LEO's Eats with Robin Garr
Maybe this is just my wacky imagination talking, but I’ve always thought Dragon King’s Daughter sounded like a good name for a really intense online role-playing game.
It would be a game full of samurai warrior avatars, of course, but it would have to have moustachio’d bandidos too, as DKD (as its fans abbreviate it) manages to fit both Japanese and Mexican flavors — and a lot more, too — into a single menu, and somehow it works.
This is a bill of fare that offers a broad range of maybe four dozen creative Japanese-style maki (sushi rolls, ranging in price from $5-$15), but that also is prepared to tickle your taste buds with delicious Mexican-accented tacos ($8-$11), quesadillas ($7-$9) and even flatbreads ($8-$12) that look a lot like international-style individual pizzas, topped with all manner of goodies.
Be aware that little of this is standard Mexican or Japanese, but it rambles the globe in search of inspiration. Japanese onigiri rice balls look a lot like Sicilian arancini rice balls, for instance, and, indeed, the Mediterranean Yaki Onigiri ($4.50) veers mighty close to Italy with its earthy stuffing of sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives and Gorgonzola cheese.
Or consider, if you will, another rice ball, Chorizo Yaki Onigiri ($4.50), a pan-fried spheroid made with short-grain sushi rice, stuffed with Mexican chorizo and scented with aromatic cilantro, fried in Asian sesame oil and plated up with mayo flavored with wasabi, the sinus-clearing green sushi horseradish.
It caught me by surprise the other day to realize that Dragon King’s Daughter has been around for more than four years, owner Toki Masabuchi having opened it in July 2009 in what proved to be the first step of her separation from the then-popular Maido Essential Japanese in Clifton. (Maido continued in fits and starts but finally closed last fall after the death of its latest chef and owner, Si Won Yu.)
DKD, more happily, seems to have gone from instant to enduring popularity — it was very busy even on a Tuesday night during our recent visit. In my opinion, what was good four summers ago is even better now, a casually comfortable scene with friendly and assured service, and an invitingly priced menu that has expanded in size and diversity while holding most choices under $10. (There’s also a recently opened location in New Albany at 202 E. Elm St.)
Read the full reviews on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/pick- ... s-daughter
And in LEO Weekly:
http://leoweekly.com/dining/pick-your-a ... s-daughter
Dragon King’s Daughter
1126 Bardstown Road
632-2444
http://dragonkingsdaughter.com
Robin Garr's rating: 91 points
Another location: 202 East Elm St., New Albany, Ind., (812) 725-8600.
