Second Helpings

Tanoshii

661 Louis Henna Blvd. #300 (Greenlawn Shopping Center), Round Rock, 512/341-7874 Monday-Thursday, 11am-10pm; Friday, 11am-10:30pm; Saturday, noon-10:30pm; Sunday, noon-10pm
The flurry of new Japanese restaurants and sushi bars is creeping beyond Austin city limits. Tanoshii has been pleasing diners since it opened in Round Rock during May of 2003. With its charming decor and impressively elegant presentation, the reasonable prices may come as a surprise, but it's certainly not for lack of quality. Generous portions of fresh ingredients fill the variety of sushi rolls, from classics -- cucumber, spider, and california -- to specialties like the Hot Christmas Roll (snow crab, avocado with red tobiko, crunchy flakes, and hot sauce) and the Tanoshii Roll (spicy salmon, avocado, and eel). Select from nearly 40 appetizers, soups, and salads to start and continue with a main course of Angus beef or salmon teriyaki, seafood and vegetable tempura, broiled eel, or one of several udon dishes. Tanoshii's excellent lunch specials offer smaller-sized portions of these teriyaki and tempura entrées weekdays from 11am to 2pm for $5.95-8.95. Or combine your choice of sashami or nigiri sushi with half a california roll, a tuna roll, and miso soup for a filling midday meal under $10. Finish things up with a Japanese take on cheesecake, battered in tempura and deep-fried.