Phantom Gourmet: East Meets West At Sousaku Bistro In Malden

MALDEN - Where can you get hot stones, and cold drinks? Super fresh fish and indulgent fried desserts? Sushi and pizza all wrapped up in one amazing dish? If you're looking for the best of East meets West, it's time to head to Sousaku.

Located on Eastern Ave. in Malden, this modern Asian restaurant has a casual vibe, with a comfortable dining room decked out in Japanese knickknacks, a big bar serving oversized cocktails, and a sushi bar where you can see all of that fresh fish sliced, torched, and rolled right before your eyes.

Connect With Phantom: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

It's all the brainchild of Lewis Lai, who along with his team has created a menu lined with Japanese style small plates you don't often see in your typical Asian eatery.

"The name Sousaku means creativity, so we think outside of the box, and everything is just a little bit different than the ordinary."

The appetizer section of the menu is lined with inventive Asian tapas. There are crunchy Shrimp Toast filled with cream cheese and spiked with mango, with a sweet and sour sauce for dipping. The corn on the cob is reminiscent of Mexican street corn, topped with plenty of cheese and some lime wedges for a squeeze of acid. For the ultimate app, order the Boky bun. This small sandwich starter is named for Sousaku's Executive Chef Boky Chu, and stuffed with ultra-tender pork, slathered in a flavorful sauce.

"Boky bun is actually roasted pork that's served in the bun with mayonnaise, a little bit of scallion and fried onions," Lewis explained. "Just feels like the best way pork can be served."

Sushi is where the chefs really shine, all sliced to perfection behind the bar for some dinner theatre while you eat. There's the Spicy Crab Meat Crunchy Maki topped with tobiko, and Torched Wagyu Maki stuffed with Shrimp Tempura for some surf and turf. If you want to sample a little bit of it all, try the Chu sushi.

"You get salmon, you get tuna, white fish, squid, and then eel," Lewis listed. "It's great for people who haven't, you know, eaten sushi before, and they're afraid to have raw seafood. This is the crossover where everything is half cooked."

If you're feeling adventurous, you need to feast on the Sushi Pizza, two great foods that surprisingly taste even better together. So they've taken the best of both and combined them for the ultimate snack.

"We wanna create something that would actually give them the hint of traditional pizza, and then at the same time mix it up with the Japanese influences," Lewis said. "Instead of having toppings on top of a bread, we do it on a thin slice of seaweed. And then you have rice on top of that, and then another layer of seaweed on top. That gets pressed, battered, fried, and then we put a thin layer of tomato paste on it. And then on top of that we do onions, and then the shrimp, scallop and tuna is chopped, mixed into spicy mayo, and that gets put on, and that gets oven baked and torched."

Entrees at Sousaku are as impressive to the eye as they are to the stomach. There's the Curry Tatsuta Don, which features boneless fried chicken in a Japanese curry sauce with rice; and the super crispy Duck Breast served with pan fried risotto in a teriyaki sauce. For an interactive entree, nothing beats the Ishiyaki.

"Instead of having everything cooked in the kitchen, it gets cooked right at your table," said Lewis. "When the stone gets put down, you get a side order of vegetables and the meat of your choice, and you pretty much cook it right on the stone just the way you like it. It's not just going out to have dinner. You get the experience."

When it comes to dessert, they do fried ice cream a little bit differently.

"Instead of having the ball shape, we do it in a roll, and when it's fried and served, everything stays together," Lewis described. "On the outside layer it's gonna be hot, and then the inside layer, you know, the ice cream is perfect the way it is. Lightly melted. You get the sweetness of the ice cream and then the savory of the batter. It's delicious."

A Boky Bun, Sushi Pizza, Ishiyaki, and Fried Ice Cream make for THE PERFECT MEAL at Sousaku Bistro.

You can find Sousaku Bistro at 166 Eastern Avenue in Malden, and online at sousakubistro.com.

Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.