At Daniel Hnin and his family’s Missouri restaurant, customers can’t get enough of two particular things.
Located in St. Joseph, Missouri, Chin Paradise Restaurant serves a variety of Asian cuisine.
But since adding sushi and boba tea to the menu a few months ago, Hnin said, those two items have made up nearly half of the restaurant’s total sales. This got Hnin thinking, what would happen if he opened a new spot entirely focused on those offerings?
That idea officially came to life this week. His new restaurant, DeiRel Sushi & Boba, “soft opened” its doors on Wednesday in Shawnee.
DeiRel Sushi & Boba opened at 6485 Quivira Road
- The restaurant took over a space just off 65th Street and Quivira Road, near Bates City Bar-B-Que.
- Aqueous Vapor previously occupied that space.
- For now, DeiRel Sushi & Boba’s “soft opening” hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, though Hnin said those hours may later extend based on customer demand.
DeiRel serves “premium” sushi rolls and boba tea
The menu at DeiRel features a variety of rolls, from spicy tuna and spicy vegetable rolls to “dragon” rolls (rice, seaweed, cucumber, avocado, crab salad, salmon, shrimp and tuna) and fresh salmon rolls.
The restaurant’s specialty, Hnin said, is its sushi platters — a combination of multiple rolls, served in a sushi “boat” dish.
On the tea side, the restaurant offers up to 17 flavors of tea that customers can grab either on the go or with their meal as they dine in.
Its menu features both milk teas and fruit-flavored green teas, in flavors such as taro, mango, passionfruit and honeydew. (Hnin said the honeydew is his personal favorite.)
DeiRel Sushi & Boba has a family tie
The restaurant’s name, DeiRel, is a nod to Hnin’s family’s origins.
His family is originally from the Chin State in western Myanmar, in southeastern Asia.
The Chin State is home to the DeiRel Bible printing press, which Hnin’s father worked at. Its name translates to “morning star”, and it was built by some of the region’s first missionaries.
“(With the name), I would like to remember the past, the Chin State and my dad’s legacy,” Hnin said.
The restaurant itself also has familial ties, with Hnin’s uncle, Mang Al, working as its head chef.
Though his family isn’t new to the restaurant business, DeiRel Sushi & Boba is Hnin’s first business of his own. He’s looking forward to branching out on something new, along with continuing to get to know the Shawnee community.
“I like the area around here; everyone is very friendly,” he said. “This is in my name, so it’s exciting for me.”
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