Memorable Meals – Page 7

Barcelona: Disfrutar

June 18, 2015 mmm-yoso Barcelona, Fine Dining, Memorable Meals, Spain, Spanish Restaurants and Cuisine, Travel

So what do you get after the defacto "Best Restaurant in the World" (could there really be such a thing?) closes and three of the Chefs de Cuisine (Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas), with over 45 years in the hallowed kitchens of the restaurant decide to collectively open up their own place in Barcelona?

You get Disfrutar, which opened at the end of 2014. When planning for this trip, I decided on three upscale dinners and Disfrutar was one of them. We took the metro to the Hospital Clínic stop which is just a few blocks from the restaurant.

The restaurant looks fairly small from the outside but the dining area is actually quite large. We had arrived at about 8pm, pretty early in Spain, but were relieved to see at least two parties had arrived before us. Being led to our seats, the Missus had a stroke of genius….She asked if we could sit at the bar instead, which is actually the dessert prep area. We were cheerfully accommodated. Like Suzunari and Wakuriya, sitting at the bar watching the food being prepped with precision and skill is a treat.

Also a treat was the service, which we found unpretentious, relaxed, gracious, well paced, knowledgeable, and very pleasant. We enjoyed the service at Disfrutar the most of all the high end places we visited on this trip, which says quite a lot. All questions are answered with enthusiasm and recommendations are made as to the best way to enjoy each dish.

There are two tasting menus each evening; the Menu Disfrutar (68 Euros) about 19 dishes and the Menu Festival, which is 25 (98 Euros). You know which one we chose, right? The serving style is perfect for us; almost family style. The Sommelier, understanding our taste in wine, made some great recommendations, which paired well with our meal.

Enough you say….where's the food? Anyway, here's the deal. I don't want this to be bedtime reading, so I'll try to keep it pretty straight, short, and sweet from here on. I'll highlite our favorites and those we didn't care for as much.

Things started with a foamy Melon Caipirinha, Liquid was poured into a cup of ice, yielding something that frothed up and was nice, with the jellied melon-mint-salt cubes rejuvenating your tastebuds.

Our first bottle of wine.

Our Server brought us what looked like a bowl of black rice. He shook the bowl and up rose "The Beet That Goes Out of the Land".

The balls were light and crisp, the flavor of intense beets coming through. The Missus, who has several times told me; "I hate molecular gastronomy" was sold! This is what I call soulful transformation. We were actually shown how this was made. A beet meringue was created, then dehydrated.

Crispy Bow with Iberican Bacon.

Crisp strand of what was like chicharron with a sticky, thin, slice of jamon on it.

Another flavor explosion; Caramel coated hazelnuts with elderberry.

Another great dish for us; Tomato Polvoron and Arbequina Caviaroli.

A polvoron is basically a shortbread cookie; the texture was similar to that, but with a wonderful deep tomato flavor; a "cookie that spreads edible sunshine", the olive oil caviar, a product of spherification added the fantastic grassy-peppery flavor of good Arbequina Olive Oil.

What I was told is a classic El Bulli dish – Transparent Pesto Ravioli.

Made from oblate film, the stuff folks use to help them swallow meds, is used as a wrapper for pine nuts and basil. It is dipped into a parmesan jus, the wrapper starts melting and basically melts away in your mouth. Nice flavors of pine nuts and parmesan.

Another favorite of ours; from what I was told later another classic El Bulli item; Disfruta de la Aceituna.

Spherification at work again. Two cocoa coated "olives", one contains a concentrated olive flavored liquid, the other a blood orange concoction. Amazing and intense flavors that just explodes upon breaking the cocoa butter crust.

Smoked Idiazabal Cheese Bisquit with Apple.

Looking all the world like a simple cookie with frosting; the creamy unpasteurized goat cheese, with a nice smoke flavor was a surprise. The tart cider aperitif helped balance things out.

Next up, an amazing dish; Crispy Egg Yolk with Mushroom Gelatin.

Think egg yolk tempura; crisp and light on the outside, soft and oozy when you bite into it. It's a fabulous bite. The eggshell holds a mushroom gelee that was full of savory mushroom flavor.

Seafood and Avocado Merengue sandwich.

This was a bit fishy and rich, the Missus could only finish half of this tiny flautas.

For some reason we didn't take to the overly salty and fishy anchovy part of Anchovy and Almond Mato with Truffle, Fir Tree Honey, and Pine Nuts.

Too many strong flavors and textures. This just didn't seem to go together real well.

The Missus was really worried about the Marinated Oily Fish with Cauliflower Tabbouleh and Mushrooms. First, She's not a big fan of mackerel and also not fond of strong parsley flavor.

So this was a wonderful surprise for Her, the fish rich, not too fishy, tender, the oil negated by the acid and the savory mushroom jus. The tabbouleh was delicious, the cauliflower seemed the perfect foil for the parsley. This was delicious.

In turn we weren't wow'd by the Macaroni Carbonara.

Gelatin based noodles, parmesan and pancetta were combined with a parmesan-truffle foam, which became the sauce. The "noodles" didn't break down quick enough and the texture was like eating plastic.

The Vegetable Sashimi served as sort of an intermezzo, we loved the pure flavors of the vegetables combined with the sauces/seasonings each one was graced with. Those tomatoes were amazing and the combination of cucumber with mint just worked right.

The Scallop Marrow with Osetra Caviar was fine….this really reminded me of swordfish bone marrow, which I actually prefer to this. I thought it needed less salt and a bit more citrus or acid.

Mussels with Peas in Salsa Verde.

Asparagus in Fennel Meunière with Trout Eggs.

The trout eggs added the zing to a rather mild dish. For some reason we didn't enjoy the flavor of white asparagus with fennel.

Deep Fried Monkfish "Ssam", I'm guessing from the Korean Bossam as this came in the lettuce cup.

Loved the fry job on the monkfish, the flavor came through, it was moist, a perfect piece of fried fish.

We both thought the Unilateral Langostine was a bit overcooked for our taste.

But man, the Perigueux Beef was amazing.

You wrapped the slices of beef around a little crouton and foie gras and had the perfect bite(s).

Nice meal, eh?

But it wasn't over yet.

You know I'm not a dessert kind of guy; but man, some of this stuff was plain amazing. The photo above is of the "Tangerine", a frozen tangerine rind which bears a granite, rose jelly, and a parfait.

Chocolate Cheesecake Cornet

That's Catalan Cream Bread, which came with Blood Orange Couscous.

We saw one of the Chefs placing what looked like chili peppers on a plate. We had no idea what it was. It turned out to be my favorite dessert item; Chocolate Peppers, olive oil, and salt. Man, what a combination! The sea salt really brought everything together. Like I said, I'm not a dessert guy, but this was really, really good. This was the perfect whimsical, fun, but delicious dessert.

As for our after dinner coffee? Well it came in the form of Coffee Profiteroles. A nice way to finish dinner. And though it seems to be a lot of food, we weren't stuffed to the gills, which I think is a tribute to the pacing of dishes.

As we finished up our dinner, our wonderful Server told us to follow him and took us on a short impromptu tour of the kitchen. The place was packed with customers greeting their dishes with wide eyed anticipation.

When I quickly mentioned the skill it takes to make these dishes, his answer came quickly; he pointed to his heart and said, "we are always reminded, it must come from here." Ah, a perfect end to an epic and wonderful meal. One of a trio of unforgettable experiences. We will not forget you Disfrutar, as you are unforgettable. Might be the best 250 Euros I've ever spent.

Disfrutar
Calle Villarroel 163
Barcelona, Spain

Heading back to our apartment, we decided to take a walk around Sagrada Familia, which looked quite beautiful without the swarms of tourists around.

The Missus turned to me and said, "ok, we've had a great dinner. Now we're burning it off tomorrow!"

Kyoto Day 2: Ippodo Tea, dinner at Okariba, and the Awata Jinja Lantern Parade

December 3, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Kyoto, Markets & Grocers, Memorable Meals, Pubs and Pub Grub, Travel

On the way back to the machiya, we ran into Masae, the owner of the property and also the craft beer bar in the shopping arcade. We asked her about finding some tea. She recommended a visit to Ippodo Tea. So after a nice shower and a short nap, we headed off to find Ippodo. Up Higashioji-dori, then west on Marutamachi, crossing the Kamo River…..left on Teramachi-dori right when you hit Kyoto Imperial Palace Park……about four block down, you'll find Ippodo.

The shop and the connected Kaboku Tearoom, where you learn to make and also taste various teas was doing some brisk business. One of the young ladies spoke excellent English. We didn't have time to dally, but she went over all the main types of tea with the Missus and we got to sample a few. We ended up purchasing a few packages…..which the Missus loves. I'm thinking we'll be back.

Ippodo Tea
Teramachi-dori Nijo, Nakagyo-ku
Kyoto

We really weren't sure of exactly where our dinner destination was. I'd heard of a place serving rustic wild game; I recall the term "mountain food" a couple times when reading about the place. It really didn't take us long to find the place. Masae pointed out it was near the Hotel Heiannomori, right past Okazaki Shrine.

The rabbit is the spirit of the shrine and is also said to house the god and goddess of easy childbirth.

It's a nice peaceful place to visit.

Right past the shrine, you can't help but locate Okariba. You can't miss the signs. The place is dark, warm, and very rustic looking. The trappings are simple; a large grill in the middle of the room; beer kegs lie about, the lines drawn to the taps. The owner is a very gentle and soft-spoken bespeckled gentleman named Aoki-san….whose mild manner belies the name of the place; "Hunting Ground" as well as the firearms hanging on the wall.

The Missus took a quick look at the sake bottles on one of the tables and said; "he has his own sake, with the name of the place on it."

And so we sailed off on our maiden voyage at Okariba, with simple, but nicely braised slices of daikon and aburage.

The sake was mild and sweet, but really, this type of food called for beer. After starting with this; it was beer all the way.

Things started off with what is probably the signature dish here (though folks who came in later all ordered trout); the grilled wild boar. Wonderful, surprisingly tender chunks of wild boar with a classic Japanese marinade and tare; smokey from the charcoal, slightly sweet, nicely porky, but mild. The portion size was quite a surprise for us; this is enough for two or three to start.

We weren't going to Kyushu, but I knew I could get a specialty of that area here; basashi – horse sashimi. I really love the flavor of horse; I know, it's not PC…..but it's not endangered either, right?

This was very nice; served just slightly frozen, just the way I was told it shoud be, the flavor is quite clean, with a mild sweet finish. The texture is like beef, with a tad more toothfullness. I love this dish…..

Arriving with the basashi was a combination of preserved vegetables and something else….more on that in a bit. I grew up eating items like takana-zuke, so I loved the pickled greens. I'd never had fuki-miso, basically akunuki butterbur, stirfried with miso, then preserved.

The most interesting thing was the "Inago" – locusts, which had been glazed with a wonderful sweet mirin-soy. These were nice and crisp and so sweet and salty….going well with beer.

The Missus's favorite dish by far was the hobamiso…….

A wonderful, savory, but not salty miso with mushrooms and scallions grilled on a leaf. It was funny; we thought we were doing pretty well; but Aoki-san came by……and decided he needed to show us how it was done….it became this wonderful, miso-mess of flavors.

This just screamed for another beer; so we ordered one. And were soon surprised with this….Aoki-san brought it over and said "gift-tu"….. Some nice home made tofu.

Then another "gift"….this was fantastic. I'd never had Wasabi-zuke before. This was wonderful; made from the leaves and stems of the wasabi plant; on occasion you'd get a super pungent bite, but the flavors were amazing, sweet-pungent-bitter-sour-salty…totally my kind of dish.

When this arrived, I just thought I needed to have another beer…..he's giving us free food. So I had another beer….at which time fried tofu arrived.

By this time I figured out…the more we drank, the more stuff would be coming out. I'd better quit here or we'd be literally rolling back! If there was a time I wished we could tip in Japan, it was here. The warmth and hospitality made me want to do something. I should have brought some omiyagi, or something……

As you can tell….we loved this place.

Okariba
Okazaki Higashi-Tennocho 43-4, Residence Okazaki 1F
Kyoto

The Missus decided that we needed to burn off some of this, so we'd walk back to Shijo-dori…..I figure, that's like 2-3 kilometers? It was really a fun walk though……this was a lively night.

Folks were out and about, having a good time.

Karako, the place where we had great karaage earlier in the day has quite a nice line going.

We decided to follow the Shirakawa canal through Gion. I took this photo on one of the cement bridges, the type with no handrails that passes over the canal near Shinbashi.

Crossing over the Kamo river, we then headed up, the now busy Ponto-chō, restaurants now going full tilt.

As we passed by a hair salon, something caught my eye. I pointed out the one guy doing "hair" in the salon, which was closed to the Missus. She said, "yeah, he's doing hair, so what?" I told Her to take a look….that head had no body! He was actually working on a wig placed on a mannequin head. I'm not sure if this is SOP….but it just seemed a bit, well, strange……

And finally, there as Shijo-dori….while not crazy as Tokyo; which seems to actually be pulsating with it's own heartbeat, the crowds and objective sure were a contrast to the Gion.

The Missus really seemed to take to Kyoto. The size, the crowds, the shops, were just Her speed.

At this point, we decided to head back…….the Missus was tired for a change.

As we crossed Furumozen-dori, we noticed some activity up ahead. Lanterns, laughter, drums……and strange specters seemed to float ahead.

Suddenly we both remembered. Masae had told us that Awata Matsuri was happening this weekend. This was the Awata Jinja Lantern Festival! We were told that one of the key points of the Matsuri was that this was the day when both the Buddhist and Shinto Priests actually get together and celebrate together.

Then of course, there's the inevitable intermingling that occurs when everyone takes a break at Family Mart!

Once things got started, we quickly made it back to the machiya. Why? Well, because the lantern parade went right through the shopping arcade, right past where we were staying…..

It's quite amazing. The paradox, the new, modern, somewhat glitzy, but there's always the respect for tradition that pulls things in….bringing order to things.

I won't pretend to understand what any of these floats mean….but, if you're interested, you can read this wonderful and informative post. It describes all the lanterns/floats and what they mean.

And frankly, I just felt honored to be here…..

And also very thankful. For the fire control, who instantly put out all the burning embers from the fire which was placed on the ground for some symbolic reason. Once it was lifted back up, they sprung into action and made sure everything on the ground was put out in the blink of an eye…….that's Japan in a microcosm.

Having started our day before 5 in the morning, we'd walked at least 7-8 miles easily. The Missus, for the first time I can recall was totally bushed. It had been quite a day. I'd planned our "red-lettered day" in Tokyo; starting with Tsukiji Market and meals at Michelin starred Sushi Iwa and Suzunari. And while that was an epic and unforgettable day. This rather unscripted, hastily planned day was its equal…..Sushi Iwa and Suzunari showed me the skill, execution, and polish of a great restaurant. Karako and Okariba displayed the heart and soul……each has its place in my eating universe.

Thanks for reading!

Tokyo Day 1: Dinner at Suzunari

November 6, 2014 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

I'd planned of having a heck of a first full day in Tokyo….it was to be our "red lettered day". We started out at Tsukiji Market, then had lunch at Sushi Iwa. I wanted to finish off the evening with something special. initially, I thought about one of those 2-3 Michelin Star places….but, as I've mentioned before, I think folks put a bit too much in the "star" system, though there's a good bit a rating like that does say. I started thinking a bit differently about things when I overheard a conversation regarding some of the "top rated" places in Tokyo…..and I read about this common theme as well. You won't find any Japanese Nationals at many of these places….nowadays it's mostly Chinese/European/American tourists. Nothing wrong with that, but it's just not our style. Also, we wanted something that wasn't too stuffy or pretentious, not overdone and precious. I wanted a place where we'd find Japanese eating. After doing a whole lot of research, hemming and hawing, a little Kaiseki place named Suzunari came up. No, you won't find it on Chowhound, I just did a search on the Japan board before starting this post. A big plus was this little place was located in rather close proximity to our apartment in Yotsuya. The only obstacle was trying to get reservations…nothing online, we had no concierge, no English spoken. We're lucky to have friends who were able to make reservations for us. So we headed down the narrow streets of Arakicho a neighborhood of small, somewhat private looking bars and restaurants….we just followed the Salarymen.

I had read that Suzunari had no real sign and it was very difficult to find so we started early….strangely, perhaps it was luck, we found the place with no problems at all. Sticking my head in the door, quietly saying in my fumbling Japanese "Yoyaku shitemasu……" to the young woman working the tables, suddenly I heard a greeting from behind me……this happened to be Chef Murata and the kind and warm young lady is his wife. They were of course expecting us, first grabbing our coats then leading us to our seats at the bar.

The bar seating was already filled in this tiny restaurant.

There are three versions of the menu available, basically, 60, 100, or 150 dollars. Heck, we were in Tokyo, we had arranged for the 15,000 yen menu. There's so much preparation done ahead of time, that you need to indicate which offering you want. I had the folks choose our Nihonshu, just indicating we wanted something "local"… the young woman knew a little English, which helped, and I did my best….which wasn't much.

It was great watching Chef Murata and his assistant prep all the dishes. The entire staff was a total of four, the Chef, his second, his wife who worked the front of house, and an older woman, who seemed to be one of their mothers, who took care of the dishes and cleaning….it really seemed to be a family affair. And yes, this is Tokyo, most everything was done in almost a hushed silence.

The meal itself was amazing…..Chef Murata would often stop everything he was doing to try and explain what he was serving, or his wife would try to find the English words for items……they seemed to be pleasantly surprised that I knew the Japanese or at least the English names of what was being served. Of course there were still many, many, gaps…items I've not had experience with, which made this meal even more pleasant.

The Sakizuke, first course was a refreshing, understated course of shrimp and tender tako with what seemed like, but I don't think was grated yamaimo, it was too smooth. The aspic was subtle, but refreshing.

The range of flavors all seemed to compliment each other…….so smooth…

The Hassun, basically a arrangement of appetizers was one of the most impressive things I've ever seen.

No matter what angle I tried; I couldn't capture the breath of this in one photo. It's also impossible to explain all the tastes, textures, and fragrances in just a few words.

I will say, some the simpler items were just amazingly perfect; the smoked duck was moist and tender that you would think it was pork, except it had that nice duck flavor….the ginnan, earthy, with a hint of sweet and bitter but also made crunchy. The two almost ohitashi like dishes; the greens and mushrooms with yuzu, topped with beautiful, briney ikura, served in a hollowed out yuzu….the fragrance of the fruit adding a nice touch. The tai with shiokara sauce, sweet, pungent, chewy and silky smooth at the same time. The bo-zushi was a fantastic combination of milky and savory flavors, cut by the vinegar in the rice. You really could go on and on…..

And yet, the one item we're still talking about is the simply perfect shirako……..perhaps my best bit of the year. Firm until it enters your mouth, turning into a wonderful melting creaminess upon your first bite. Just simply amazing.

The Mukōzuke, the sashimi course, was fine…….

The Mushimono – steamed dish was a fabulous. A chawan-mushi, steamed egg dish, was so smooth and custard like. This version had suppon (soft shell turtle) in it.

Comfort food taken to the next level…..the suppon is quite mild in flavor.

Botan Ebi – October is pandalus nipponesis season from what I understand.

You know which part we treasured the most, right?

We watched as fish were skewered and roasted/broiled in the salamander. Chef told me what kind of hikarimono these were but I really couldn't understand and I didn't want to take him away from the now full house he was dealing with. I figure these were the yakimono items.

The fish were rich, with good oil, savory, and quite tender. Our favorite was the version served with a smooth, savory, beany, but not salty aka miso. It just blended in so well with the fish and especially the shiitake mushroom….umami overload.

This was so good, we don't even remember the next item…….

I'm thinking this was a palate refresher….because next up was the Kamameshi, the grand finale as it were. Noticing that I was taking photos……the young lady kindly brought me the pot of rice to photograph before serving……it was just so touching in a way….so thoughtful….

Mixed and served with the typical Kōnomono, seasonal pickles…..this was by far the best kamameshi we'd ever had…it was just masterfully prepared, so perfect in proportion. Also, the entire pot was for us! We saw the couple next to us totally clean out the entire pot….but there was no way we could do this. In the typical way, they made onigiri for us.

The aka miso shiru had a large amount of lobster in it. It was rich, yet not salty……it wasn't a favorite of the Missus, who I guess prefers the really salty versions we have here in the states….She really didn't care for any of the miso soup we had in Japan.

And yes, there's dessert….but there was no way we'd be able to do that. I just nodded "no" and patted my stomach and said, "oh no. soon sumotori….." Which got a nice laugh.

As the evening wore down, the folks here took time to formally introduce themselves to us and kind of of wondering where we were from. I do wish I spoke and understood more Japanese. They were genuinely surprised to find we were from San Diego.

We both loved Suzunari. In fact, if we're ever back in Tokyo, I'll try and find a way to return. The food is great, the folks running the place are wonderfully gracious, very relaxed, and so sincere. It's more than wonderful food; it was a memorable experience It was the perfect place for us; no pretense, not stuffy, a family operation, gracious hosts, and fantastic food. There were no tourists in the place other than us……the place was fully booked. We didn't want any concessions and that's a great thing we found in Japan, I'm sure there are places that will do this….but as a whole, you'll eat like the people. We loved it!

Yes, you need to book months in advance as it has perhaps 8 bar seats and three small tables. And yes, they do have a Michelin star.

All customers are escorted out as they leave and thanked; though the Chef came out from behind the counter to join us as well….to give me his business card. But I gotta ask…..when was the last time you saw a Michelin-starred Chef flashing the peace sign in a photo? You gotta love this place! We do!

Suzunari
7-9 Arakicho, Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo

Tokyo Day 1: Lunch at Sushi Iwa

October 26, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Sushi and Sashimi, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel

I'd planned on making our first full day in Tokyo our "red lettered day" for our trip and things were starting out great with a visit to Tsukiji and breakfast at Tenfusa. We left Tsukiji and decided to walk up to Ginza. We stopped for coffee in a nice quiet shop and struck up a conversation with a nice couple, he was retired military, his wife, a native of Tokyo, returns yearly to lecture. It was quite an entertaining discussion.

Ginza is the upscale shopping and entertainment neighborhood of Tokyo….huge multilevel department stores, like Mitsukoshi, which once had a shopping complex in Waikiki which had an entire floor of video games. So large it even has its own subway stop on the Ginza line! More on that later.

We walked around the Ginza area killing time. I'd gotten lunch reservations at Sushi Iwa through the wrangling of some friends. That's the deal with being in an apartment, there's no concierge service, but I think we did fine. For what it's worth, the place has a Michelin Star, which, I guess for some people is all that really matters…… sigh.

Now finding a single doorway on a side street in Ginza while trying to use the Japanese address system, can be frustrating. Armed with a photo of the storefront, finding the address 8-5-25 Ginza, Chuo-ku ranks right up there with spending your day chewing on aluminum foil. For some reason, the Missus did exceptionally well once we could locate the "chome" – district, in this case 8-chome. The next number is the block, which was easy enough….you find 4 or 6 and you know "5" is in there somewhere. That last number is the building….the trick here being that the numbering for buildings is not consecutive. Rather, buildings are numbered in the order in which they were built or in reference to some "center"! All this made finding almost everything an adventure. We really didn't feel bad after seeing so many Japanese visitors and even residents of Tokyo…even our friend Reiko has no idea how to find a place without using a business card, an app, or asking directions. Given the immense tolerance and patience of folks we ran into, this is fairly common.

The shop itself is quite tiny; only six seats. The lines very clean, very neat, the space wide open for viewing the chef Hisayoshi Iwa preparing our meal.

So why lunch? Well, the Missus was having a hard time justifying spending over $200 per person for a sushi dinner, kaiseki maybe, but just not sushi. Plus, with rice involved, we tend to fill up rather quickly. Sushi Iwa has a basic sushi lunch (10 pieces) for 4750 yen – (under $50, you can get the 13 pieces for $85). This is a bargain in my eyes.

We started with a nice clean, cold sake, which the Chef recommended.

It was a joy to watch the precision practiced by the rather young (mid-late 30's) Chef. I love the single bite Edo style sushi. The rice here is very mild and balanced in flavor, which is my preference. The nikiri is also quite neutral, no heavy sweet or salty tones, just adding a mild umami. I loved what I call the "rice explosion", when the nigiri enters the mouth and just breaks down without chewing….the Missus still isn't used to this having had too much neighborhood sushi back in the states.

1 – Hirame.

It's standard operating procedure to start with a firm and mild shiromi and hirame (fluke/flounder) fits the bill. I personally love shiromi, the subtle flavors, rasied by a nice nikiri. This had a bit too much wasabi on it for my taste, but was still a nice firm piece.

2 – Madai

Firm then yielding, my kind of fish.

3 – Kinmedai

I really loved this fish, golden eye sea bream, when I had it earlier in the year at Shunji. This just confirmed my love for the firm, yet deceivingly fatty flesh which was elevated by the nikiri. We basically used no soy sauce for any of our nigiri.

4 – Akami-zuke

Lean maguro, "cured" in a soy sauce mixture. This was fine, but really nothing special in terms of flavor or texture. In fact, this one just reinforced how good Tadokoro is in my mind.

5 – The prep for the ika was amazing to watch. The squid was sliced horizontinally into paper thin sheets….you could actually see through them! It was then cut into very thin strips.

It almost looked like shio ebi! After having mine, I told the Missus this one was going to change Her view of ika. And it did! It was amazingly tender with great flavor….it nearly melted in our mouth.

6 – Katsuo

Good oil, but still quite mild, nice meaty texture…..the usual ginger helped refresh.

7 – Ishigaki Clam

At first I thought it looked like mirugai, but I was told it was Ishigaki-gai – Giant Clam from Ishigaki Island, something new for me. It was firm and crisp and more briney than sweet. In fact, the rather heady flavor reminded me of Chocolate Clams.

8 – The hotate (scallop) was cured, then massaged.

Man, this was awesome, so tender, sweet, and almost ethereal as it melted away in your mouth.

9 – Ikura

The Missus had also never had ikura that tasted like this. It was clean, like a orb of the cleanest, sweetest, ocean water. I often go back to this line, "I've been told that the freshest, cleanest salt water in the world exists several hundred miles off the South coast of the Big Island, deep in the ocean, the Ikura made me think of how clean and refreshing that water would taste" from a post from the past.

10 – Anago.

True Edo-mae sushi places in Tokyo will never serve you unagi, rather, only items from the ocean, and out of Tokyo bay will be served. This was an excellent example of the sweet, mild, melt in your mouth, anago nigiri. Nothing I've ever had (Kaito, Kokoro, Tadokoro, places in LA) has ever been this good.

11 & 12 – Things ended with some miso shiru and a combination of rolls.

All in all, a wonderful meal, and a bargain at $110 for the two of us.

Sushi Iwa
8-5-25 Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tokyo, Japan

Wow, we'd had quite a day….and it was only half over!

Stay tuned!

Midweek Meanderings: Little Piggy does Karaoke and Thanksgiving in August

August 13, 2014 mmm-yoso BBQ, Filipino Restaurants, Memorable Meals, yoso-silly

Little Piggy does Karaoke:

I've often mentioned what a great bunch of friends I have. We all get along and always have great time. These guys are up for anything; like the "Amazing Graze" and our Porcine Party. Sadly, I haven't been to help plan or attend many of the recent events, work has kept me busy over the last year or so. So when one of our gang said she wanted to do karaoke for her birthday, it was naturally a "yes, of course." But there was a catch, she also wanted a whole roast pig as well! Not a big deal, right? I mean, I see folks dragging swine into karaoke rooms all the time….yeah, right? Anyway, it was easy enough to get the assignments done; YummyYummy with her connections and persuasive manner would talk the place into letting us bring an entire hog into one of their rooms, I swing the swine, and the rest would be gravy, or is that sauce.

Anyway, after polling some of my acquaintances, and my "Filipino Mom's" in the office next door to us, one porker rendered its way to the top, Porky's Lechon. Now, I gotta say, based on my visits and meals at the place this was a major leap of faith. But I gotta say, this was a very moist fifty pounder.

In case you don't believe that we actually brought a whole pig into a karaoke room, here's "Xiang Jiao" doing the honors as the disco lights dance around it's roasted body…… To paraphrase the lyrics on the screen…."This pork has taken its toll on me……"

Thanks to JohnL for sacrificing his van to transport said swine…..I hope it doesn't still smell like pork heaven. Big thanks also to TFD and MrC for getting the Hen Xuc Banh Trang and baking the cake, and of course "YY" and Quanito for coordinating the room.

Thanksgiving in August:

Recently "XJ", "YY", and their family moved into new digs. they've been wanting to do sort of a house-warming type of thing. "XJ" had also gotten a Weber Smokey Mountain…she's really BBQ Grrrrl I guess, and wanted to put it into service. So I brought my WSM over and we did a little BBQ kinda thing for the gang.

Of course BBQ takes a while and needed our strength, so their mom was nice enough to make us a delicious breakfast.

We timed things pretty well and everything was ready by 2pm as we had planned…..tri-tip, salmon, ribs….

And a whole lot more…..charcuterie and cheese board, TFD's mom made a delicious pork and jackfruit salad, roasted vegetables, salad, and of course dessert.

Around the time we were setting up, someone said "this is like Thanksgiving, but better!" And so it came to pass, Thanksgiving in August. I think we'll make this a tradition. A pretty good idea, don't you think?

Nothing like the power of pork to bring people together!

Hope you're having a great week!

Roadtrip: Dinner at Wakuriya (San Mateo)

March 27, 2014 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, Japanese Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Road Trip, San Francisco and Silicon Valley

Yeah, I know, perhaps I should mention something about the Michelin star in my title. But I figure there will be folks who know of Wakuriya and perhaps people "skimming" would spend enough time to read the first sentence of the post. I'm not totally sold on the Michelin Guide, it is after all a tourist guide. The one thing I've found with all the Michelin Starred Restaurants I've been to, the last one being The French Laundry, when I was young and thought it was all about expense and prestige, is that service in these named establishments have always been excellent…..sometimes a bit too much, but still excellent at its core. To be honest, it's not what the Michelin Guide said that drew me to Wakuriya, but the pedigree of the husband and wife team that runs the place. Katsuhiro & Mayumi Yamasaki both worked at the legendary Kaiseki restaurant Kitcho in Kyoto. The place has been on my list for quite a while. The restaurant takes only about 15 customers per evening, it's a small intimate experience. You call for reservations starting at midnight 30 days before. Knowing we were finally headed back up to the Bay Area, though only as North as Daly City, the Missus was all for a nice dinner…… So I called when I woke on a weekday morning 445 am, called an left a message for a reservation. And receiving a call back later in the day telling me, in the most polite Japanese way, "nice try, but you better try a bit harder if you really want to eat here…." I went home and told the Missus. Now usually, She'd be a bit irritated and decide the effort was not worth it….but for some reason, She was quite interested. So interested that She woke up just before midnight and called for reservations right when the clocked flashed 12:00…….and got a busy signal! She hung up and called back and left a message and later that day we found out that we'd gotten two seats at Wakuriya.

The tiny restaurant is situated in the most discreet and low-keyed locale….in a strip mall (of course – my kind of place) that contains a Safeway. It was the week after Thanksgiving; which turned out to be the coldest weekend of the winter. It was drizzling and pretty darn cold. As we walked to the door; we got the earliest reservations possible, 630, and had arrived a bit early….the door opened and Mayumi Yamasaki opened the door, saw us, and when we told her we had reservations, she asked us to come in because it was just to cold.

The interior is spartan; a couple of tables and a long wood bar. I don't know if it was by plan or just our timing, but we were seated at the bar, which only had two seats. We loved where we were, isolated from all the customers who would come in later, and able to watch the operations of putting together dinner take place.

I enjoy getting in early at restaurants…..though at time the kitchen hasn't hit its rhythm, I find the service and pacing to be much better, as was the case here; we got nice explanations of our dishes and even had time to chat a bit. Mayumi does the front of house…..this is basically a two person operation which means all of the front of house, Katsuhiro does all the cooking and most of the food prep. He works in silence. We heard him speak twice during our entire time in the restaurant…as we left; a "thank you" and "goodnight".

As you might guess the meal is in the style of Kaiseki, seasonal, much of it local, juggling taste and appearance, and was served in a fairly traditional order. I guess I'd call this "Modern California Kaiseki". Things started off with an apéritif, a wonderful infused nigori sake.

There are sake, wine, and other drinks available. We went with two of the tasting flights.

The Missus went with the "Fruity Flight"…the name still makes me laugh, with Yuzu Omoi – bascially yuzu infused sake, Kome Kome Shu – a light and tart "Riesling" like sake, and the Missus' favorite the Ume Shu.

I went with the premium sake flight; mainly because it had my favorite, Kubota Manju……

It is typical for a Kaiseki meal to start off with a Sakizuke, basically a small appetizer, almost like an amuse-bouche. In this case it was a fairly size-able oven baked "goma-tofu" topped with uni.

Goma tofu is not tofu in the classic sense; it is made with sesame paste and a thickening agent. Loved the rich flavor of sesame with the rich though refreshing flavor of the uni. This was actually a pretty good size appetizer.

The Zensai – the true appetizers featured three items; the lobster with egg yolk dressing and avocado.

The Missus is not the biggest fan of lobster, but this was tender and sweet, the ikura (salmon roe) added a perfect briney balance.

Fried Fresno Satoimo with miso two ways…..

This was served "dengaku" (topped with miso) style. The milder, sweeter, and less salty Saikyo miso version was a winner.

The grated apple on the Madai (Red Snapper) nigiri was a revelation….I would never for the life of me think of this combination.

The Onmono, which I thought of as "Futamono" was a nice, clean, dashi based broth with wonderful rich and velvety, kamo dango of sorts…duck meatballs.

So comforting on such a cold night.

Next up, the Sashimi Tsukuri. This was done in the form of a salad with a citrus dressing….

Nice, crisp, refreshing….the Missus said the Hokkaido Scallop hidden under everything might have been one of the best bites She's had in a while.

The Mushimono – steamed dish was a steamed black cod with sesame sauce.

Nice fish prep, the Missus isn't the biggest fan of sesame paste, so other than the brussel sprouts, this wasn't a favorite.

Some gelato to refresh….Satsuma Granite with sweet ginger syrup

By this time, 730 had arrived and all the other tables were full. Still, we had a bird's eye view of the proceedings. Things were never rushed, questions were always answered, and things moved like a well choreographed dance……no words between husband and wife, the magic of spousal instincts with regards to movement and order.

The next dish, the heaviest and most substantial was actually our least favorite of the evening; the wagyu no miso sukiyaki.

The meat was very tender, but had a strong metallic tinge to it; the miso sauce wasa bit too salty for my taste.

The end of the meal (except for dessert) was a typical Gohanmono – the rice dish. There was a choice of two offered, so of course we got one each.

The ebi no tempura donburi – fried shrimp over rice was nice, the shrimp tender, though the Missus enjoys a lighter, more crisp batter…..I loved the tsuyu which had a perfect balance for my taste.

The "Tai Chazuke" featured snapper with sesame paste and dashi over rice.

To me, this is comfort food elevated…….for the Missus, it had more sesame paste than She enjoys.

As for dessert, matcha and and white bean mousse with petit “tai-yaki”……

Well it must have been good since the Missus ate both of them!

We both really enjoyed our meals. The service was excellent, not only was our hostess efficient and knowledgeable, but also quite gracious….and those little things were apparent. When my first dish arrived, the settings were on my right….but after I ate it with my left hand, all my settings were placed on my left. The matcha to end the meal was as perfect as I've ever had…..we watched Mayumi preparing the tea; she added some hot water, then took a pause to check the temperature by feel, it was apparently too hot so she waited and then added water waiting to serve us until she thought it was the correct temp……..which we got to see since we were seated at the bar.

While not quite in the league of Urasawa, I'd say this meal is well worth the $95 price tag (minus drinks). With 15 settings a night, you know this isn't a money grab……

I'm positive we'll try to return during another season….if the Missus can get through on the phone line!

Wakuriya
115 De Anza Blvd
San Mateo, CA 94402

Evora: Praça do Giraldo, Cafe Arcada and dinner at Taberna Tipica Quarta-Feira

October 11, 2013 mmm-yoso Memorable Meals, Portugal, Portuguese Food, Travel

We'd gotten into the habit of taking a break and having a snack and some espresso when we were feeling a bit confused or tired. We ended up calling this the "Lisbon Rule" and it was time for that rule to come into play. So we headed down the hill from the Roman Temple, thru Rua de Vasco da Gama…..

We stopped to admire #15 Rua de Vasco da Gama……why? Well, according to what we read, Vasco da Gama lived here after returning from his first voyage to India. So…..Vasco da Gama really "slept here"…

A short while later, we were on Praça do Giraldo, for all intents and purposes, Evora's main square. This is where you'll find the older men chatting, talking politics, young people hanging out, drinking coffee, tourists mingling among them.

The square is named after Giraldo (Gerald) the Fearless, who drove the Moors out of Evora in 1165. It is a nice open area with the Church of Santo Antao and a rather quaint fountain from the 16th century. All this sunny brightness belies the supposed 22,000 condemnations that occurred here during the Inquisition or that John II sanctioned, then watched his cousin Fernando II's decapitation here in 1483. No, nowadays it's a whole lotta sunshine…and snacks….

At Cafe Arcada……

This huge, cavernous shop had got some prime real estate. You walk on up to the counter; place your order, then find a place to sit.

We decided on sitting at one of the outside tables to people watch….

Cafe Arcada
Praca do Giraldo 10
Evora, Portugal

It was easy picking out the locals from the tourists, from the students…..probably just as easy to picking us out….

We noticed an interesting "gap" of sorts….there were many young people in their late teens and early twenties and an equal amount of folks older than 50. We figured that the university brought the young people here, but most all leave after their education, as does most of the young people.

Feeling refreshed, we headed west and outside the walls of the town for the first time…well not including the taxi from the train station.

We headed West and found a nice walking path around the perimeter of the walls of the town. Outside the walls, Evora seemed a different town…more modern, more traffic. Really, what should we have expected?

It was a bright sunny afternoon and we were enjoying ourselves.

As we turned the around the Southwest corner, we noticed a playground for children and also that the area on the inside of the city walls seemed to be level with the top of the structure.

Working our way back through into the town vis Rua da Republica we found ourselves in the Jardim Publico……the Public Garden. It was a nice place for a break, plus there was free WiFi in the gardens.

I noticed this bust of Flobela Espanca, poet, feminist, and all around tragic figure. I'm not sure why it's here.

After a nice rest we headed back to our little sanctuary called the Albergaria do Calvario. Did you notice that we didn't have lunch? Well there was a reason for that. After a short rest, we headed back out. In just our two evenings here, we noticed something interesting about life within the town walls. Most businesses closed at 7pm. At 730, the restaurants started opening. The rather busy streets are sedate and quiet at 715….

Perhaps it was too late for the older locals, all of the day-trippers are gone, and too early for the students, which were probably fortifying themselves with the Portuguese equivalent of instant ramen for a late night of partying….which probably didn't happen within the city walls anyway.

Praça do Giraldo at this time of day was literally a ghost town….

We walked on over to the old Moorish Quarter where Botequim da Mouraria is located. I had been looking forward to eating here from the time we finalized plans for our trip. The folks at Albergaria do Calvario were nice enough to get us reservations here.

No, this isn't some Michelin wannabe, though it only had ten or so tables.

There isn't a menu per se….you trust Zé Dias. This is just Evora's version of Omakase….. There's basically one sitting per evening. The meal is 25 Euros per person. You will have reservations. You eat what they serve you. You are not vegetarian. You love pork and rustic, local food. If you can answer "yes" to all of the above, you'll enjoy yourself.

Quarta-Feira serves a fixed menu, whatever they deem to be in the mood for on that day. It's a family run operation. The front man has his caricature on the bottle of wine they serve, Zé Dias. He was quick to gesture to us……not much english spoken here, by patting his belly that this is/was perhaps a flattering profile of the man.

You be the judge. The wine itself was not bad…it lent itself to the food we were served. It is also included in the meal and when Zé Dias noticed we had finished our bottle…the Missus really enjoyed this bottle, he brought us another, all included in the price.

It's imperative that you have reservations here. Four groups of folks came in during our meal, all were turned away because the one sitting they had was booked. Second big thing I noticed, it's probably a good idea to get there early. Some items are prepped ahead and you won't get the full enjoyment of the dish if you get there later. Look, there are those of us who believe that the customer (usually "I") is the "center of the universe", but sorry Charlie, this is a small operation……this is nothing like the "typical Roman service" of "you are blessed to eat here" that we encountered in Rome. By the way, those are quotes from a resident of Rome.

Things started out with bread….of course. And some Porco Preto. I've mentioned the Black Iberican Pig
before. So it's an obvious starting point for a meal in the Alentejo.

And some nice oven baked cheese……

This was where coming a bit early was to our benefit as this dish didn't look quite as good, gooey, and hot as later patrons arrived.

Along with this, we got some very tasty mushrooms with chives and olive oil. I'm thinking there was some garlic as well as these were packed with flavor.

At about this time a group of three gentlemen sat down on a table next to us. Two of them were locals with a visiting professor from the University. We'd find that a seal of approval during our trip would be the phrase "very typico, very typico" to indicate local cuisine and specialties from the residents. This was where they took folks to sample local cuisine….like I'd take folks to Ono Hawaiian Foods……

We were brought two small dishes. The fried item was intestine….which was totally delici-yoso. It was so amazingly savory, yet very clean in flavor. The roasted peppers were fine, but I was infatuated with the guts… I would have been happy with a plate of that.

The main course was roasted Black Pork.

Also at this time Zé Dias noticed that we had finished our bottle of wine, so he brought us another?

Anyway, this was local stewed pork shoulder. Having had so many doses of the "other white meat" this was amazing. I just loved the fact that pork in Portugal tasted….well….like pork! This was simply stewed, the flavor of swine coming through……pigs fed on acorns and pasture raised, this is the standard here. You don't need to mess around with it.

The pork was moist, tender, full of flavor, and not very oily.

Along with the potatoes, we were served two other dishes.

What was really funny is that we don't recall the flavor of one…which is to the right, and still think of the other, a version of esparregado, a spinach dip of sorts, as memorable, full of herbaceous flavor.

Dessert was served…….

Which the Missus really enjoyed.

And a bottle of Vinho Licoroso was placed on our table. A Digestif called Vinho Licoroso. we were specifically told, in one of the few English phrases of the night "no Porto….no Porto". But this really tasted like a nice port.

This was a nice way to end our time in Evora….in fact, the Missus was kind of angry that I didn't schedule more time for us here….but how was I to know?

I'm thinking we'll be back…..

Taberna Tipica Quarrta-Feira
Rua do Inverno 18
Evora, Portugal

Here's a panoramic photo of Evora from Largo da Porta de Mouro.

Las Vegas: Dinner at Sage

March 12, 2013 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Fine Dining, Las Vegas, Memorable Meals, Road Trip

What to do after two lunches in Vegas? Well, I guess a walk up the strip was in order. I parked at Aria, took the tram to the Bellagio, then headed up the strip. At Fashion Show Mall, where the Missus had checked out the latest from Lululemon the night before, I crossed the street and headed back.

On the way back, I decided to kill a couple of minutes at Harrah's, a place where I've had some luck in the past. I ended up making about $200 and decided it was time to flee…..

For our final dinner in Vegas, the Missus decided that we should do sort of a blow-out meal. Unfortunately, just about every place I wanted was booked, Guy Savoy, Joel Robuchon, even Picasso, no bueno. My fifth pick was Sage, in the Aria. I'd heard some nice things about the place and it seemed a lot less assuming than the other four. Years ago, when Michelin Stars and stuff like that really mattered to us, we'd have been disappointed. But after doing The French Laundry, Spago, et al, the Missus and I decided that stuff really isn't for us. Some of it was stuffy and rather pretentious and you can get to the point where you're describing the food like a science project, not my style. But hey…..every once in a while you gotta live, right? And Sage really isn't that expensive.

We arrived right when they opened at 5. Though you might take a risk with the kitchen not being in full swing….they haven't hit their rhythm yet, I still prefer a more relaxed time. And though things might get kind of hectic at the tail end of your meal, you at least have enjoyed most of your meal.

We were the second party seated and our Server, who introduced himself as "Bond, as in you know…." was a pro's pro. He was also quite a character…..we came to find out his name was Jason Bond. Next up was what and how to order. You see, I wanted the Chef's Tasting Menu with the Beer Pairing, the Missus did not. And I understand the issues with pacing and all of that. If you're getting six courses and the person across from you is just getting an app and a main, well there's going to be a lot of dead time for the person having the conventional meal. Again, we plan for the win-win. So when I explained to Mr Bond that only one of us would like the six course tasting, he tried to discourage us from doing that. Until I explained our proposal. I'd get the six course with the beer pairing and the Missus would get five starters. In essence we'd be creating our own little tasting menu. We've often found starters to be more interesting than mains in many cases. Bond got really excited about this and told us it was a great idea, he went to check with the kitchen, who he said was "excited about this". I don't know about that, but we also told him to have the kitchen sequence the starters any way they please….which would mean that it would indeed be like having our own tasting menu.

Things started out with what looked like Himalyan salt and a herb butter. We were shown the bread basket and the two different breads. The serious looking, but really funny young man said, "I think you should each take both." In the end we took one of each. We knew we had a pretty rich meal in front of us.

The sour dough was decent, nice textures. The bacon roll; well, we were tempted to get another.

We were brought an amuse of a Kumamoto Oyster with Tequila Mignonette, and Piquillo Pepper.

The mignonette had a nice tartness to it, very cleansing. Love the sweetness of Piquillo Peppers, I'll probably have to buy some one of these days.

When we had finished up the oyster, the first beer of our tasting arrived. This was a St Feuillien Saison from Belgium. Very crisp, with a nice, almost sweet aroma. This was very easy to drink, light and airy. We also noted that the temperature of the beer was just right on perfect.

This was paired with the Chilled Main Lobster. The brown butter added a nice nuttiness to the dish, making it seem a lot lighter than it was. The Missus is not a big lobster fan, but this lobster was wonderfully sweet and very tender.

The Missus got the Wagyu Beef Tartare ($18).

This was very good. The creamy lightly poached egg yolk just added that extra luxurious texture to the very fatty, melt in your mouth Wagyu Beef. Two interesting touches, the pickled mustard seeds which helped to cut the richness and the savory crisp chocolate made this dish just that much better.

Next up was an interesting dish, the Foie Gras Brulee. Tasting the combinations of flavors in this was rather unpleasant for me as I thought it way too sweet.

Though I loved the salted brioche, the brulee was too much like having candy and pudding for dinner. Great when you're in elementary school, but not after. The cocoa nibs did act to settle things down and take it into a more savory-coffee direction, but it was just too much, until…… I tried this with the beer pairing.

This dish was pared with the Dogfish Head Midas Touch. The Missus loved it as well, it has a mead-like texture and that honey like flavor. There some fruitiness to it and the Missus enjoyed that component….I'm thinking that is probably due to the use of muscat grapes in the making of this. It's a favorite beer of our now. This just seemed to take that sharp sweet edge off the Foie Gras Brulee. To me, this was an awesome pairing.

The Missus got the Grilled Spanish Octopus ($22):

You wouldn't have thought this was octopus if you looked at it. Bond told us they removed the suckers and such so as to "not scare the customers". The octopus was very tender, but this wasn't especially memorable.

My next dish was the Pan-Roasted Sea Scallop. Man, the Jamon Iberico, mild salty-sweet, along with the creamy sunchoke-parsley root, and the olive oil made for a wonderful match.

Scallop and cured pig, a match made in heaven….there should be a children's book by that name, don't you think?

This was paired with another beer from Belgium, Duvel. Very fizzy, clean, with what seems like a bit of spice, this didn't mess with the flavor of the scallops.

The Missus got Her second favorite dish of the evening; the Slow Poached Organic Farm Egg($18), which was almost obscured from view by all the shaved truffles.

The Missus just loved this, even the potato foam and the smoked potato. She was in egg-truffle heaven.

Next up was a very nice Venison Tenderloin. This might just be some of the most tender venison I've ever had.

You could really taste the venison in this dish. The combination of flavors was very pleasant.

Loved the pairing, the Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock looked really heavy, but was not. Has a raisin-chocolate, earthy flavor which goes well with the gamey venison.

Just to prove that there is too much of a good thing, we were stunned at the huge portion size of the Roasted Sweetbreads ($17).

The dish started out really good…especially the sweet and smokey glazed bacon, which was a like a nice smoked pork belly. The sweetbreads were good at first, not the best I've had, they could have been a bit more, well, gooey on the inside. But man, after a couple of bites of this rich stuff, you pretty much wanted to hoist up the white flag. I'd prefer it more lightly fried….and that portion size was quite large for sweetbreads. And yes TFD, these are thymus glands.

Our last two savory dishes were very good. The 48 Hour Beef Belly, was rich, but the roasted quince and the caraway spiced squash helped temper things.

This was served with a Chimay Grande Reserve which was very fruity, perhaps a bit too fruity for my taste.

The Missus's last dish was the Braised Beef Tongue ($19). All I can say is that this was outstanding. Looking all the world like it would be on the waxy side, this was tender to the touch. The celery moved the dish forward by cutting the richness as did the apple cider based sauce. This had the rich, slightly gamey flavor of well made beef tongue.

Our palates were given a nice respite with "Zambuca Caviar"…….

Somebody in the kitchen is playing with spherification! I'm usually not a big fan of sweet anise flavors, but this really did the trick.

I really couldn't do much after this so the Missus had the Grapefruit Semifreddo.

Dessert also came with a hard cider, a Eric Bordelet, Sidre Doux Tendre from France which the Missus really enjoyed. I ordered another Midas Touch as my dessert.

The Missus and I really enjoyed our dinner at Sage. The staff made us feel comfortable. When I told "Bond" that we'd be exchanging plates and sharing, he encouraged it. The service was excellent, efficient, but not hovering nor stuffy. We had a great time……the GM of the restaurant even came over to chat. We never felt rushed and the meal was well paced, clocking in at just a tad over 2 hours. The bill wasn't too bad either. I gave you all the prices for the starters. The Chef's Tasting Menu clocks in at $120, the beer tasting an extra $50, so we're talking about $300 total. I'm kind of glad that my other four choices didn't pan out……

Sage in Aria Resort and Casino
3732 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89109

A Week of Sushi, the Traditionalist: The enigmatic Kaga Sushi

February 1, 2013 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Memorable Meals, Sushi and Sashimi

**** Kaga Sushi has closed

I first heard of Kaga Sushi what seems like a lifetime ago….probably around 2002. One day, while purchasing some wagashi at Hogetsu, I noticed the very non-descript sign on one of the buildings. Well….here was the Kaga Sushi that I'd heard so much about. Granted, a good part of that discussion included words like racist, sushi nazi, etc…… Also, I understand that one of the graduates of Kaga's mentorship is a pretty, well how should I say it, rather temperamental fellow himself. After seeing him treat customers badly on my two visits there, I don't think I'd return. In fact, the last time there, I was with a friend from Japan who made it a point after leaving to tell me, "I want to let you know….REAL Japanese are not like that!" 'nuff said. Another word that has been used in various discussions is exclusivity, which kind of rubs me the wrong way…..I'm just not like that. What really changed my mind about Kaga Sushi was a discussion with Mrs Takeda of Hogetsu-do. She basically told me that the couple who run the place want to only serve traditional sushi and don't speak very much English. They basically feel uncomfortable with people they don't know and can't communicate with…there would be an additional addition to this a bit later on. I did try to get past this door with the neon open sign twice back in 2005……

And just to make the story short; I looked the part, but couldn't recite the lines. And that was just the way it was going to be. Folks I knew who were Nihon didn't want to go there….folks who thought their Japanese wasn't good enough were afraid. Still, this past winter, I was having a nice Friday drink when "Xiang Jiao" came along. For some reason, I happened to mention Kaga Sushi, and my own "xiang jiao" (which means banana in Mandarin) difficulties. Now being young and all, XJ saw a challenge….she was fascinated. As a plus, her beau (MrT) is from Tokyo and works for one of the major Japanese companies in San Diego. She asked me if I'd be up for Kaga Sushi. Thinking that nothing would come of it I said sure. And during our porcine party, XJ came up to me and blurted out a date….huh? She then reminded me of our discussion….we had a date set for Kaga, which was postponed once, but there I was standing outside that door on a rather cold late December evening. We also had XJ's friend "Trang" and her boyfriend, Masa, who is also from Tokyo for back-up. We walked through that door…..

Now I'd like to say it was all dramatic and such, but the interior is quite humble and warm….much like what you think a neighborhood sushi place would be like in Japan.

The menu, written on very old-school style wooden slats were in Japanese. The couple who ran the place seemed to have aged quite a bit in the last 7 years and now looked like they were in their 70's. The woman who simply showed me a reserved sign and nodded "no" in 2005, now seemed like a doting grandmother….plus, she seemed a bit hard of hearing, which would make dealing with English speakers more difficult.

There was a Hispanic Couple in the place when we arrived, also with a Japanese couple….so this was not an "exclusive club" even though it seemed to cater to the Japanese Ex-Pat community. MrT, ordered, in what he later told me was in the "most respectful way" that it would be Omakase for us.

So after being presented with a wonderfully prepared tako appetizer which we all had to restrain from gulping down, the plate of sashimi arrived.

And let me just say, this was very, very good. Unadorned and traditionally straight forward, but very good…..

No fruit or vegetable carvings……no sauce "swooshed" on the plate, no neat little trinkets, no huge lump of yuzu kosho killing the hirame (my one really bad dish at Kaito)…..this was just plain no hiding, no holds, delici-yoso. MrT told me that in terms of just prep and quality, this was much better than Ota, Kaito, Shirahama, or anything else in San Diego. The o-toro did melt in your mouth, the Saba was perfectly cured, milky, but without venturing into "cheesiness", the texture was just perfect. The shoyu ikura was like the kiss of the ocean with ika that had an excellent chew. The akami was interesting, the cut included a bit of chu-toro, which made for a textural exchange.

I've never been a fan of the typical awabi (abalone) served in sushi bars, and am still not, though it does make a nice visual impact.

Next up was a short respite with a very well done broiled saba. Nice oil, balanced salt and sweet…..

Then came the nigiri.

The first thing that struck me was the amount of komezu (rice vinegar) in the sushi-meshi…..it reallycaught me off guard. MrT and Masa thought it was just lovely. For me, the nigiri was not as thrilling as the sashimi. The highlites….well the blue crab was just plain delicious, the kohada was cured well, nice and lightly milky…the mirugai was good. The Ebi, in this case wild Mexican Shrimp was delicious as well.

Based on what I'd already eaten, I had high hope for tamago. Though I've never really bought into the "you judge an Itamae by how they prepare the humble egg" school of thought, I do like a light, mildly sweet, melt in your mouth tamago just like everyone else.

This was not it. It was served ice cold which killed the flavor. The omelet was also too hard and not particularly pleasant to eat.

There's some irony to this whole meal. We'd had all this sashimi and sushi, but the one real talking point for us after the meal was the miso shiro….yep, the miso soup.

As we took the first sip of this rich, yet balanced simple miso shiro with daikon, the three guys looked up…… I'm not sure what it was, but there was that simple comforting feeling this soup gave the three Japanese "boys" in the group. Like a warm blanket wrapping around you on a cold day…. Nice ratio of miso to dashi, not too salty, the daikon cooked to very tender, but not melted away. This was so nice.

After our meal, the Itamae came and spoke to MrT….when he found our XJ wasn't Japanese, he was amazed that she wanted to eat sashimi and nigiri and not just rolls. Hopefully, that contributed to a stereotype being torn down. The folks here just seem to want to do their thing. Even though I still don't agree with the way they do it; having grandparents who never spoke English, I understand it. MrT told me that he had heard this building had been sold and was going to be torn down and the owners look like they are close to retirement. I'm hoping that Kaga Sushi will give a little in who they serve. Though I don't think I can get into the place without someone fluent in Japanese even after eating there……

Kaga-Sushi
1216 3rd Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91911

What we did this past weekend – Porcine Party

December 10, 2012 mmm-yoso Cooking, Memorable Meals, yoso-silly

In case you were wondering why the blog was so quiet on Friday and Saturday…..first I was kinda fried, then there was the pig. As noted in other posts on this blog, I've got a great group of friends who are pretty much up for anything. We'd been joking about trying to do a whole hog for a while. Finally, a couple of months ago, FOY (Friend of Yoso) Candice got involved and things atartedrolling. First, the twin's mom allowed us to use her back yard, second Candice put the twins in contact with a pig farmer who slaughtered said piggy…..meanwhile, I provided a marinade recipe…..I was out of town until just before the said swine was toast.

So on Saturday morning at 5am, there we were………

There were a bunch of glitches…..but that's what makes things interesting. First the pig had been butterflied instead of prepped for the rotisserie…..so that meant extra sewing. Candice gave the hog a rubdown, while the guys got the pig on the rotisserie.

I got the hardwood charcoal started….a lot of charcoal. 30 pounds to start with refueling as necessary. All told about 120-130 pounds of charcoal.

We were delayed when we figured out that the darn rotisserie just wouldn't cut it….the kept skipping, it just wouldn't work….so after trying a whole bunch of things we just pretty much did it by hand. The sun had risen by the time things got started…….things looked grim.

We ended up doing 1/8 to 1/4 turns manually….it wasn't easy, the pig was over 80 pounds, then propping it up with one of several garden implements.

Things were going swimmingly until our next bump in the road. John thought we needed to lowerthe hog. Well, the heat had caused the metal stands to swell making movement pretty tough…it was also hot as heck and John didn't do too well with it. So we got a step stool thingy, I climbed up placing one leg on the edge of the pan and basically did a modified deadlift while Candice and John pounded the stand with a hammer to loosen it. First side wasn't too bad…the second side we'll be talking about for a long time. I was up on the edge of the pan….John and Candice were trying their darnest to get the thing loose while I held the hog up. I actually watched the hair on my leg (I wore shorts) burn off, but there wasn't anything I could do. Then my shirt caught on fire……so what to do? Third degree burns or drop the hog into the charcoal??? Luckily, just as I was thinking about skin grafts, they got everything adjusted correctly….and I had brought along a spare shirt. Don't ask me why, for some reason I just did. Of course all the vibrations had loosen one of the retaining rods and the pig almost fell face forward…back to the pig lift while the rod was pounded back into place. This was when I popped open my first Beer Lao of the day….

It was already 10am….time had really flown by. Guests had been told to come at 3pm by Peter. The pig had started developing a nice tan….and John was getting into the habit of peeling the skin off the pig and eating it! Sheesh….. Of course the middle of the pig started getting too brown, so the twin's mom suggesting wrapping those parts in aluminum foil.

The pig was doing nicely…Candice was doing a great job of first basting with coconut oil, then coconut water. At right before 11 Peter returned and Candice and I left….we had to prep some of the other dishes.

The Missus dropped me back off at just before 2 pm and this is what the pig looked like.

By this time reinforcements had already arrived…..Ange had worked getting the tables and everything else set-up, TFD and MrC, YY and MrQ (and "Kyle"), Xianjiang…the whole gang. Everyone took their photo with the pig….then it was covered back up.

It was starting to get darker and the internal temp of the hog was still just over110, we weren't going to make it.

Luckily there was back-up. YY and MrQ brought a bunch of food from Mien Trung…Banh Bot Loc and Hen Xuc Banh Trang.

I set about to fry up about 15 pounds of chicken wings….I loved this set-up.

YY told me that the twin's mom knew that we'd need a "plan B" from the beginning and requested the legs. I've previously mentioned what a great cook she is. So I'll let the photos do the talking.

It was some great stuff. Xianjiang appeared with Fanny Bay oysters…….

It became clear the the pig wouldn't make it. So they did what they could…..and left to cook it further.

I had two slots for guests, so I invited Kirbie and DH. I feel bad that I was so busy behind the fryer that I couldn't spend time with them….my apologies!

Of course, eventually the karaoke started up……and etc……. It was an epic night, something we'll always talk about. Thanks to John and Peter for taking ownership and Candice for keeping things on schedule, YY and MrQ for making sure we had some contingencies, Ange for making sure the area got set-up and decorated, TFD and MrC for always being there for support and help…..and especially the twin's sister Van and their wonderful Mother (thanks for sneaking me all those special dishes!). It was great meeting those folks I knew and those that I met for the first time.

In the end, it wasn't about the destination, but the journey. In the end (no pun intended) we have a heck of a tail,ummm tale, don't we!

Thanks again guys……this was quite an effort……I have heard Ange's request for a goat….but we'll have to get a rotisserie that actually works. And I need some time to recover.