Familiar faces stay: Restaurant changes name, fuses five Asian cuisines
Posted on Friday, May 9, 2008
When Shogun moved to a new location in November, it left a few things behind. The building is the same, the people are the same, but Fusion 5 is definitely different.
Several staff members made the choice not to relocate but, instead, remain at the old location and pull together something different.
"The main thing we're going through is people differentiating us apart from Shogun,"said manager Vuong Nguyen.
The new changes were brought about by old faces. Many of the staff members stayed from Shogun to help make Fusion 5 a place of their own.
"The staff that decided to stay here instead of going to the new Shogun developed the menu and did the remodeling,"Nguyen said. "Each and every one put their heart and soul into making this restaurant what it is today."
As the name implies, Fusion 5 is a blend of the five basic Asian cuisines: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese. But even with the changes a few things had to stay the same.
The Japanese food, prepared show-style at the teppanyaki table, is still available, though the number of tables has been cut down from 13 to eight. The full sushi bar, which offers such specialties as Sexy My X-Girlfriend, Crunch 'n Munch and Mango Crunchy, is still run by the man known to many as "Mr. Chang"and his staff.
The idea has been to create a more relaxed feel compared to what customers got used to at the old restaurant. A new lounge area has been added with a full bar and live DJs every Friday and Saturday.
"Over here is where you want to have a laid-back meal with your family,"Nguyen said. "We also tried to create a lounge atmosphere so people could just relax here without having to be on Dickson."
Menu changes are currently in the works with new dishes being sampled and chosen based on customer feedback. The addition of four more countries' worth of food is a huge factor in menu development.
"You have a lot more options than just sticking to Japanese-style food,"Nguyen said. "We're just trying to give people more choices. We're trying to build something here that's for the customer."
Some new names on the menu include Pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup made with lean slices of steak or brisket ($8); Pad Thai, another noodle dish topped with beef, chicken ($9 each) or shrimp ($11); Mongolian beef, sliced, caramelized and topped with garlic, green onions and mushrooms ($12); and red, green and Panang curries, topped with beef ($9), chicken ($8), scallops or shrimp ($10 each).
The teppanyaki menu remains the same with choices including steak ($15.95), chicken ($13.95), shrimp ($17.95) and lobster ($19.95), or combinations like shrimp and scallops ($19.95), filet mignon and lobster ($28.95), and steak and salmon ($18.95). All dinners include Japanese onion soup, hibachi vegetables, a house salad, shrimp appetizer, side sauces for steak and seafood, and steamed or fried rice. Meals can be shared for an extra $7.95.
Fusion 5 is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner with extended hours for the lounge area. The final full menu will be available in about a month.
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