Best Bites: Dining out in Dallas-Fort Worth January 18

by Teresa Gubbins

Go Fish is moving east. The acclaimed fine-dining seafood restaurant that was opened in 2005 by restaurateur Mike Hoque will migrate from its hideaway spot on Belt Line at Quorum to the geographically desirable Village on the Green, the brand-new retail complex by the Galleria that's home to BLT Steak as well as Fat Straws, a bubble tea place. Hoque signed a lease and the redesign is underway, with an opening scheduled for spring.

Hoque, who more recently opened the impeccable Dallas Fish Market in downtown Dallas, is passionate about making good-quality seafood accessible. That's the goal behind his fast-food fish concept called Fish Express, whose first branch he opened at the corner of Preston and Forest in 2006. Now it's time to roll it out: He's opening 3 more branches in the next six months in Uptown Dallas, Frisco, and in Irving.

To the new stores, he's adding a gourmet-to-go section with seafood that's prepared and ready to take out. He's also reunited with Chris Svalesen, his original partnering chef at Go Fish, who's acting as a consultant.

"I'm trying to change the culture," Hoque says. "This is less about making money than it is that showing you can eat fast food that's healthy."

Speaking of fish

• RA Sushi Bar Restaurant will open in March at The Shops at Legacy in Plano. RA is a small chain based in Scottsdale, Ariz. This will be its second branch in Texas, behind Houston which opened earlier this year.
• Sushi Axiom is about to open any day in the ultra-happening development at the corner of Henderson and Capitol. Owned by Tran Diep and Lee Nguyen, it's a spin-off of the same-named sushi restaurant in Fort Worth.

No trite belly dancer references here

Scott at DallasFood.org sussed out a Moroccan thing going on up in Richardson with Tangier Restaurant and Grill, a buffet deal set up inside Zituna World Market, and Marrakesh Cafe, a full-blown Moroccan restaurant that opened last year. SlowFood Dallas took note of it and so did the DMN, who quickly did a review that runs today (Friday).