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Statesman critic Matthew Odam gave high praise to hot pot restaurant DipDipDip Tatsu-ya this week. While he speculated that the Eater Awards finalist restaurant from the Tatsu-ya team, which opened in June in Crestview, might not be for everyone, he called it one of the most enjoyable dining experiences in recent memory.
Odam’s review mostly takes on the role of providing recommendations for those unfamiliar with hot pot. He advised ordering an omakase rather than a la carte, specifically, springing for the “baller omakase,” which comes with the A5 Wagyu (see below). For the broth, he preferred the kombu dashi and “silky” tonkotsu rather than the tonyu, which left a “thin, slimy film” on anything that was dipped.
From Odam’s experiments with dips, he found that the Texas wagyu sirloin with the truffle sukiyaki made for a “luxurious, minerally, perfumed bite,” the citrus ponzu “brightens” the chicken and shrimp meatballs, and the gomadare sesame dip went well with the pork belly.
Odam’s choice pick, though, was the “bubble gum-colored” A5 Wagyu:
Of course, the Rolls Royce of the meats selection needs no assistance [...] if you love the taste of beef, you probably owe it to yourself. The marbled fat of A5 Wagyu is too unctuous for me to eat as a whole steak (give me a Texas ribeye), but presented here in paper-thin slices, the rippled waves shine with the essence of beefy flavor.
Beside the raw meats, Odam enjoyed the “funzy ooze” of a raclette-and-mushroom-stuffed “Pot Pocket,” dumplings (both the ones with crab and lemon butter and pork and cheese grits), and “massive” scallops. He did advise against the bacon and mochi balls, but enjoyed the “refreshing” granita finish.
Ultimately, Odam rated DipDipDip a 9 out of ten, the third restaurant in a row to receive that score (the other two being Mexican restaurant Comedor and omakase restaurant Uroko).
