As usual, Cathy and Kirk are eating, thinking, and writing, but today ed (from Yuma) wants to serve up some sushi from Encinitas.
When Tina first asked me if I would like to go with her to a gigantic fabric store (a fabric store?), I was initially skeptical – to say the least. When she added, "and you know it's not far from that sushi bar in Encinitas you've been wanting to try," suddenly, it made great sense.
Once one locates Kaito sushi, it seems unlikely that this little unadorned strip mall location on El Camino Real houses what some people think is the best sushi bar in San Diego County:
Soon after we were seated and began a brief discussion with Morita-san, an appetizer of shredded krab and sliced celery was placed before us:
This was a simple and tasty start to the meal, the celery providing flavor and crunch. The old-school bowl added a nice touch as well.
The sushi chef recommended the monkfish liver, ankimo, as a starting dish. As this picture shows, this housemade pâté was remarkably smooth. In the mouth, it felt wonderfully creamy and melted on the tongue — the mild liver flavor was subtle and perfect:
I have never tasted better ankimo. It really didn't need the help from the condiments it was served with:
In fact, I appreciated that the flavorful slices were presented au naturel, not drowned in sauce or goop.
Next came halibut that had been lying on seaweed – though I must confess I couldn't taste the kelp. Nonetheless, this fish showed much skill. Each rice ball had been daubed into finely diced shiso leaf before the hirame covered it. If you look carefully, you can see bits of the green leaf shading parts of the translucent fish:
I have always enjoyed the halibut/shiso combination, but this way the flavorful shiso did not overwhelm the delicate fish. Nicely done.
Another outstanding item arrived in front of us next. Although I have been eating sushi for over 25 years now, I have never seen mackerel with such a beautiful dark red color:
The chef explained that he flies in fresh mackerel direct from Japan. Each slice was redolent of pure mackerel flavor. All other saba I have ever eaten has been dominated by the flavors of its preparation. Here that taste lay in the background, illuminating but not dominating the main flavor of the fresh fish.
Another unusual item appeared next. I believe it was called big clam, perhaps aogai in Japanese (?), again something I had never been served before. As you can see, a generous portion of East Coast clam had been lightly seared (or briefly steamed ?), leaving the interior sweet, crunchy, clammy, and raw:
While not quite as much to my taste as mirugai, this provided enough claminess to balance the other seafood that evening.
At the same time that Morito-san was preparing the clam, he was marinating tuna slices in shoyu. When the rather ordinary looking nigiri arrived, I was unimpressed:
As I tasted the maguro, however, I understood the reason for the marinade; the light soy flavor married perfectly with the taste of the maguro. This was another display of the chef's skill — in this case taking an ordinary piece of tuna and raising it up to a higher level.
I need to mention that we were visiting the restaurant on a Monday night, so we were not expecting the full range of exotic items that I have read are often available. Nonetheless, I got to taste several things that were new to me. I was also very pleased with the skill, the service, and the attention to detail of the itamae. In fact, everything was so good that we continued our feast further into the night, but to see and read about what else we ate, you are going to have to check back with mmm-yoso for the exciting conclusion of this episode.
Kaito Sushi * 130-A N. El Camino Real * Encinitas, CA 92024 * (760) 634-2746