PGH Dining: PLUM Pan Asian Kitchen

Often times during the week, I find myself not wanting to make the dinner I'd planned to make earlier while grocery shopping on Saturday or Sunday. Some nights you just feel like eating something specific for dinner. Friday night was one of those nights; I'd had a super stressful week {I am a busy job-seeker after all}, and to me, there's nothing better to soothe than sushi and cocktails.

We began driving around, ignoring our phone apps and GPS, and stopped at PLUM Pan Asian Kitchen on Centre Avenue, where it turns into Penn Circle South. We parked in the convenient attached parking lot, which was a bonus in our book.  We walked in to a bustling restaurant, and noticed it was nicer than we initially thought it would be. The lighting was delicate. It was a professionally-dressed crowd. The tables were covered in white tablecloths. We were seated at a two-seater booth plus chair in the middle of the main dining room, and proceeded to look at the several-page-long menu {the link doesn't include sushi or cocktail options...those are separate!}. 

Lady drink versus Man drink.

I ordered a spicy rum cocktail with light fruit juices, and Husband ordered a local stout. Both were super delicious. We then moved on to sushi, ordering the Marilyn Mon Roll {fried soft shell crab, avocado and caviar} and a spicy yellowtail roll {in lieu of the usual spicy tuna roll}.

Marilyn Mon Roll

It was mentioned as one of the patron's favorites.

Spicy Yellowtail Roll.

We both thought the rolls had a generous helping of fish and other ingredients for the price. Additionally, the sushi was on-point in taste. It wasn't outstanding, best-sushi-I've-ever-had, but we didn't have any complaints. 

I also ordered the Tealeaf Salad, which was to have an assortment of 'individual helpings' of nuts, dried fruits and other tasty bits glossed in a tamarind leaf dressing. 

Tealeaf Salad, with terrible lighting.

To pile the goodies on the outskirts of the plate was an interesting idea, and I especially enjoyed the toasted garlic chips on the side. Sweet, yet intensely garlicky. Slices that thin can become burnt so easily, but these were perfect!

The dressing, however, was not very strong, and was somewhat lost in all of the nuts, seeds and dried fruits. I was expecting it to be more 'tamarind flavored,' but it ended up being more of a simple vinaigrette.  I didn't miss it though! Lovely salad.

We then ordered another sushi roll, just because. Husband can never get enough of those fried crustacean rolls, so we ordered the Rock and Roll, which featured rock shrimp. Cute presentation!

The Rock and Roll...roll.

We ended the meal on a liquid dessert, in the form of a lychee martini. Sweet and tart!

Lychee Martini.

For a spur-of-the-moment dinner, PLUM served us well. It was certainly not too crowded to walk in without reservations, but we may have just hit the restaurant at the right time. I can imagine that this would be a fun dinner spot for a group of coworkers, or for a couple of friends catching up over several plates of sushi. If in Shadyside/East Liberty and in need of a sushi and cocktail night, PLUM Pan Asian Kitchen is it!