Spooked Grill

In spite of the prevalence of Gui faux, there is much to love. Pa jun, the classic Korean pancake, is a thick, chewy pie (ground rice is added to the flour) with crispy edges and shrimp, calamari and scallion as embeds. It arrives on a sizzling metal plate—aromatic, filling, tasty.

"Game over" is a heap of meticulously sliced bone-in beef short rib, marinated in a barbecue sauce packed with zesty savor. These ribs are deliciously rich, prodding into existence new addictions as you chew the last bit of richness from the thin bone shards. There is teriyaki salmon steak, a strip of fish covered with a froth of fried potato and draped over a concave bun of sushi rice. Fish was slightly mushy.

If you come here, dine at the sushi bar. Prattle with the chefs. They'll tease you with things they dare not put on the menu for fear of spooking the Uptown natives. We sampled a plate of baked white tuna topped with tobiko and tenuous threads of red onion, in a warm, slightly sweet soy mustard broth. Soothing and buttery, the fish thaws over the tongue in a watery savor.

Despite its earnest mainstreaming, Gui holds its own. Our wish would be that it muscle up the Korean aspect. There's an underestimation here, and Dallas very well could be ahead of Cha's curve. Done right, Gui could go a long way toward evangelizing the young and the timid and the young-feeling old to Korean culinary writ.

2719 McKinney Ave., 214-720-9229. Open 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday; 5-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 5 p.m. -midnight Friday & Saturday. $$$