MoMo Sushi Wok Grill, located at 101 E. Sherman, in downtown Coeur d’Alene, is expanding its bar and its menu. The changes are scheduled to be launched in April.

Co-owners and partners Grace and Scott McNiel run the 10,300-square-foot restaurant, which has two dining levels and also features a koi pond and outdoor patio.

Grace McNiel says the ongoing bar renovation will make room to offer an expanded drink menu with extra shelving and an updated modern, rustic look.

McNiel says she wants to bring more Asian flavor to the spirits menu, including Japanese whiskey and vodka. She also is working with MoMo’s bartender to come up with more cocktail combinations. 

Her brother, Hyun Son, is executive chef and a Korean cuisine expert, she says.

McNiel says MoMo also will have a new sushi and wok menu. Food prepared in the wok method tastes different, McNiel says, because the high temperature in the frying pan creates a distinct texture and crispness.

MoMo will also add a few iterations of Korean barbecue to the menu, including Korean short ribs.

All MoMo dishes are made from scratch, including kimchi, which is pickled and spicy Korean cabbage, she says.

McNiel says her family grew up with Korean food, and she wants to introduce more of it to the surrounding community.

The McNiels opened the restaurant early last year at the former site of the Bonsai Bistro, another Asian restaurant.

Recently McNiel and her brothers, Hyun and Richard Son, who runs a restaurant in Colorado, were all filmed on an episode that aired March 25 of Food Network’s Family Food Showdown, in which they competed against an Italian family that’s also in the restaurant business. 

The battle consisted of three 30-minute cooking challenges with the Italian family taking home the $10,000 cash prize.