Viewed from the outside, Bonsai Sushi is a bit frightening. It sits in a second rate strip center fronting Trinity Mills next to a post office. Glance at the menu and things don’t improve. Besides sushi and other Japanese dishes, you’ll find a scattering of Korean and pan-Asian favorites. Hmm…old strip, post office, a Trinity Mills location, sushi and bibimbap sharing space on the same menu—all symptoms of impending gastrointestinal disaster.

Fortunately, Bonsai Sushi breaks the rules. Start with the katsudon (or tonkatsu donburi, if you’re so inclined), a Japanese version of fast food featuring pork cutlets pounded flat, breaded, and fried then served over rice. In addition to the beauty of tender meat and a golden fried crust, there’s a peppery-sweet, almost tropical glaze. The restaurant’s stab at something yakitori-ish (part of a bento box meal) feels a bit stringy. But the burnished sauce rolls out an intangible flavor akin to grilled mirin, scorched here and there so deeply by heat the dense sweetness caramelizes into something more assertive, full of charcoal, molasses, whiskey, and pan juice-like sensations. Teriyaki beef collapses into slender fibers, releasing a riddle of soy, ginger, and something sweet.

If any restaurant was destined by the fates to wallow in obscurity, it would be Bonsai. The place is invisible from the Tollway, for one. But it is filled with surprises.