Food Review: Naru in Conway

Environment

A shopping center used to be seen as a place no good restaurant could be found. Maybe it still is to some people. However, I have found many good restaurants across the U.S. that are amazing and found in shopping centers. While this one isn’t amazing, it is worth checking out.
The interior, though…lime green walls everywhere, even the bathrooms. The specials were written on dirty chalk boards and were barely legible. However, at 3 p.m. on a Sunday, several of the seats were full. I thought…this should be interesting.
Once we sat down for a couple minutes, we all realized we were freezing to death. I am very hot-natured and I was shaking. We all went to get coats out of the truck pretty quickly.

Menu

                   

WAY too big. I swear it took us over 30 minutes just to decide what we wanted. There is sushi (way too many of those to choose from as well) that includes fried rolls, baked rolls, specialty rolls, and then the usual basic rolls and sashimi.
Then, there’s everything from salads and fried rice to Thai dishes and bibimbop. I didn’t know where to go with this place!
On a positive note, I am sure there is something for EVERYONE here.

Drinks

Hallelujah! 2 for 1 ($6, so $3 each) margaritas, on the rocks only, at a sushi/ Thai/ who-knows-what-else restaurant? I’ll take it! They made each one by hand and the regular margaritas were pretty good, and a nice size for $3. The strawberry one should probably be avoided, unless you love that fake strawberry syrup.

Food

FREE Onion Soup

I love anything free, but this soup was pretty large and very tasty. Plus, it was very warm, which warmed us up quite nicely in the frigid environment.

FREE Fried Spring Rolls

Something else, free? This is great! While there was no sauce to dip them in, as our other eating companions complained, I don’t care. Dipped into just soy sauce, these were light and crispy and very appreciated.

 

House Salad, $4.95
Description: Fresh Lettuce, cucumber, daikon, and sesame seeds with ginger peanut dressing

While this was a nice sized salad for $5, big enough to split as a started between two people, this house salad was nothing special due to a pretty inferior dressing. I love ginger dressings at most Japanese restaurants- whether it is thick or thin, I love that gingery twang. This definitely lacked that. It also lacked any real peanut flavor. It was just a unique tasting vinaigrette. Not my favorite. Though, I liked the pickled daikon on the salad, I would not order this again.

Thai Pineapple Spicy Fried Rice, $14.95
Description: Fresh spices and pineapple with beef, chicken, shrimp, and fresh vegetables.

This was by far my favorite thing (even though I didn’t order it) ordered at our table. It was HUGE and piled high. This was probably the most flavorful fried rice I have ever tried. It didn’t need any extra soy or spices, it held up all on its own. The yumyum dipping sauce didn’t go ignored, though, because it’s yumyum sauce!
There was also a ton of steak, chicken, and shrimp, all cooked very well. The veggies were also perfectly seared but still al-dente.
Plus, this came with a side salad with that same vinaigrette and just some iceburg lettuce, so nothing special, but a nice addition.
For $15 (almost the same price of many of the rolls on the menu) this is a great deal. I’m sure there are 3 meals to be had in this one dish.

Hendrix Roll, $13.95 (Top)
Description: Thinly sliced and marinated beef, crab, daikon, tamago, cucumber, avocado, and spinach

Especially for the price, I was a tad disappointed. Mostly because I hate rolls with the seaweed on the outside, it is so hard for me to eat. If I had known that, I would not have ordered it, even if it were only $5.
However, the beef inside was very flavorful, though a little chewy. And I pulled the insides out to eat it and I swear there was only beef, cucumber, and daikon. I couldn’t find any tamago, crab, avocado, or spinach?

Hollywood Roll, $11.50 (Bottom)
Description: Tempura shrimp, crab, and cucumber. Topped with white tuna and tobiko with spicy aioli and creamy sauce.

This  was my favorite roll I tried (besides these two and Lori’s two, mentioned below). It tasted very fresh and the cucumber gave it a little crunch, which I need in a sushi roll. Though, it was nothing to write home about, so I would try other rolls next time.

Miami Roll, $12.95 (Top)
Description: Baked roll with crab, avocado, and cucumber, topped with scallop, crab, masago, and spicy aioli

While I love a good baked roll, mostly because of the top with baked scallops and crab and sauces, this roll was just a little mushy for me. Again, I have to have some texture balance in sushi and there wasn’t enough here. But if you have never had a baked roll, you must try it, they are some of the best!

Crunch Munch Roll, $9.95 (Bottom)
Description: Spicy crab and avocado topped with cooked shrimp and crunch

First of all, I don’t believe this was the roll that was ordered. This roll lacked both shrimp and crunch and was just a ball of mush. No thanks.

Overall

*IMPORTANT*
We were told by the waitress that now on Wednesdays and Saturdays (11-9) they have 1/2 off sushi.

This changes everything. I will definitely be back to try different sushi rolls, to get those cheap margaritas, and to get a take home box of that Thai fried rice!