The door opens, and a bamboo forest unfolds before us. Above, there are stars, twinkling, and at the hallway's end, koi are projected on the wall. These days, it feels like restaurants can lack the wow factor. That is not true at Soy Cowboy. A double serving of wow is definitely on the menu.
Dazzles continue in the main dining room, where the centerpiece is a giant wok with faux steam wafting out. Every surface has a different motif, whether that's wallpaper or stacked rectangular mirrors. There are hidden nooks. Subtle lighting changes. And yet, visually, the intricate design — done by ICRAVE in New York City — isn't exhausting. What’s more, it ties together a variety of sensibilities into a singular vision. Just like the restaurant’s pan-Asian menu.
Soy Cowboy, which takes its name from a Bangkok street, serves up Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai (and beyond) inspired dishes. Located at Loews Arlington Hotel and Convention Center, Soy Cowboy is the latest restaurant from Benjamin Berg of Houston-based Berg Hospitality Group.
"With Soy Cowboy, we're bringing a fresh Pan-Asian concept to Arlington that blends bold flavors from across the continent with a playful Texas twist,” said Berg in an official statement. “Our goal is to create a vibrant dining experience that captures the energy of Asia while incorporating ingredients sourced locally." Here, on the menu, orange chicken exists next to yakisoba.
Pan-Asian restaurants can be hit or miss. Often, they lean into the spiciness and forget the sweetness that underpins umami. I order the yakisoba, a simple dish that's often made at food stalls or at home in Japan. Judge chefs on the basics, I think, and here, Culinary Director Alisher Yallaev passes with flying colors. The yakisoba is fantastic, and side steps mistakes other restaurants make: too little sauce, too much sauce, overcooked noodles and, yes, salt. The yakisoba is sweet and savory. Bravo.
Born in Uzbekistan, Yallaev cut his teeth at Michelin Star restaurants, before becoming sous chef at Naoe in Miami, only one of two Japanese restaurants in the U.S. to achieve the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star Award.
Other highlights include the lobster wonton, served with a buttery teriyaki broth, and complements the sweetness of the lobster. The glazed eggplant taco is also a standout as are the tender Korean barbecue ribs that use peppers as an accent and not to smother and overpower the sweetness of the pork. Sushi is done expertly, with the nigiri on point and not falling apart, but there's real magic happening on the robata, especially with the whole branzino. The presentation alone, with the entire fish plated, is complicated to execute properly. Best of all? It's delicious.
Like the restaurant's design, there is a lot of thought throughout the menu, drinks-wise, too. Stuart Roy tells me how he recently had dinner with Richard Geoffroy of IWA sake. Soy Cowboy's sake list is well curated — I spy a junmai nigori sake from Daimon Brewery in Osaka, one of the first sake breweries I ever visited over two decades ago. The cocktails are delicious, with two in particular — spring training and Japanese homerun — making fun baseball references. Fitting as Soy Cowboy sits across from Globe Life Field.
Dessert is an array of fruit and sweets, and sweets that look like realistic fruit. Included is a Japanese muskmelon. "When I went to Japan," Yallaev tells me, "I couldn't believe how inexpensive muskmelon was. My wife and I bought a whole bunch and took them back to our hotel to eat." According to him, Soy Cowboy is, as far as he knows, the only place in the area that serves the fruit. "We are charging what we pay for them at cost, so we're not making money on them," he adds. "I just want people to be able to eat them."
I think about that generosity — that desire. It's felt throughout the restaurant on every dish, drink and surface. And that is the biggest wow of them all.
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