86 APRIL 6-12, 2023 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC & VENUES | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | SHOPPING & SERVICES | CONTENTS | quality sushi in an approachable, no-frills atmosphere. Temaki Den specializes in aburi sushi — or “fl ame seared,” in Japa- nese — so be sure to include a charred nigiri in your order. Favorites include eggplant, scallop and wagyu New York strip. If you’re going for lunch, choose one of the insanely affordable hand roll (temaki) sets, and for dinner, let the chef choose in an omakase experience, during which your server will customize the potential plates based on your food and budget preferences. Best Oysters Jax Fish House Multiple metro locations jaxfi shhouse.com No restaurant in town embraces the beauty of the oyster more than Jax, which origi- nally opened in Boulder in 1994 and now has fi ve Colorado locations, plus one in Kansas City. Jax presents a rotating selec- tion of bivalves available raw or chargrilled, and even hosts an annual festival dedicated to all things oyster. One staple is the Emer- sum oyster, Jax’s proprietary name for the Crassostrea virginica variety of the mollusk that is sourced from a family-owned com- pany that sustainably farms them in the waters of Virginia’s Rappahannock River. Jax also recently added a second propri- etary oyster, the Crackerjax, which has a salty bite balanced by a touch of sweetness. Best Poke Turtle Boat 2231 South Broadway Chef/owner Jeremy Song opened Turtle Boat, a counter-service restaurant on South Broadway, in 2017 and has been serving stellar “Colorado poki salads” ever since. What exactly does that mean? He’s taken the traditional Hawaiian dish and added his own spin, with a selection of seafoods that can be heaped onto fully customizable bowls loaded with a huge selection of add- on options, from furikake and wasabi peas to seaweed salad and spicy green papaya. For a fi lling mix of fl avors and textures, don’t be scared to go all in, adding anything and everything that tempts your tastebuds. This is poke maximalism, and it’s really, really good. Best Pho Pho Broadway 6645 South Broadway, Littleton 303-797-6645 phobroadwaylittleton.com Pho is supposed to be comforting, reli- able, stomach-fi lling and heartwarming, and that’s exactly what you’ll get at Pho Broadway, which has been satisfying cus- tomers with its clear, fl avorful broth since 2017. The secret is in the traditional broth technique, which requires twelve hours’ time, allowing the fl avors to fully develop. It serves as the rich and savory base for sixteen different iterations of pho, from the classic P1 — packed with steak, brisket, fl ank, tendon and tripe — to the P14, loaded with imitation crab, shrimp, and shrimp and fi sh balls. Best Ramen Dragonfl y Noodle 1350 16th Street 720-543-8000 2014 10th Street, Boulder 720-580-1100 dragonfl ynoodle.com In need of a fresh start after the pandemic, chef Edwin Zoe rebranded his Boulder eat- ery Chimera as Dragonfl y Noodle in 2022, adding a second location on Denver’s 16th Street Mall later that year. This sister con- cept to his casual Food and Drink continued from page 84 continued on page 88 GETT Y IMAGES O P E N 4 P M DA I LY F O R H A P P Y H O U R 1 2 P M S AT/ S U N DAY F O R W E E K E N D L U N C H Flavor Forward. Sustainably Sourced. B A M B O O S U S H I .C O M 2 7 1 5 1 7 T H S T, LO H I
