Do you have one of those restaurants in your life at which you can’t help but order the same thing every time you visit? A menu item that captivates you so fiercely that you can’t not order it for fear that you may be abducted by clowns, dragged off to join the circus against your will, and never allowed to return to the restaurant again? I do. Stop looking at me that way.
The restaurant to which I refer is Dragon King’s Daughter, a sushi restaurant at 1126 Bardstown Road in the Highlands (there’s also a new location in New Albany). There’s really not a bad item on the menu that I am aware of, but anytime I wander in there, I find that I can only bring myself to order one thing, over and over and over. That menu item? The sashimi flatbread.
You see, while DKD (as its regulars lovingly call it) does feature a number of signature maki sushi rolls on its menu, as any self-respecting sushi restaurant would, it also offers a number of other interesting items that can perhaps best be called Japanese fusion — as in, there aren’t many other places around where you can get sushi tacos, you know?
But as a fan of sashimi — slices of raw fish, unencumbered by rice — this flatbread is the deal. It’s the one. I would eat it for breakfast. Or brunch. As a snack or as a meal. I would eat it on a boat, I would eat it with a goat. I would eat it in the rain, I would eat it on a train.
Sorry.
For a measly $9, you get a flatbread topped with organic fresh spring mix, sliced avocado, tamari mayo and more ahi tuna, salmon and super white tuna (escolar) sashimi than you can shake a stick at. There are also other toppings you can add — my favorite is fried garlic chips. Mmmm.
But what I really love about this dish is that if you order sashimi in any other sushi restaurant, it’s going to run you anywhere from $6 to $10 or $12. And that’s just for one type of fish. And it’s usually only about three slices.
Now, I’ll grant you that the slices on the sashimi flatbread are thinner than normal sashimi slices, but not by much — it’s still a bargain. For my money (all $9 of it), it’s one of the best sushi deals in Louisville.
It’s also kind of fun to eat. Your best bet is to pick it up with your hands (it’s pre-sliced) and eat it like pizza. The sashimi on the one I ordered a couple of weeks back was placed on the flatbread longways, side by side, so each piece evens out nicely for minimal fish slide when you bite down. (Yes, I just made up the phrase “fish slide.” You’re welcome.) It can still get a bit messy when eating it, but that’s part of the fun.
But if you aren’t into messy, and prefer to use chopsticks or (god forbid) a fork, you can opt for the sashimi salad. Same basic ingredients, but in a bowl, and DKD adds chopped red onions to the blend for a bit of kick. I’ve had this dish before as well, and it’s pretty much just as delicious as the sashimi flatbread. (And don’t forget to add the garlic chips. You won’t be sorry.)
During my most recent visit, I mentioned to the server that I was addicted to the sashimi flatbread, and she agreed that it and the sashimi salad may be her favorite parts of the menu as well. I’m guessing, though, that since she finds herself at Dragon King’s Daughter on a far more regular basis than do I, she probably varies her selections when dining there.
She’ll be sorry when the clowns come for her.
