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<\/a>Sushi and other Japanese fare dominate the menu, but with footnotes of Korean dishes such as stone-potted bibimbap and kimchi rice plus a few Chinese standbys like orange chicken, kung pao stir-fries and salt & pepper shrimp.<\/p>\n
Helming the kitchen is an unnamed Korean woman with 25 years of Asian-cooking experience who prefers to be called \u201cchef.\u201d Respecting her wishes for anonymity is owner Edward Chuh, also Korean, who previously ran House of Nine Dragons in Bonita for 36 years.<\/p>\n Fire Horse sits on a quaint block of Juniper Street that was home to the failed Juan Chou. The sushi and booze bars were kept, and the interior is optically warmer with colorful paper umbrellas hanging overhead, a festive come-on to the impressive sake inventory Chuh has acquired, which includes a $300 bottle of imported Kikusui Kuramitsu.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s made with very fine rice and tastes as smooth as water,\u201d he told us.<\/p>\n Starting with \u201cthe tower\u201d appetizer, we didn\u2019t mind the sweet, tender krab at all as it complimented precise layers of spicy tuna, cucumber, seaweed, avocado and bright-orange roe, known as masago in sushi speak. A little ponzu sauce in the scheme added an overall addicting flavor. Priced at only $6, we were stunned at its artful construct.<\/p>\n Ditto for the Fire Horse roll, which contained shrimp tempura and spicy krab inside and tuna and avocado on top. Dotting each of the eight pieces were tiny droplets of gold gelatin called angel tears. Though flavorless, Chuh says it\u2019s an expensive aesthetic priced at $100 for a 3-ounce bottle. Upping the presentation was a hollowed-out cucumber in the center of the plate filled with flaming Sterno. It looks edible after dying out, but it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n Arriving unknowingly during happy hour, which is held daily until 6 p.m., the fried shrimp dumplings (shu mai) were discounted from $6 to $4. Draft beers and several other plates also come down by a couple bucks.<\/p>\n The bite-size dumplings were mediocre until swiping them through the accompanying plum sauce and tame hot mustard. But neither condiment seemed to rescue the lost flavor of the shrimp. Nor did the crisp, icy cold Tsingtao beer we drank along the way.<\/p>\n Judicious measures of spicy mayo bind the ingredients set atop delicate, fried dumpling skins in Fire Horse\u2019s tostadas, served four to an order. For good reason, they\u2019re a top seller \u2013 easy to handle and stimulating on the palate as sushi-grade tuna and salmon mingle with green onions, tomatoes, cilantro and masago.<\/p>\n Curious as to how the orange chicken would match up to the classic Chinese version, we opted for that as well. Unfortunately the tang factor went missing. So did the chili and green onion elements. Instead, the battered thigh pieces were coated only in teeth-sticking simple syrup, which to our relief wasn\u2019t as cloying as it appeared.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>