Photograph by Katherine Bish
In the restaurant game, Mike Johnson is the pinball wizard, pinging from one cuisine to another, repeating the same flippin' formula that always seems to work: small plates, big vibe. Thank him for bringing flamenco music to the sidewalks of Clayton, Greek belly dancing to a subprime corner of U. City and rope-swing bar seats to a now-playful Maplewood. It now seems the wizard has moved on to pachinko: Fu Manchu is his whimsical take on Asian cuisine, boasting 30 appetizers plus sushi (and even "fushi" for the squeamish). There are shumai dumplings, crispy Peking duck rolls, spicy Japanese eggplant, Korean barbecue pork ribs—it's a Pan-Asian dim sum without the cart, folks, and it's all fired out of a pagoda-topped kitchen the size of a bento box. Diminutive diners may opt for the teeny-tiny booths; the not-so-spry will prefer the oversized patio seating vaguely reminiscent of Chicago's becurtained Japonais. Like the fictitious Fu Man, Johnson is surely a genius—albeit a benevolent one—but one question remains: Does he have the ability to grow that mustache?
7336 Manchester, 314-647-3331, fumanchustl.com.
Hours (at press time): Mon–Sun 11 a.m. to "close."
