Shogun Express

wanna be japanese ;)

Bad. If you know Japanese food this place is an impostor: cold miso shiru, ranch dressing for tempura that is deep fried shrimp, instant ramen, tea bag for ocha and the audacity to charge Japanese resto prices. Avoid!

I had noticed this place opened over in a quiet little corner of one of the older shopping centers in Rockwall.
Being a fan of trying to find good, economical sushi, I was intrigued. Weeks went by as I’d drive by, eyeing it warily. Finally, my weekly Tuesday lunch ritual with my Dad came, and I convinced him to go.
Boy, am I glad we did!
Coming in the door, I was immediately taken in by the environment. Even though this space is small, and many of us remember it’s former life as a Subway, they’ve gone to great lengths to really create a Japanese atmosphere. Simple tables spread throughout the restaurant, but the walls are lined in the Japanese paper windows (sorry, I don’t know the formal term), water fountains and plants placed on every available ledge.
As we entered, the chef stepped from behind the counter to take our drink order. Not the usual place where the sushi chefs are too busy to even look up, let alone acknowledge your existence.
He hands us some simple, two-​sided menus with colorful pictures and price lists. Looking through it, they had a HUGE selection with a good mix of rolls, sashimi, hand rolls, and soups. I didn’t expect this at all.
Luckily, there was a lunch menu, also, with some great lunch combinations, combining various rolls together with a bowl of miso and a drink. I picked the Spicy Tuna Roll and Spicy Salmon Roll lunch special, and a Dragon Roll for us to split (mental note: the portions here are big. I really didn’t need all of this food, but it was oh-​so-​good).
He left, and returned immediately with our bowls of miso. The miso was really excellent. Not like miso I had anywhere else. The broth itself had a interesting flavor, and almost a bit of a bite as if it had a touch of vinegar (no clue, just guessing). That, combined with the fresh pieces of seawood and tofu floating in it, and I devoured it happily.
Not long after, out came our food. Nicely arranged on the plate, with a little arrangement of wasabi and ginger. Excited, I dug in.
I always like to judge my sushi places by their Spicy Tuna. I know, that’s a bit bogus, but in my head it’s a good, simple order that either goes well, or terribly, terribly wrong. In this case, it was INCREDIBLE! I was really happy with their Spicy recipe — it was a mesh of raw fish, some type of spicy mayo type sauce, and finely diced pieces of green onion.
Sounds weird? Sure, but very, very tasty.
From there, it was a bit of a blur. I only remember my Dad and I exchanging the occasional, garbled, «Mmm… good… yes… good…» between bites.
The Dragon Roll was good, not great. Typical Dragon Roll, if you’ve had it before, the only gotcha was that it had a white sweet sauce on top that I’d never had, and was kinda odd. It really threw me off. I’m not sure I’d order this roll again, personally.
Overall, I couldn’t be happier. Lunch specials ranged from $ 8 – 11 for two rolls and a bowl of miso. Most rolls were in the same range. Without the Dragon Roll today, we could have easily eaten for $ 12/​person and had killer sushi for lunch.
I highly recommend it if you’re stuck in Rockwall with a craving for good, affordable sushi. Well worth the stop.