My Thai food experience isn’t international and decades old, but my sushi experience is.
I ate my first sushi in Okinawa. My fellow Leathernecks instructed me to lather on the green stuff. A hazing ritual I realized when my head caught fire.
In Tokyo, I discovered a little hole-in-the-wall sushi diner. Nobody in Shibuya spoke English. I watched and learned. I waited for an empty stool, then sat at a long oval counter with multi-level conveyor belts. I grabbed a plate, swallowed the sushi, repeated. When I was done, I raised my hand. Someone would appear beside me, count my plates and yell my total yen to the cashier.
After a few visits, people laughed when I marched in. I didn’t understand and was self-conscious, but the sushi was worth more hazing. Finally, one day, another patron whispered to me in her broken English, “They call you Big Stacks,” because my plates were stacked high. And my stacks were many. Best sushi ever.
Teak Sushi and Thai Cuisine is the best sushi I’ve ever had outside Japan. And Big Stacks knows.
I ordered the five-piece chef’s choice and Loveland roll. The pieces are standard—tunas, salmon, white fish—and they melt in my mouth. The roll is crab with a kick, salmon, tuna and yellowtail. But the first taste is a scorched parsley blanketing the rice. Asparagus and cucumber continue the earthy flavor—a harmonious union with the sweet taste of fish.
Mouth full, I sit across from my date, a beautiful curly brunette with a face full of freckles. She asks, “What’s the difference between sushi and sashimi?”
Before Big Stacks can impress her, the bartender stops mid-stride while walking past our table to answer.
He’s Cade Cloud. The name sounds like a country crooner, which is fitting because he has the charm. If you want the answer, you’ll have to ask him yourself.
My date’s emerald eyes follow him back to the bar. I turn to look, too, but focus on something more impressive. The bar crew waits to pour Preseco and bottled beer into glasses at the moment the servers are ready to deliver the drinks. That’s just one move that makes Teak a classy Cincinnati staple.
Chanaka DeLanerolle purchased Teak in 2001, a Mt. Adams staple since the late ’90s. The original location moved to OTR three years ago. With the Loveland opening, the restaurant, which has been blessed as “Best Asian Cuisine” by local media, has its first second location.
“Loveland is a fun neighborhood,” Chanaka says. “I’ve tried to visit as much as I can because of the people, the safety … it’s very comforting.”
So is the chicken pad thai. Chanaka has worked with the same chef, who strictly focuses on pad thai and also remains anonymous, for 25 years.
I first tasted the roasted peanuts. The bean sprouts and green onions are fresh and flavorful and almost relegate the chicken to an afterthought. Big Stacks never could have dreamt meat wouldn’t matter. The tamari infuses the dish with a perfect amount of sweet. No sugar added to Teak pad thai.
After opening its reservation system in late July, Bisert Svay, general manager, arrived the next morning to discover over 300. “We had to turn off DoorDash and Uber Eats,” Bisert remembers.
The restaurant is hot—and so is the Teak trio, a stir-fry with beef, chicken, pork belly and Teak’s secret brown sauce. I ordered it at a three, the dish’s lowest degree, but it was still a kick for Big Stacks. Every bite was unique with its combination of bell peppers, broccoli and mushrooms. And the bites with pineapple and tomato made the dish addicting. I tried to savor every bite, put my fork down and look around a little. But the fork was never far.
When I did sneak a peek, there wasn’t an empty seat all night. But reservations aren’t required and Chanaka wants to address those rumors.
“I don’t like it,” Chanaka says. “I want people to come in.” He’s committed to fostering a neighborhood hangout (and maintaining price points for all his neighbors). He wants you to stop by, walk in, join the crowd.
When you do, try the duck. Its preparation is a two-day ritual and its flash-fried, tempura-powder, crispy-coating is like no other dish in Loveland. Share the crab puffs! I didn’t. Second date for Big Stacks still pending.
HOURS: Closed Mon, Open Tues – Sun
WEB: TeakLoveland.com
LOCATION: 110 S. 2nd St, Loveland
CALL: 513.583.8325