South Bay Japanese Marathon

What do bloggers do in their free time? We eat; that's a given. But we also meet up to eat. In this case, we journeyed the South Bay one Saturday afternoon, searching for our Japanese fix.

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Organized by the multi-talented Fiona of Gourmet Pigs, this marathon had been in the making since our last expedition into the concrete Jungle. We teamed up with Javier the "Teenage" Glutster, Mattatouille, Choisauce, RumDood, Pepsi Monster, and budding blogger Danny for this trip. My girlfriend Yoko proved essential for some of the translations and the photos on this entry.



First stop: Gaja for okonomiyaki, a type of Japanese crepe/griddle cake. Made from yam flour, filled with ingredients, and fried on a teppan, this was my first experience at an okonomiyaki-ya. Thanks to the hot tip from I Nom Things, we were able to discover this fun DIY place. She even has several recipes if you want to try it at home. Of course, if you can't figure out the Japanese instructions, you can also get help from the friendly staff. Remember to proclaim "Yes!" in a tone as to indicate to your waiter your satisfaction for his efforts.

Here's the waiter helping with spicy cod roe, mochi, cheese monja-yaki, a creamier, more gooey relative of the okonomiyaki. The monja-yaki is fried to form a crust, but then mashed and eaten with individual spatulas. This particular monja-yaki had the miniature texture of the cod roe and the runny mochi and cheese.

Pre-cooked

Not terribly appetizing in appearance, but fun to eat nonetheless


Our Modern Mix Okonomiyaki had beef, squid, oysters, noodles, egg and preserved ginger, a seemingly odd mix, but formed a satisfying pie. Topped with the special sauce, Kewpie mayonnaise and bonito flakes, this could easily make a decent meal for the hungry traveler. Unfortunately, the life of a marathoner is tough; it was one slice, then out the door for our next stop.



Second stop: Patisserie Chantilly, a delightful Japanese desserts shop. The picture at the top of the page is from Chantilly. Our large group rolled in and took over the small place. We laid down $3 each and partook in a foodie communism experiment. A communal order of three macarons; black sesame, vanilla, and chocolate profiteroles; passionfruit mousse; cheesecake souffle; cheesecake bar; chocolate tart; and a white sesame blanc manger was put down and quickly devoured. Luckily, Pepsi Monster bought additional treats and donated it to the still hungry citizens. Funny how even in desserts, communism doesn't work.






If given the chance, make sure to try the souffle fromage, it is cheesecake heaven; at least you'll feel like you're eating clouds.


After a failed stop at Otafuku, our valiant troupe ended up at Hakata Ramen. Given that our soba stop fell through, we entered into a furious debate over a suitable replacement (I only say furious because at this point we were starting to get hungry again). Before our table was ready, we hopped back into the caravan and drove down to Ichimiann Bamboo Garden for homemade soba

It certainly doesn't take much to constitute a "bamboo garden." But I guess if it took acres of bamboo to be considered a forest, pandas wouldn't be so endangered. Of course I quickly got over the lack of foliage when I sat down to my platter of cold zaru-soba, a refreshing mound of buckwheat noodles served with accompanying dipping sauce. I found each noodle to have springy integrity...chewy, a little before al dente. According to Matt, the sauce is mixed with soba water afterwards and drank. I preferred the brown rice tea instead.




Last stop: Izakaya Bincho, the charming mom and pop restaurant with extremely demanding chef/owner. On that day, the staffing situation was even worse. With a sick wife, the husband manned the entire place by himself. Although it's not unheard of for him to turn away customers, the restaurant stayed especially empty that night. This was my first visit since its closure last year as a yakitori. The tsukune chicken meatballs, which were godly last time, disappointed this time, probably due to the lack of bincho charcoal. Juicy as usual, but there just was no depth of flavor you'd get with the ashy charcoal. Instead, the braised pork belly shined. Despite the overexposure of pork belly these days, the chef managed to bring out the melty texture of the pork and supplement it with a rich braising sauce. He doesn't rely just on the fat of the dish as so many restaurants do. In fact, the long braising time made the whole slab fall apart enough to eat with a spoon. The tebasaki fried chicken wings with sweet and spicy sauce stole the show. Amazing flavors hit me all at once, intense at first, but gradually fading and lingering on the palate. The wings were deep-fried, but they didn't weigh me down. All I could feel was the crispy skin and the sticky sauce. With the decline of the tsukune, I believe the tebasaki is the new gotta-have-it dish. Though I will still give runner-up position to the agedashi tofu. The chef's dashi shows amazing care in its umami complexity. Plus large slabs of silken tofu make this a hearty dish for tofu.

Braised pork belly

Tebasaki (Deep-fried chicken wings)

Agedashi Tofu

As I've settled into my home in LA, I've found so much diversity in the cuisine. I don't know if there's anywhere else in the world with so many ethnic options within driving range. With denser communities, they start to blend and lose some of their uniqueness within each cuisine. LA's just large enough that you can find places that just specialize in okonomiyaki, Japanese desserts, soba and izakaya. We have so much at our fingertips; it's a shame if you don't take advantage of it. I appreciate that I can have a Japanese food marathon without even once mentioning sushi. That's the kind of dining city that LA is.

Gaja
gajamoc.com
2383 Lomita Blvd, Ste 102,
Lomita, 90717
(310) 534-0153
$18 per okonomiyaki though that can probably feed 3-4

Patisserie Chantilly
patisseriechantilly.com
2383 Lomita Blvd, Ste 10
Lomita, 90717
(310) 257-9454
$3-4 each dessert

Ichimiann Bamboo Garden
ichimiann.com
1618 Cravens Ave
Torrance, 90510
(310) 328-1323
$6 a bowl

Izakaya Bincho
112 N International Boardwalk
Redondo Beach, 90277
(310) 376-3889
Get here early on a non-weekend and pray for a seat
~$20 per person if you're eating at the end of a marathon

^

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Wakasan This Way

Wakasan
(310) 446-5241
1929 Westwood Blvd.,
West LA, 90025
Omakase only for $35 per person

I'm not entirely sure why the sign says Japanese charcoal cuisine. Out of the twelve courses, only one dish may have been grilled. Still, the podium outside announced that they only serve omakase prix-fixe style dinner with multiple izakaya dishes. The explosive popularity of izakayas may be following the small plates trend paved by Spanish tapas. I like to think that izakayas are no so popular simply because they serve good food in a manner conducive to shared company. Who doesn't like to have drinks with a good group of friends and share all types of delicious food?

As far as I know, izakayas are not generally served omakase. I think that having a set menu limits some of the fun of the izakaya experience. Choice and spontaneity make up a large part of the fun. It is nice though, to be served things I wouldn't usually order by myself. But given the choice, I wouldn't have ordered such an expensive meal either. Walking into Wakasan, I realized quickly that my friend Ed and I were the only non-Japanese patrons--usually a good sign. While I was pleasantly satisfied with the dishes I received, I was disappointed to see another table get an order of live shrimp that I never got. The waiter explained that it was an extra item that I'd have to pay more for, but I never saw any sort of menu to order from anyway. I wonder if not being Japanese had something to do with it. I've had omakase at sushi restaurants before and noticed that I receive better food when I'm with my Japanese girlfriend. While it makes sense that the chef will serve you based on your preferences, I don't like to be judged just because of race. I can eat with the best of them, but they may never give me a shot if I'm not Japanese. Perhaps next time in an omakase context, I will need to show them my familiarity with the cuisine and hope for the best.

Courses 1-3

These three dishes came out first. The bottom one on the right is some sort of seaweed salad which didn't appeal to me. It tastes bland and wet, not much more than that. I forgot what the center dish was, but the texture had a chewy consistency, probably some sort of pressed tofu product. The left bowl is pickled daikon and carrot and octopus salad. Vietnamese fans will probably recognize the pickles, an item I will explore in more detail in an upcoming blog entry. Of the three, I liked this one the most. The sweet and sour pickles paired well with the octopus. From my experience at Sasaya, I think that marinated octopus is truly delightful on top of a salad. Just a little rice vinegar, sugar and wasabi can go a long way.

Courses 4-5

The grilled salmon came with a wedge of lemon that I eagerly drizzled over the fish. Picking up a piece with my chopsticks, I expected an intense citrus flavor followed by the familiar taste of salmon, but instead the overwhelming flavor was sake. I'm not sure what they did with the fish, whether a marinade or a quick glaze, but it was delicious and different. The sashimi plate consisted of three small cuts of tuna, another white fish I couldn't identify, and squid wrapped in shiso. As taken from my Sawtelle Kitchen post, "Shiso is the herb perilla most commonly known by its Japanese name." The flavor is that of a less obtrusive mint. It actually paired nicely with the oil of the raw squid, and in these little pieces, the chewiness of the squid is not overwhelming.

Course 6

Ah the crab course. The delicately sweet meat of the snow crab is prepared simply as it should be. The flavor of the crab can speak for itself. While I definitely enjoyed this, the simplicity did not really impress me.

Course 7

The dumplings served in a light broth was my favorite item of the night. They come with two quail eggs which are always a joy to eat. Quail eggs have a much more elastic texture than chicken eggs and the flavors are more complex in my opinion, but it was the dumpling that captured my attention. Though they look like wet gyoza or Chinese dumplings, the dumpling skin was thin more like a wonton. The filling, presumably pork, was seasoned to perfection and generously filled the wrapper. The soup also was flavorful, but light.

Course 8

The chicken karaage, small pieces of deep fried dark meat, was also very well done. As a fan of fried chicken, I liked the juicy interior and the crisp exterior. Eaten with a dollop of what I assume is Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise and a squeeze of lemon, the chicken gave weight to an otherwise ethereal meal. Still, it was good to limit the chicken to three pieces. Any more, and it would have been too heavy.

Course 9

Although it looks like a richly opaque soup, this is actually an egg custard. The texture was that of silken tofu. While I didn't care much for the custard, when I reached the bottom, I found surprises of fish cake, shiitake mushrooms, ginko, shrimp and chicken. Those little prizes made me feel like a kid opening up a cereal box and finding the prize or an archaeologist finding little treasures.

Courses 10-11

The inari sushi came with a bowl of what I assume are shirataki noodles. The inari is a sweet tofu pouch of rice, my favorite as a kid. I still enjoy them as a snack. The noodles, from what I learned on Wikipedia are apparently very low in calories and carbohydrates. While I don't know anything about that, I know it was a light way to fill up the rest of the way. At this point, I was quite full, not so much because of the quantity of food, but because the spacing gave me time to feel it. Each dish came out probably between 5-10 minutes of each other.

Course 12

My last course of the night was a green ice cream that I didn't photograph because it didn't look especially different than all the other green tea ice creams I've come across before. However, after tasting it, I wish I had taken a photo. The flavor was more complex than green tea. There may have been a green tea base, but the flavor was fruitier than just tea.

After those twelve courses, I felt full and satisfied. I was glad for the diversity of dishes. There wasn't any dish I particularly hated, but I would feel sorry for the picky eater who can't enjoy the food here. When putting your trust in the chef, as omakase roughly means in Japanese, you have to be open to a wide variety. Knowing that I was getting an omakase meal, I knew it would be expensive; but now that I know Wakasan only serves omakase, I wouldn't be inclined to go back anytime soon. It is more of a special occasion restaurant.

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Izakaya Showdown: Sasaya vs. FuRaiBo

SASAYA vs. FURAIBO

Welcome ladies and gentlemen! Tonight we have a izakaya showdown between two great West LA competitors in a side-by-side comparison. In the left corner, fighting out of Santa Monica Boulevard, this feisty Japanese establishment refuses to give in to the sushi craze, Sasaya. In the right corner, catering to the Sawtelle crowd, famous for their tebasaki chicken wings, FuRaiBo. We'll see who's cuisine will reign supreme... er, best!

For those of you who have not yet had the experience, izakya is Japanese bar food. It is also commonly referred to as Japanese tapas. Salaried men would meet for happy hour events at pubs in Japan and dine on the equivalent of our buffalo wings and mozzarella sticks, except that their food is significantly healthier and much less saucy.

As a judge, I'll admit that I may not be completely unbiased. I've been coming to FuRaiBo for years. In fact, besides Soup Plantation, there isn't any restaurant in LA I've been to more than FuRaiBo. It was my first izakaya experience, introducing me to an entire new type of cuisine. These izakaya restaurants have elevated Japanese food to one of my favorite cuisines. While I always knew there was more to Japanese food than sushi and tempura, I didn't truly eat Japanese until I started on this journey to find new izakayas.

Starting with the vibe, FuRaiBo felt more Japanese to me. The furniture and decor was simple and refined. They even have tatami floor seating in the back. While I hate floor seating, it's nice to have that option. Sasaya feels much more LA with the stylish decorations. However, Sasaya did have communal long-table seating and a visible bar, two things I believe are elements of a good izakaya. The waitstaff is more personable and friendly at Sasaya. Everyone at FuRaiBo always seems to be in a rush, and several times I had issues getting the attention of a waitress.

In the category of taste, I initially awarded more points to FuRaiBo after my first visit to Sasaya. However, I ended up at Sasaya two nights in a row, and my second night with friends who knew how to order was much more pleasant. After two dinners at Sasaya, I believe their more unconventional dishes really shine like the marinated wasabi octopus and simmered Kurobuta pork belly. FuRaiBo still has me hooked on the beef tataki and halibut karaage. The tataki is a very rare steak topped with ponzu, onions and grated daikon. The halibut is a baby fish fileted and deep-fried.

For the other factors, I considered accessibility, price, and alcohol selection. Both have parking lots, although each suffers from some problems. Sasaya only had four or five spaces behind the restaurant. FuRaiBo has a much larger lot, but they have a dubious double-parking system where the diner alerts the restaurant which car they are driving and are told to move if they are blocking in a leaving customer. Price-wise, FuRaiBo seems to be slightly cheaper, although I can eat anywhere between $15-30 per person there. At Sasaya, I can easily rack up a bill from $20-50. The issue with izakayas is always quantity. It's great to order many small dishes, but those little prices add up fast. I usually recommend maybe three or four dishes per diner shared family style. Lastly, since izakayas are designed around alcohol, every good restaurant needs a selection of beer, shoju and sake. Sasaya seems to have a much wider selection of sake and shoju than FuRaiBo.

Considering all these factors, both are terrific restaurants that I would frequent in the future. Both serve delicious food, although Sasaya excels on the exotic end while FuRaiBo dominates the more conventional food like yakitori and agedashi tofu. But between the two, I'm not considering which one is a superior restaurant. I'm deciding which one is a better izakaya. Therefore, under that criteria, I would deem Sasaya the winner. Congratulations to Sasaya, although it still can't beat the reigning champion Musha.

Sasaya
(310) 477-4404
11613 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
$20-50

FuRaiBo
(310) 444-1432
2068 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025

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New York Food Fest 2008

So once again I'm in the Big Apple soaking in the culture of the American City. Since this is my second trip in less than seven months, I was not as concerned with hitting a whirlwind of places. Instead, I took my time, tried to drop the tourist act and soaked up the city at my own pace.

Crif Dogs was one of the places I missed last time I was in town. I had meant to check it out upon recommendation by my New Yorker girlfriend, but I was so enthralled with Gray's that I just never made it out to St. Mark's.

Looking at the menu, I could easily tell what kind of crowd this place caters to. They feature four "Stoner Pack" meals "for those of you who practice the wake and bake theory of life." Well seeing as how I don't subscribe to that philosophy, I went for two original Crif Dogs, handmade and naturally smoked.

Since I wanted to get the full flavor of the frank, I had mine topped simply with sauerkraut and relish. The hot dog had a nice crispness to it, quite a bit different in texture from the wieners I'm used to. I also tried the tsunami dog, which was bacon wrapped and topped with pineapple, teriyaki sauce and green onions. The pineapples and green onions went great together, but the bacon might have been overkill. I'll have to say though, I still prefer Pink's in LA as the best hot dogs I've had.

Even though I spent a healthy afternoon playing Gears of War on Xbox (yes, I flew to NY to play video games), I coincidentally ended up in St. Mark's again that night for dinner. Originally, I planned to go to a Moroccan restaurant across the street; for the record, their menu did look quite appetizing. However, since they didn't seat my friends and I after waiting close to an hour, I'll give them enough of a demerit to not go back.

We crossed the street to Dumpling Man. Apparently Dumpling Man is also Zagat rated, and rated well too. It's a narrow counter restaurant with few frills. Customers can watch their dumplings being made fresh and either steamed or fried to order. Their seasonal specialty kim chee dumpling was a creative and delicious take on Chinese style dumplings. After ordering, I noticed that several reviews placed conveniently in the restaurant suggested the shrimp, so I ordered one of those also. Trying both dumplings with the green cilantro sauce, I'll have to give both originality and taste points to the Korean dumpling. Yes, that is my friend very excited for his dumpling.

The next morning, well more like afternoon considering I was still on Pacific time and I went back to the Xbox for several hours after dinner, I went out for some mac and cheese. Although I heard about S'mac through a friend's recommendation, I also found out that Oprah had endorsed this place. With an endorsement from her, how can you not win over everyone...oh wait.

Make sure you click on this image to get a close-up of that cheesy, melty goodness. Served in an individual skillet too? I felt like a king of macaroni, except I was sharing with someone else. This is the All-American Mac, a blend of American and cheddar cheese, browned to form a crunchy crust. As you might imagine, everything in this restaurant is intensely rich and salty. Luckily I shared this mac; I doubt I could've finished one on my own. Also, I believe they intentionally keep this place too hot to make you buy their overpriced drinks (mostly Jones sodas).

Alright, although I was eager to come back to NY to go to Crif Dogs, I mostly wanted to come to Sylvia's for their soul food. Located in Harlem, not far from the Apollo Theater, Sylvia's is a hot tourist spot. They try hard to shed their street reputation and strive for friendly service paired with mouthwatering, hearty dishes.

I came for an early lunch, early enough that they were still serving the biscuits from breakfast. Although they do serve some famous cornbread, as referenced on an episode of 30 Rock, their biscuits stole the show. I watched my friend's face melt as he bit into that fluffy, buttery pastry. Eagerly, I tried my own; instantly, neither one of us could get enough. The only thing that held us back was the promise of more food...much, much more food to come.

Where can you order BOTH fried chicken and ribs for lunch? Same place where you pay four dollars for Grandma Julia fruit punch, which tasted like Kool-Aid made with seltzer water. The drink was the only mediocre thing however, the rest of my lunch with sides of buttered corn and potato salad was heavenly. Tender chicken and ribs that fell off the bone made my knees buckle. Combined with Sylvia's house hot sauce, this lunch brought my understanding of soul food to a new level. My friend's collard greens cooked with turkey were also the best collard greens I've ever had. They managed maintain their structure and not become a soggy mess. I'm sure someone will argue with me that Sylvia's is too much of a tourist trap nowadays and not very authentic. I'd challenge anyone to try their food and not tell me it's worth a trip in itself.

Now I'll admit this picture does not look very appetizing at all. But sometimes good food is best tasted with eyes closed. I bought this gyros sandwich off a cart at 2 am on 52nd and 8th. It's so nice to be in the big city where I can just walk downstairs and get food in the middle of the night. But not just food, good food. There's a reason why there was a line for a push cart.

Now this gyros was far from traditional. I actually have no idea what he put inside it, but whatever sauce it was brought the whole thing together. It wasn't the usual tzatziki, it was spicy and red. The texture was slight mushy, but the flavor was all there.

Now I contrast the good street food with the bad fast food. Whereas I previously mentioned that not all good food looks appetizing, this is a case where you can judge the book by its cover. Does this look familiar? If you guessed McDonald's cheeseburger, you wouldn't be far from the truth as far as taste and appearance. This is a White Castle slider made famous by Harold & Kumar. It does taste remarkably like miniature McDonald's. I've even heard that theses aren't much better fresh than they are frozen and reheated. For my money, I'd rather opt for McDonald's double cheeseburger, which strangely enough, costs the same as a single.

One of my last nights in NY I had dinner at the first Jamaican restaurant I've ever seen. Negril, not Ne Grill as I initially thought, is a beach in Jamaica. This appetizer shown on the right is ackee bruscetta served on cassava toast. Ackee is a tropical fruit related to lychee supposedly of culinary importance to the island nation. Personally, I found it to be bland, but I probably didn't have the best representation of ackee. Also, this fruit is poisonous.

Although this is not actually my entree, I thought this oxtail stew looked better than my goat stew wrapped in burritoesque tortilla. Stew are a big part of Caribbean food, which doesn't surprise me. It is a hearty and makes the most use of scraps and bits of leftover meat as would be appropriate for slave food of the time. This is why there are few Jamaican restaurants; it just isn't very sophisticated in ingredients. That doesn't mean it can't be good, just suited for a different crowd.

Now for the last restaurant I am going to review, I only have a picture of the cotton candy machine outside of the restaurant. I didn't anticipate eating here, so I wasn't prepared with my camera. If you've walked down St. Mark's place, the saccharine smell of cotton candy would have pointed you to Kenka. This restaurant was lively, a popular hangout for NYU students. Apparently they banned sake bombing precisely because it was too popular. Oh plus the disruptive yelling and fist pounding didn't contribute to a dining environment. Kenka serves small Japanese plates in an izakaya style with a wide selection of sake and a few Japanese beers. I enjoyed the place and would love to come back again either for a late night meal or a happy hour.

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Nanban-kan

(310) 478-1591
11330 Santa Monica Blvd
West Los Angeles, CA 90189

Adequately Fed: $30
See Below
(Out of Five Stars)

Considering the Nanban-kan is a Japanese yakitori-ya serving grilled skewers in small portions, I am doing something different for this review. Each dish will be listed with a picture and described individually before I wrap it all up at the end.

We ordered the Nanban-kan complete dinner set which comes with eight dishes plus soup, pickles, rice and ice cream. On top of that, I ordered an additional seven dishes.

Mixed Mushrooms*****

First to arrive at our tables was the mixed mushrooms skillet of shimeji (oyster mushroom), enoki and shiitake sauteed in light butter with cherry tomatoes and scallions. I found this dish to be especially gratifying. The different mushrooms had different textures that complimented each other as well as flavors that are slightly different. The tomatoes were sweet and soft but still held their shape well.



Tan*****/Shiso Maki****/Ingen Maki****

The chewy tan is beef tongue. It was a little strange to be eating tongue, but the flavor was heavenly. It was smooth and buttery, a guilty indulgence. The tender pork tenderloin of the shiso maki combined with the delicate flavor of the shiso leaf made this skewer especially notable. The ingen maki was green beans with a side of pork. I thought the green beans were slightly tough



Soboro Dan***

Ground chicken cooked with soy sauce and mirin (sweet rice wine) topped this bowl of rice. The sweetness of the wine went well with the rice, giving the sensation of sushi rice. I was initially skeptical of the ground chicken because it looked plain, but found it delicious upon tasting. However, considering all the other dishes going on, I would have preferred that the rice be simpler and not detract from the other items.



Geso****/Tebasaki***

The squid legs and chicken wings carried much of the same grilled flavors. Although I must say that the squid was not over cooked so not too chewy. With a few drops from the accompanying wedge of lemon, it tasted even better. I don't know if I would completely forgo fried calamari for the geso, but I would feel much healthier with the latter. The chicken wings did not appeal much to me. They were solid, but not much better than the fried tebasaki at Fu Rai Bo.


Yaki-Onigiri**

This was my first time having a grilled rice ball. I found that the lack of nori took away much of the flavor of the rice. The grilled flavors were too heavy and made me anticipate a cancerous future. One of these were filled with dried bonito while the other one had ume (plum). I did not try the ume one because I personally find ume's flavors to be too sour and sweet. The grilling process makes the rice too hard and dry. I would rather have plain rice in this case.


Uzura***/Yasi Yaki****

These two skewer showed how Japanese food can capture simplicity in ingredients but complexity in flavor. The quail eggs had a much tougher texture than chicken eggs and the little bite sizes make them fun to eat. The yasi yaki is just a mushroom, cherry tomato and green bell pepper. Simple and straight-forward, but sure to make an impact in your mouth.



Shiromi*****

With the beef tongue, this Chilean sea bass was the best dish of the night. The green onions and sweet sauce combined with the delicate texture of the fish melted in my mouth. I have always been a fan of Chilean sea bass and am relatively certain its very difficult to cook badly. But this skewer was so memorable, my mouth is watering as I'm writing this description. This will definitely be on the reorder list on my next Nanban-kan trip.


Kaibashira*****

U-10 scallops mean that less than ten of these sea scallops fit in a pound. The grilling process dries up much of the weight in moisture so they are not quite as large as they are raw. However, this also concentrates the flavor. These scallops were cooked perfectly to the point of doneness resulting in just the teeth resistance.




Nanban Yaki**

Considering this is their signature skewer, I found this top sirloin to be plain and unimaginative. At this point, I was tired of the overused yaki sauce. Perhaps it would have been more impressive on the first run, but by the time this came out I had no more room for the sweet and savory sauce. I would've liked to see this cooked with better beef.




Tsukunne***/Negima**

After a blizzard of dishes, these next few plates did not come until we specifically asked them to check up on them. It turns out they left them out even though they were part of a set combo. The tskukunne was a chicken meatball that was fine but nothing outstanding. The negima was dark chicken meat sandwiched with scallions. It was also not very memorable



Ginnan**

I'll admit that I do not exactly know what gingko nuts are supposed to taste like so I could not evaluate how well they prepared the ginnan. But from my perspective, they were tough and did not have the weight to be served on their own. Perhaps accompanying something else, the gingko would be more delicious.




Lychee Ice Cream****

We ended the night with a small cup of lychee ice cream. While it was good, it didn't look special or taste homemade. I may be wrong, but it was just as good as ice cream scooped from a tub. Still, it was a good way to top off a lovely meal.

Besides the food, the atmosphere was conducive to a relaxing evening. Though the exterior was under construction, the interior felt warm with good lighting over each individual table. In fact, the layout was designed to give each table a sense of privacy and space. I'm glad they did not try to pack more people into such a small place. The center grill provided a view of your food being prepared as three chefs took turns over the fire armed with sauces and skewers.

Besides the hiccup of service when they forgot a few of our dishes, the manager and waitresses were helpful and friendly. When I had a problem, the manager made me feel at ease and personally took care of everything. This kind of service makes dining a true experience and not just eating out.

Recommendation: Remember what you ordered in case something doesn't come out.

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