Skewer Japanese Restaurant is Open Today

Skewer Japanese Restaurant is Open Today

A friend and I attended a preview dinner earlier this week at East Memphis' new Japanese restaurant, Skewer. They officiallly opened today.

Skewer is in the Sanderlin Shopping Center in East Memphis (the one with Muddy's) next to Cosmic Coconut. It's a shotgun-style place with a row of tables along one side and more tables at the front. There's a glassed-in kitchen area where you can sit and watch the chefs at work, fish-bowl style.

I dug the modern-ish decor and their logo, which is featured prominently on the back wall.

The menu has three main parts, zushi (they spell it with a 'z'), yakitori, and ramen. 

The only sushi roll I got to try was the Sriracha, which is a deep fried roll with salmon, asparagus, crabstick, and shrimp. Their sushi menu had all the standards; my friend tried the salmon and the tuna nigiri and said it was fresh and good. 

Yakitori is a Japanese method of grilling food on skewers, hence the restaurant's name.  I tried the salmon, asparagus, mixed veggies, and the chicken. You can order these by the skewer; they are about $3 each. The salmon could have used a sauce or some more flavoring, but I really, really liked the chicken. I am already planning on ordering it next time I go. My friend said the beef skewers were tender and juicy.


There's just something novel about food on a stick. Also, did I mention there were dumplings? They have dumplings, too.

Then it was ramen time, and were offered spicy or not-spicy. I went with not-spicy because I am a wimp. My friend chose the spicy, but he said it really wasn't hot at all. My bowl of ramen was beautiful, garnished with menma (bamboo shoot), roasted pork, and a hard boiled egg, among other things. There was also some dark oil floating in the broth; it had an interesting smoky flavor that I liked. I found out this was called mayu, and it's a black garlic oil. Side Note: there is also a Japenese noodle bowl section on the menu. 

The ramen was tasty and satisfying, though I couldn't finish mine because I was too full from everything else. The picture below is just a "sample size". The normal ramen bowls are much larger and will run you $10 - $12 at dinner.

We finished off our meal at Skewer with a simple chocolate cake that came out to our tables in the tiniest, cutest little container, topped with a raspberry that had a tiny gold flake on top. I think this was just a special dessert for the preview dinner, but it exemplified the attention to detail that we'd seen all night from all the decor, food, and presentation, and I think that's a good sign for Skewer. 

Skewer is open for lunch everyday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and for dinner from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. They have a kids menu and also sell beer and wine. Skewer is ADA accessible and vegetarian-friendly.

Go there:

Skewer
5101 Sanderlin Center, Suite 105

skewermemphis.com

Skewer on Urbanspoon

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Jenny
Skewer is great! We got the butcher shop, which came with about 6-8 different meat skewers & 2 veggie skewers. We also ordered the bacon-wrapped asparagus & curry-peanut tofu. A bit pricey, but novel & delicious! 
February 3, 2014 6:20pm
gina
I tried Skewer today, they are 2 doors down from our business. Their lunch menu is great. I had Gyudon beef, that is basically very yummy beef over rice, with an egg on top. The soup was included in the price. And for $8 it was a great meal... The service was very friendly. I think they will be popular soon if they keep the food quality, so go now before you need to wait for a table. 
February 6, 2014 3:32pm