Naming a restaurant after a huge tidal wave that wreaks immense destruction and misery? Interesting choice, but then, we don’t christen ’em. We just review ’em. Chesterfield Valley’s Tsunami occupies the former site of the short-lived steakhouse Xanadu. Much of the interior is the same: cozy atmosphere, a luxurious color scheme and marbled columns that are vaguely reminiscent of a Roman villa. Tentacled chandeliers provide muted lighting. Plush banquettes upholstered in crushed velvet share space with tables and comfortable chairs. A large bar in front has a genial feel; at the back of the dining area is a small sushi bar.
Tsunami offers “Pan-Asian cuisine.” More accurately, the menu is an inventive, mostly successful presentation of dishes that combine some Asian ingredients and elements with Western foods. These attempts are so often bungled in restaurants that it is worth noting when we find a place that does a good job.
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On our visit, a dozen main courses formed a well-balanced menu. Mild, flavorful roasted garlic cream held together a big tangle of buckwheat soba noodles studded with fat, luscious scallops, slivers of shiitake mushrooms, broccoli buds and green pepper slices. Those with lighter appetites will be pleased with the angel hair pasta complemented by mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach in a delicate white wine-and-herb broth and accompanied by chicken, shrimp or tofu.
It’s hard to find fault with the grilling given to a meaty, bone-in pork chop — thick as a Stephen King novel. A chop this big almost always ends up dry; ours was tender and juicy, and a mélange of Thai spices was just noticeable enough. A 12-ounce filet, also grilled, was accompanied by wasabi-laced mashed potatoes and spicy green beans. Dried porcini mushrooms fed into a blender produce an earthy “dust” that’s currently very big in culinary circles. At Tsunami it was sprinkled on a nicely cooked chicken breast that was served on angel hair pasta with a handful of sliced portabellos, spinach and red peppers in a herb cream sauce. The chicken is full of flavor; the pasta is a satisfactory accompaniment. Western cooks have also discovered Japanese panko — coarse, dry breadcrumbs. Here, the kitchen used them to encrust a rack of lamb that came with a crimini mushroom risotto. Salmon was glazed with honey and sake, another interesting touch that brings out the taste of the fish instead of concealing it beneath the all-too-common gloppy, pseudo-teriyaki basting.
Skewers of grilled chicken, beef or shrimp satay were entirely credible as an appetizer, and the accompanying peanut buttery dipping sauce was authentic. A wasabi-spiked aioli was just sharp enough to complement rings of squid flash-fried in a batter much lighter than you’ll find at most places. Red curry showed up in an aioli that came with a pair of crab cakes that were meaty and herby but not quite as chunky with crab as they might have been. Plump pot stickers had that golden brown crust on the skins that can make these dumplings so rewarding, and a reduction of soy sauce and sake was a welcome change from the traditional vinegar and ginger soy sauce accompaniment.
Romaine hearts were dressed in an understated, tasty Caesar salad-type dressing along with crumbles of asiago; the salad was compromised only by croutons that tasted as though they came from a box. A house salad was ordinary; the house dressing tasted like a middling ranch.
Sushi here is the same as what you’ll get in about 98 percent of local sushi places. Nearly all sushi makers in St. Louis did limited stints under the tutelage of those who in turn spent limited time under others, learning sushi not as art but as craft. Their product must be judged accordingly — most of them do an adequate job, little more. Our waiter delivered a bowl of scattered chirashi sushi when the order, he acknowledged, was for tekka-ju, a bowl of sushi rice topped with chunks of tuna — no server or chef should make this error. Toppings on nigiri-zushi were too big proportionally for the rice nugget below, and fish that needed it got only a smear of wasabi; both conventions are a nod to American tastes. (The latter is particularly regrettable. Too many would-be sushi enthusiasts obliterate the taste of fish and rice with their own greenish wasabi-soy sauce slurry.) The emphasis at Tsunami is on rolls with clever monikers like “Squid Vicious,” or “Marilyn Monroll.”
Desserts were fun. There’s a beautiful strawberry margarita sundae worth exploring and superior raspberry and mango sorbets. Fried wontons stuffed with cheesecake and drizzled with honey were arranged around a dollop of ice cream; if you can’t share it with your table, you’ll be offering some of this dessert to nearby diners. It is far too large — and good — for a single eater.
The wine list is short and among the most reasonably priced you’ll see in a restaurant of this caliber. Matching wines with dishes like Thai seafood stew is challenging. Several pinot grigios, while a bane of the wine snob manqué, offer the crisp mineral snap that can complement the varied spices on this menu. The sake varieties offered should be much wider; fortunately offered is nigori-zake, a milky, unfiltered sake that is a life-changing event on your palate and should not be missed.
Service is friendly but slow. A major problem for Xanadu was the smoke that drifted into the dining area from the bar. We ate at Tsunami early in the evening when crowds had not yet swelled; if you’re sensitive, eat there early.
This site has always been a popular West County watering hole. If Tsunami’s main courses, inventive, thoughtfully and competently combined and matched and pleasantly presented, were on the menu of a trendier restaurant, they would garner considerable praise. More than just a spot for an after-work drink, this place deserves more credit for some creative and good food.
Tsunami
Address: 280 Long Road
Phone: 636-532-0700
Average Main Course: $22
Reservations: Probably not … but there’s a beautiful old German cemetery across the street to explore if you have to wait
Dress: Like you consider “comfortable” and “nice” to be synonyms
Bottom Line: Enjoyable enough West County dining infused with Eastern-inspired flavors
