DK Sushi & Seoul Korean Restaurant — Restaurant in Austin

Over 14 years ago around 2010, I lived and grew  up 4 blocks away from DK Sushi south of Bedichek middle school. I flipped on an old-as-bones CRT TV, that had the weight of Sisyphus' boulder and the size of a heel wrestlers ego like Ric Flair, to Austin's public access channel, which I believe was channel 10 at the time, hosted by ME TV featuring DK Sushi and the late Sushi Pimp, may he rest in peace.

I actually never caught the name of the restaurant at that time. I only remembered that on a certain day (Tuesdays?) the owner would dress up extravagantly and act in character as the Sushi Pimp, tease the patrons, there was karaoke, and that it was a great place to go on a date.

When I wanted to find out where it was located after catching this glimpse of the ME TV staff showcasing local eats documentary style I'd google search "sushi pimp austin, texas" which helped me find more information related to that memory and what the sushi establishment was called. I eventually saved the location to my google maps in anticipation that one day i'd go out to eat at DK Sushi.

That day was today! Sitting inside brought back a lot of childhood memories since this neighborhood is where I grew up. For example, there once existed a comic shop next door to DK Sushi which is where I dragged my grandma to after school once as she waited in the car. I bought a couple of Cowboy Bebop manga using pocketed lunch money which meant I had to skip far too many school meals in order to buy things my Mom couldn't afford. As I got back in the car my poor Grandma proceeded to stare disapprovingly at the scantily clad Faye Valentine on one of the covers. Across S-1st, where the AutoZone now sits, used to be the infamous downtrodden "ghetto HEB". A few stores down from that HEB was a Blockbuster. And the McDonald's in the parking lot had an outside covered playscape which included a giant human faced tree, so essentially an Alice in Wonderland type of setting. This was before McDonald's bleached out all the creativity they had left after many national playscapes were hit with safety related issues leading to lawsuits, followed by diminishing returns in profits.

Thus DK Sushi remained on my bucket list due to financially constrained circumstances, while being very introverted, coupled with suffering from mental illness causing disabilities such as anxiety, social anxiety,depression, and schizoeffective disorder which creates an iron curtain-like barrier to trying new places with lots of new faces.

But, thankfully, the atmosphere was very peaceful and humble inside! The family owned and operated staff were incredibly warm, welcoming, and freely shared more hospitality than any other restaurant I've been to.

As I sat inside I couldn't help but be reminded of the contrasting worlds in the 2017 movie The Florida Project which was filmed on location in Osceola County, Florida, including at the real Magic Castle Inn & Suites on U.S. Highway 192 in Kissimmee, about six miles from Walt Disney World. This is because DK Sushi, after all these years, always seemed like this beautiful, magical yet far off unobtainable place in the middle of a bad neighborhood I survived alongside my siblings and Mom.

The food was amazing. Words will not do it any justice. ordered the Mikey roll, Texas roll, Eagle roll, ROCK Bibimbab which were all popular on their google maps page. They sadly stopped serving pork two years ago so the Kimchi Pork Fried Rice is no longer being sold.

The Kimchi Pancakes (courtesy of watching Kim's Convenience S4 E06 Soccer Dad. And the heart on the menu) now hold a special place in my heart.

The food was perfect here. The perfect reviews online do not lie. The 3.5 star rule coined by Freddie Wong doesn't apply. This is just a hidden gem. This must be why they do not advertise. The food speaks for itself and is passed on by word of mouth.

The food was fresh, prepared with attention to detail. And most importantly the food was prepared with love. But you don't have to take my word for it. Eat...

I had not been to DK in a few years and what a disappointment. The food was still very good, but I might as well have stayed home.

There is basically no waiter/waitress table service anymore. You are seated and told to order from the QR code. And not just look at the menu but literally complete and pay your order from the QR code up front. There are so many things wrong with this.

For one, if I decide I want more, I have to start a completey new order. I can't just get another beer or glass of wine unless I start a completely new order from the QR. We did decide we wanted more rolls because I don't know about you,but it's always hard for me to gauge how much sushi I may want. At pretty much every sushi restaurant, I order a few rolls and see how many more I may want. But no, here you have to order everything at once and if you decide to get more, you use the QR again, pay, tip and then wait another 20 minutes to get another dish. And yes, when you pay they expect tip. UP FRONT. Wait, what?!?! I'm tipping at a sit down restaurant on service up front before I receive my food, drinks or any service?!? I find the menu, order myself, pay myself but I should tip the waitress? Up front!?! The waitress who literally spent 2 minutes at my table all night just dropping food at my table? As well, I've already paid for my entire meal up front and what if I get something I decide I don't like or that is bad or incorrect for some reason? What if the 20% tip I paid should have been 10%? Too late, I've already paid and tipped on that meal! As well,we were a party of four but you have to order on one ticket in order to get your food at the same time. So then you have to Venmo your friends the money. I mean, come on!

Why do people go out to restaurants? I thought it was for the experience as much as for the meal. If I'm not getting any service, I might as well stay home.

I will definitely NOT be returning. The premise that I have to do everything except basically cook the meal, pay up front and tip in advance is the stupidest idea I've seen in a...

I took DK's sushi class at his North Lamar/2222 market this weekend and I had an absolute ball. Anyone who's been to his South First restaurant on a Monday night knows the guy has a great sense of humor and it totally translates into his class.

I was lucky enough to have a very small class size (three of us), but he limits the class to six, and has two overhead cameras/tv's so everyone sees everything he's teaching, and he walks around to help with additional instruction on a personal level often.

We learned how to make several different rolls. He would start out by making the roll, emphasizing things to stop and check and pointers on what makes a good roll. Then we all would make our own. He would sprinkle the class with jokes and stories, encouragement and teasing (in a good way...). We all were encouraged to eat as much of our creations as we wanted and even so, I came away with a full plate of sushi/sashimi that my husband gladly gobbled down when I got home.

He taught knife skills, specifically to how to cut the fish for each version (sushi, sashimi, etc.) and roll cutting. He also showed us some really great pointers on how to make sashimi presentation dazzle (I'm not telling) and ideas on presentation at a party without breaking the bank.

About mid-way through the class, he opened a bottle of sake and we all partook - a wonderful, fruity cream sake. I loved it.

The couple with me were on a date and I think it was a great way to "do something" other than a movie/dinner. Plus, since it was in the afternoon, it wasn't quite the pressure of a night date, but a little nicer than a lunch/coffee date.

The class is two hours long, but the time flew by. It's $65, but believe me the amazing fish he pulled out for us was at least that, and like I said, I ate until I was full and still took home enough that my husband couldn't even finish. I had a really great time, learned a lot, and got some wonderful sushi and sake to boot!

Thank you, DK, for a really fun and informative...