Bangkok-Tokyo — Restaurant in Amarillo

Me and my father have been on the road for a good few hours. We’ve been driving from Shiprock for 7.5 hours and we were looking for a place to dine in. I was waking up, droopy eyed and eyes red. My dad had asked with his signature smile in his gentle eyes, “Mcdonalds?”, I replied with a “no.” Hopeful for me to pick, he again asked “Wienerschnitzel?”, I relied with another “No”, in a sleepy voice.

After a bit of a good back and fourth, he said to look up the best sushi places in Amarillo. This quaint place has caught my eyes with an endearing 4.7 stars on good. My eyes darted around the screen, it was 3:46 pm. Google had stated it was closed, yet it would open in another 14 minutes. With a hearty voice, my father had said.. “Sounds good. By the time we get there it’ll be 4 o’clock and it’d be open”.

So, we drove down from the freeway and past a lovely avenue with a mural nearby and turned into it.. We were instantly greeted and sat down. There was another couple already inside. They seemed quite lovely.

So, my dad had went to use the restroom. It was outside to the right. The restroom, despite being outside, was clean with a good amount of toilet rolls on the shelf.

okay i can’t keep typing like this,, alright, i ordered a pink lemonade, the drinks were already nice and cold without ice and the cups were frozen in a good way. the portions, you’d expect to be small, but the teriyaki bowl was more than enough to fill me up.

we had fried tofu, it was nice and warm. the outside as quoted, “the color of a good pumpkin pie.”, so a nice, light golden brown :3 it was crunchy on the outside and soft with every bite. the sweet and spicy soft was pretty good too.

in short, this restaurant was very deserving of it’s stars, i would come back to this everytime if i could. 7.5 hours of...

ROACHES! I used to think this place was OK. Was always concerned at how cramped up the place is, how slightly over priced some things like soup are, and how the walls are dirty from years of people's food splatter on the wall... but I over looked it for 3 visits on a row. Then today, I find the most disgusting thing, a couple roaches in my husband's coffee. The small kind that if you see a small baby one in your cup that you know at night, there are hundreds that come out from the walls. I will never return and I couldn't even finish my meal after that. I have only seen one roach at another restaurant and it was an outdoor one and that may be fine.... but these roaches are the kind you see when there is a cleanliness issue in the kitchen. The ones that live in walls by hundreds. I got the coffee comped, but I should have had everything comped because roaches are the last thing I would want to see when I go to a restaurant like this. The lady, which I assume is the manager, came to the table and asked me if she comped the coffee if everything will be fine. I said yes only because I was being nice. Sorry, it is never OK to see a roach in food, I just didn't want to make a scene because there were elderly next to us. I just can't return. Sorry guys, your food is good but I don't trust it now. And you all really need to clean or paint the walls. I am sure it was just us and I am wrong, but I don't believe it so. The normal thing to do is to tell your customers everything will be comped for this mishap, not give the customer the option because I didn't go there for a free...

Originally being from the Texas Panhandle/South Plains, I was in Amarillo a lot in the past. Long before I was writing Yelp reviews I would come to this restaurant every time I came to Amarillo. Recently, I returned to the area to visit and upon arriving in Amarillo around lunch time after a 10 hour drive, I headed straight here.

I’ve seen a few reviews saying that people may be put off by the exterior but after having come here so many times I find it endearing and authentic. The parking lot is small and so is the dining area. This place gets packed but luckily on both counts I’ve never had to wait. I like everything about this place, from the decorations to the ambiance, it feels very vibrant. The staff is super friendly and the guy running the front area and wait staff, is one of the most outgoing, gregarious people I’ve ever met.

The food quite simply is amazing! Over the years I’ve had almost every sushi roll or sashimi here and have never left disappointed. The Thai food is bursting with authentic flavor and incredibly delicious and as spicy as you desire. I’ve been living in Houston for a while now and I would still put the Thai food at Bangkok Tokyo on that upper echelon tier with some of the restaurants in the area. Who knew you could find authentic Thai food in West Texas? I did. Now you do to. If you are ever in Amarillo whether by choice or not, make your best decision to eat at...