does over power the top of the salad.
We finished with the Pear Nabe, which was amazing. We were literally scrapping the bottom on the bowl .
If you have the chance I highly recommend going!

Unlike the hipster top knot fashion trend, which hopefully fades into obsolescence, Top Knot has serious staying power. The casual cousin of Austin-​based, nationally-​acclaimed, Japanese-​inspired hotspot Uchi – newly arrived in Dallas – Top Knot is nestled atop the new Dallas location so its name makes literal sense.
A festively-​tiled stairway, opposite Uchi’s front door, leads patrons up to a spacious and open second level. Top Knot feels somewhat like Uchi with a generously-​sized bar – upwards of twenty seats – and considerable use of soft, unfinished woods, but it differs with its use of brightly-​painted walls, including a big red one in the back, and a slightly louder, more relaxed (read: «fun») atmosphere.
With relatives like Uchi and Uchiko, the standard culinary of success at Top Knot is markedly high. Top Knot head chef Angela Hernandez has stupendous sister menus to draw inspiration from and while their influence is apparent, she has managed to incorporate the best elements of Top Knot’s ancestors while blazing a wholly new trail.
Start with something from the Top Five Happy Hour Menu (ten items for five dollars each) like the Kimchi Caramel Onigiri with a soft poached egg, and candied garlic – the egg was perfectly textured. Also try the Pork Katsu slider with miso mustard, apple, and sprouts; the crisp pork is complemented flawlessly by the miso mustard which would be good on anything – anything, really. Yucca crisps with an edamame-​jalapeño-​lime hummus are excellent. Among the two crudo options, Hamachi with cucumber, grape, and hazelnut was a revelation. Our fantastic waiter, Brian, was right to recommend the Sweet Gem Caesar salad; somewhat disassembled, it encapsulates everything to love about modern Caesar salad replete with bottarga and reggiano shavings. Try a vegetable like the Gai Lan, a broccoli relative, that’s roasted with white ponzu, chili, and crunchy garlic. As main plates, do not pass up the Miso Brown Sugar Salmon with black garlic dashi and the Whole Fried Whitefish with nam pla, black lime, and green papaya. The menu says to eat the whitefish with fingers – do it. Top off dinner with the PDC, an outrageously-​good, well-​balanced pot de crème with marshmallow schmear, candied ginger, and granola corn flakes or the Asian Cobbler with pear, candied walnuts, miso ice cream, and the divine thing that is puffed rice.
Top Knot offers a full bar, including liquor – Uchi and Uchiko do not – and the cocktail options are a refreshing departure from the tried and true. The Mule substitutes smoky mezcal for the vodka and pairs it with passion fruit, artisan ginger beer, and cucumber – sublime. Solid wine options are available, top notch sake is plentiful, and a well-​rounded beer list, including over ten taps, is welcome.
At Top Knot, expect attentive and informed service, a fun, lively atmosphere, and a gastronomic experience that, frankly, raises the bar for relaxed dining in Dallas. Take note big brother Uchi, little brother might be better.

Went for the soft-​opening. Was not disappointed in the slightest.
Love the ambiance of the place. A lot like Uchi/​Uchiko. Soft wood, nice bar area, colorful too! It’s a great atmosphere like Uchi. I went earlier in the night, but I feel that once the sun sets the lighting will be great there as well. Love the soft lamps at the bar area.
As for the food… very impressed as well.
People from Austin have heard of East Side King, Paul Qui’s (who used to work at Uchiko under T. Cole) food truck creation. You see influence of east side kings food at Top Knot, and it’s welcome to have some of that food here in Dallas. «Tiger Cry» Bao, an item at TK, was likely influenced by a popular dish at ESK-​thai kun, the waterfall pork. Chicken Karaage was also a staple of ESK.
There are also some original dishes here, but I only tried the Yucca Chips, the Karaage, and the tiger cry bao. All were great, good portions, and offered unique flavors.
One thing I love about Uchi and now Top Knot, is how there are so many dishes here that you can’t really find anywhere else. The atmosphere is great, and the service, as for all T. Cole restauraunts, is superb (Split tips so everyone works together).
Can’t wait to be back at Top Knot to try more of the menu!

We were lucky to attend the soft open of Top Knot, the new, more casual sibling of downstairs-​neighbor Uchi. Naturally, we tried everything we could get our hands on!
The design is trendy and reminds me of an Asian-​themed street market, with tile-​lined walls, colorful art, and natural wood everywhere. There is an inside dining area and a good-​sized patio that looks out onto Maple. FYI, they don’t take reservations for parties of less than 6.
First off, they serve cocktails! Not having a full bar has been my only criticism of Uchi from the start, so it’s nice to see the team changing things up. I’d recommend the Pegu Club for something a little stronger, and the Sparrow’s Nest for a milder, creamier drink. I also tried the Birdhouse Bramble; it was well made but not quite worth the $ 11 price tag.
Small plates make up almost the entire menu, which isn’t obvious at first given the pricing ($ 7 – 13 each). The Yucca chips were fun and served with a delicious edamame hummus that tempered the slightly spicy seasoning on the chips. We tried the spicy tuna, veggie banh mi, and yellowtail hand rolls, and they were all well-​made but not mind-​blowing. You probably can get 4 bites out of each one, so it’s not hard to share. Each one comes with a recommended sauce, which I think is necessary to bring out the flavors of the rolls. The branzino crudo was light, tangy, and overall a great dish (very similar to ceviche). From what I can tell the main ingredient changes often (ask your server; this wasn’t clear on the menu); ours was grapefruit which was perfectly sweet and not too tart.
The buns were some of our favorite dishes on the menu, just remember to order more than one because they are difficult to share (they are roughly slider-​sized and priced individually, even though you will see servers walking around with trays of 2 – 3)! The hot fried chicken bun was good, a nice combination of tart pickle with a sweet parker house bun. The chicken had a crispy skin and the meat was tender. I could probably eat the «Tiger Cry» Bao all day. Tender short rib with a tangy barbecue-​like sauce in a soft bao bun; it doesn’t get much better than this!
There are a variety of vegetable bowls as well, but honestly I was more excited by the rest of the menu so we didn’t focus much time here. The brown butter beets were flavorful, and you could tell a lot of effort went into the choice of ingredients, but next time I probably will just order more buns instead.
The «Meats and Fish» section of the menu is the closest thing to entrees you will find. The diver scallop was excellent; two large tender scallops over a bed of pureed carrot with pumpkin seed granola to add a crunch. I highly recommend this one. Since we were going all out, I ordered the Miyazaki A5, which I was disappointed with. I felt like the meat was too fatty, and although well cooked, had an overly smooth texture for my taste. My wife felt it was too salty, and overall the size was small (I ballpark it around 3 – 4 oz.). I’ve eaten plenty of nice steak in my life, but never specifically this grade, so maybe I just don’t know what an A5 steak should taste like. For $ 60 you’re better off going to one of Dallas’ many great steakhouses. The crispy pork katsu, however, was perfect for two and comes with hot mustard, a tangy brown sauce (for lack of a better term) and a side of tasty apple cabbage slaw. My only regret is not figuring out the fish dish everyone else had!
The desserts were creative; my hands-​down favorite was the macaroon ice cream sandwich. The name describes best; imagine a macaroon stuffed with caramel ice cream rolled in sesame seeds to add a bit of saltiness. There is chocolate powdered sugar puffed rice hiding in the bottom of the tin as well. I could have skipped the strawberries and cream; the strawberry sauce had a hint of that commercial filling/​too sweet flavor to it. The chocolate PDC was basically a dense chocolate pudding with mildly sweet whipped cream and corn flakes. I think this is their take on Uchi’s fried milk, but Uchi’s is better.
Overall we had a really fun time trying Top Knot, and I’m excited to see what cool things they have coming in the future. I definitely want to come back for happy hour (5 drinks and 5 plates for $ 5). I do think it’s a mistake not to take reservations for less than six people, as it will make it harder to be motivated to stick around for a full meal (I imagine they will be perpetually busy). Also of note, the pricing was similar overall to Uchi, even though I expected a cheaper menu to go along with the more casual vibe. Granted, we ordered a TON (including the $ 60 steak), but even excluding the steak it would have been ~$ 90/​person before tax and tip if not for the soft open discount. I do think, however, that the perfect evening could start upstairs at Top Knot with a few cocktails, hand rolls, and buns shared among friends, then finish downstairs with a full meal at Uchi (omakase, of course!).

I pigged out, ordered 13 dishes and shared with my friend. I mean hey, that’s what the whole concept of his restaurant is right? Sharing is caring :)
Really enjoyed the décor, reminds me of an old school Asian eatery with all the green cushions and the use of wood throughout. The menu reminds me of downstairs’.
Really liked how waiters going around serving fresh new plates in between dishes. Rarely see that service in restaurants in USA anymore.
As I type this review, mind you that I just flew back from a month’s long trip in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Japan, and a weekend trip to San Francisco few days ago so I might be comparing apples to apples.
I enjoyed the Miyazaki A5 the most, it melts in your mouth! Best thing ever in that whole restaurant. The Karaage is comparable to downstairs (Uchi), more spices on the crust I think but a little too much sauce that reminds me a little bit of getting boneless chicken wings at Hooters. But I love those marinated pears that goes with it, urgh so juicy!!!
Hand rolls were just ok, but that house special fish sauce that goes with it is so god damn good! Even better than momofuku’s ssam sauce. There’s this hint of anchovies/​dried shrimp taste that has a hint of Malaysian Sambal to it. I can eat this sauce all day or add it to my stir fry. Somebody might need to update me what he actual ingredients are in this holy sauce because different waiters describe it differently (kimchi, shrimp, fish sauce?) And please let me know if they start selling this sauce by the bottle!
Moving on, I was really disappointed with the Gai Lan (which literally means Chinese Broccoli). It’s the 180 degree opposite of what Cantonese style cooking of Gai Lan is. It’s overpowered with yuzu soy sauce and a hint of Sriracha in it. Makes the whole dish tastes sour, which is a huge no-​no in traditional Cantonese cooking. And believe me, you do not want to offend the Cantonese with their most favorite vegetable dish. And trust me, because I have ¼ Cantonese blood in me. Next dish was the tapas inspired dish, which is small potatoes in horseradish, sea salt and fresh cream sauce. Probably goes well if you were drinking, but i wasn’t that day and was not feeling sourish food that day. Good portion though!
The pork bun and sliders were decent and flavorful. Love the use of pears in the slider, makes it crunchier. Pork bun might be too small to be shared. Yucca chips are pretty good too, love that the hummus is spread on the side of the bowl. You can really taste the citrus and the cilantro in it.
Last but not least, dessert. Pear Nabe was really good, the waiter pours the caramel sauce for you. I would think that there’s too much caramel in it and would appreciate if they cut the amount down so I get to taste more of the actual dessert. Love the other Asian inspired ingredients in this dish like the rice crispies etc. the strawberry cheesecake that is served in a fishbowl rocks! Not too sweet and comes with strawberries and this weird Sriracha tasting jelly (again, somebody needs to update me what this is).
Really felt like a good place to hang out and catch up with friends. I was there for more than 2 hours, feel bad for all those waiting in line at the bar.
PS. Regret. For not ordering that fish bowl dish everybody else was ordering. Argh… Maybe next time!

Top Knot is amazing! The décor is clean and contemporary. The patio will be great when the weather warms up!
Top Knot is a small plate restaurant, so you start off ordering 4 – 5 items. The chef then decides in which order your items will come out. We had the pickled shrimp hand roll, steamed short rib bun, fried chicken bun, crispy pork, Korean style ceviche, and the pear dessert. My absolute favorite was the fried chicken bun. The sauce is spicy and sweet, the chicken is perfectly crispy, and the bun was soft and delicious. We loved it so much that we ordered another one before we left.
There were so many other things we didn’t get to try, and we will definitely be back soon to try them. I would recommend making a reservation since the restaurant is on the smaller side.