I had the opportunity to try Souzou, a new, upscale Asian Fusion restaurant on the edge of Downtown St. Petersburg this past weekend with a couple of friends. Located at 435 5th Ave N, behind the Iberia Bank, Souzou is having it’s soft opening now – with it’s big Grand Opening happening July 30th from 7pm to 10pm.
My friends were running late (as per usual) so I grabbed at seat at the bar and perused the craft cocktail and wine list. One thing I noticed immediately at the bar was that the wine pours were really decent. There’s nothing I hate more than going to a nice restaurant and seeing maaaaaybe 4 ounces of wine at the bottom of my glass and being charged $15 for it. Souzou’s pours come in 6 oz. or 9 oz. and the pricing was reasonable. I decided to start with a cocktail, and settled on the Elderflower (above), which was a reasonable $12, and was extremely refreshing and smooth with a touch of sweetness.
While seated at the bar, the bartender brought out an amuse bouche of one of the Pork Bulgogi Steam Buns. Wow. Pork Belly + Korean BBQ sauce + Kim Chi on a Steam Bun = deliciousness. I ate most of it myself and then my friends turned up so I shared the last few bites. 🙂
Once we were seated, we ordered the Asian Wings and the Gyoza – a pork and cabbage potsticker with a ginger bacon glaze. Again, wow.
The wings were crunchy and sweet. I wanted to drink the sauce that the potstickers came with – they might’ve been some of the best I’ve ever had. The Gyozo came with 6 potstickers which was perfect for our party of 3, and the wings were a healthy portion size too. We were nearly full after the appetizers!
Alas, we had to order some sushi. We ordered the Once Upon a Pier – a salmon, cream cheese and avocado roll tempura style and topped with dynamite mix. It was beautiful AND tasty. Our other sushi selection was the Surf and Turf featuring snow crab, asparagus and kabayaki sauce topped w/ seared tenderloin and shisochurri sauce. This was a very unique roll, I’m not sure I’ve had one quite like it before but it was a mix of sweet and savory between the crab, the tenderloin and the churri – huge pop of flavor!
We wanted to order something from the hot noodle list but were too full on this trip. The table next to us had one of the ramen dishes and it looked fantastic – next time!
Souzou offered a fun, modern atmosphere and a great meal – I’ll definitely be back.
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