[Dallas] Tei-An - soba

[Richard Kilgore]

Bill Addison reviewed Tei An recently.

Mr. Addison writes,

"Courage may be the most vital element in the advancement of any city's dining scene. A chef or restaurateur needs locomotive audacity to introduce a public to truer tastes, culture-specific cooking techniques and ways of thinking about food that breach comfort zones – particularly in a finer-dining environment.

Teiichi Sakurai earns my vote as Dallas' most courageous chef-owner. He opened his sushi bar, Teppo, when uncooked fish was still unthinkable to many Americans, and his next restaurant, Tei Tei Robata Bar, when the closest thing most local folks knew of Japanese-style grilling were chef-performers juggling sharp knives in front of counter-size griddles.

Having sold both Teppo and Tei Tei to former employees, Mr. Sakurai has spent almost two years mastering the craft of another Japanese culinary obsession, soba, for his new venture in One Arts Plaza, Tei An.

And unless you've spent time in Tokyo (or a few choice spots in Los Angeles and New York) slurping in soba houses, forget what you think you know about these thin buckwheat noodles."

I have heard very good things about it from others who have been to Tei An, and understand that Sharon Hage likes it a lot. Has any one here been?

[bmdaniel]

Bill Addison reviewed Tei An recently.

Mr. Addison writes,

"Courage may be the most vital element in the advancement of any city's dining scene. A chef or restaurateur needs locomotive audacity to introduce a public to truer tastes, culture-specific cooking techniques and ways of thinking about food that breach comfort zones – particularly in a finer-dining environment.

Teiichi Sakurai earns my vote as Dallas' most courageous chef-owner. He opened his sushi bar, Teppo, when uncooked fish was still unthinkable to many Americans, and his next restaurant, Tei Tei Robata Bar, when the closest thing most local folks knew of Japanese-style grilling were chef-performers juggling sharp knives in front of counter-size griddles.

Having sold both Teppo and Tei Tei to former employees, Mr. Sakurai has spent almost two years mastering the craft of another Japanese culinary obsession, soba, for his new venture in One Arts Plaza, Tei An.

And unless you've spent time in Tokyo (or a few choice spots in Los Angeles and New York) slurping in soba houses, forget what you think you know about these thin buckwheat noodles."

I have heard very good things about it from others who have been to Tei An, and understand that Sharon Hage likes it a lot. Has any one here been?

←

I went Tuesday and it was excellent.

I tried their house shrimp tempura (which was green tea dusted), hot rock duck, scallop carpaccio, and house soba salad.

The shrimp were perfectly done (not greasy), and the green tea added a subtle but interesting flavor. It was served with a yuzu-mayo dipping sauce which was also quite nice.

The hot rock duck was what it sounds like, but very well done. Didn't come across as gimmicky at all, but really brought out the excellent flavor of the duck.

The scallop carpaccio was probably the highlight; scallops were fresh and sweet, and served with basil, which was a surprising but delicious pairing.

I hadn't tried soba before, but the cold soba salad I had was excellent. Excited to get back and try other dipping sauces and also some of the hot soba preparations.

Highly recommend trying it - they are having a sake tasting dinner the 18th which I signed up for (I think they only had 1 or 2 spots left as of Tuesday, so call soon if interested).

[Richard Kilgore]

Last night I was at Tei-An for a soba making demonstration by Mr. Akila Inoue. Mr. Inoue is Master Chef of the Tsukiji Soba Academy, a professional soba and Japanese culinary school.

This is Shin Soba (new soba) season, the best time of year for soba. Every year in the fall the Shin-Soba-matsuri Festival (New Soba Noodle Festival)is held in Japan in the soba producing area to celebrate the harvest of the buckwheat crop.They call Shin Soba "the Beaujolais Nouveau of buckwheat".

Some were seated around the long curved dining bar, but more of us were gathered around standing one or two deep as Mr. Inoue began the demonstration. He worked on a board about three by five feet. He is rather soft spoken, so despite a microphone the background noise from the waiting area bar and kitchen made it impossible to hear more than fragments of what he said during the hour long demonstration. But soba making is a physical act, so there was no problem in following along as he mixed the buckwheat flour with a carefully weighed amount of water in a large - about 30 inch - stainless steel bowl and began working it. And working it. And working it. Athletically. Dancing and working.

After about 25 - 30 minutes this soba master produced a large piece of dough that he then worked into a large disc about three inches thick. Using his hands at first, and then a set of wooden dowels of various lengths, he methodically rolled, folded and rolled again the dough and reduced the three inch disc to 5mm, then 3mm, then 2mm, then 1.5mm, then 1mm in thickness. This process took another 30 minutes. Finally slicing the noodles thinly with a specialized knife.

Mr. Inou and I were talking after the demonstration and I commented that soba making is athletic enough to be an Olympic sport. He has been making soba for 20 years and is here for only a few days before flying to LA where he has four soba classes to teach and a friend to visit.

After the demonstration came the food. The menu for the evening included Zuke Tuna, Kisu Tempura and fresh from the demo - Shin Soba from Hokkaido and House Soba with two dipping sauces, black sesame and soba Tsuyu-Soy base. The presentation was elegantly simple, the tuna fresh and delicious and the soba a revelation of slurpable goodness.

I also ate at Tei-An a couple of weeks ago with friends, so more on that later.

[DanM]

My wife and I are thinking about heading to Tei An in the coming week. Any further comments about the restaurants? We might be going with a friend who is a vegetarian. Is there anything she can eat?

Thanks!

[Richard Kilgore]

As I recall vegetarian should not be a problem, but you can just call and discuss your requirements.

[Kevin72]

The dipping sauce for the soba noodles would be made from shaved bonito flakes (just giving flavor to the broth, then strained out). Not sure what her stance would be on that but it's something to watch out for since it's a foundational element of Japanese cuisine.

[Kevin72]

Coincidentally, Tei An gets reviewed today in the DMN and gets Five Stars

[DanM]

We dined at Tei-An tonight and understand why it got a 5 star review from Dallas Morning News. The food was great and the service was awesome.

We started with three appetizers. First was the white seaweed salad. It was briny with a touch of acid and tasted of the sea. The cucumbers added a touch of freshness that was needed. I can understand why this is one their most popular dishes. The tempura vegetables were next with the enoki mushrooms and purple potatoes the star of the platter. The tempura shiso did not have much flavor. I was concerned that the mayo sauce would overpower the tempura, so I used it sparingly. Finally, we had pickled veg. This was a mix bag with decent cabbage and cucumbers. But the pickled daikon... I could eat a bowl of that stuff!

For entrees we had daikon oroshi soba (cold) and fried tofu soba (hot). The cold soba really allowed us to appreciate the quality of the noodles. The pungency of the daikon and wasabi played nicely off the cool noodles. In traditional fashion, a pot of cooking broth was given to us and provided a nice palate cleanser before the hot noodles. The broth for the hot noodles was my favorite part of the meal... I could bathe in that stuff! The tofu was good, but I could just eat a bowl of the noodles and broth and be happy.

For dessert we had the soba ice cream special. While nice, it swam in a plate full of buckwheat honey, which is pretty pungent stuff. Luckily, I like honey so it was not a big deal for me.

Service was very attentive and made sure our sake and water glasses where full. She noticed that we ordered mostly vegetarian and asked about that before serving the hot soba. We shared everything so she brought out bowls or plates and divided the hot soba for us.

Next time we are in Dallas, we are definitely going back.

[Chris Hennes]

Can anyone comment on attire at Tei-An? I'll be there for dinner tomorrow evening: am I going to be the only guy in a tie?

[bobag87]

You will not be the only one in a tie. You would also not be the only one in jeans. It is fairly easy going when it comes to dress code.

Edited December 29, 2011 by bobag87 (log)

[avaserfi]

Had a wonderful meal here last night. A party of four, two ordered the extended tasting and the other two ordered a variety of apps and mains. Service was knowledgeable (and asked the kitchen if they weren't sure) and the food was superb.

The extended omakase was very well portioned. I left full, but not stuffed.

1) White seaweed salad - the seaweed had the texture of a crunchy/slippery noodle. Served in a fairly acidic vinaigrette made with rice wine vinegar, miso and kombu if I recall correctly.

2) Sushimi with some housemade sauces (tuna, salmon, makerel and one other fish that escapes me).

3) Yellow tail crudo

4) Black angus/wagyu beef cross cooked tableside

5) tempura (shrimp, sweet purple potato, shiso leaf, enoki)

6) sake steamed clams

7) black pig, glazed

8) sushi rolls - salmon and California.

9) short green soba bolognese.

10) soba ice cream with soy powder and black honey

The others at the table also had a steamed purple potato dish, some kaobocha squash, pork dumplings, a potato/yam and shrimp dish and the soba sampler.