Instead, the regular menu is replaced by a list of about 15 izakaya small plates — essentially Japanese “bar bites.” The Sunday izakaya menu will change weekly, and yesterday was the very first Sunday serving. (Note: full-sized versions of all these images are stored on my Flickr account. To see the larger version, just click through any image link.)

The first plate was the delicately flavored ni-daikon,

which was the daikon simmered in sake. There was also the goya chanpuru, a stir fry of Okinawan bittermelon:

One standout item was the aji ichiyaboshi,

a whole horse mackerel fish: cured, toasted, butterflied, and mostly completely edible. Toasting amplified the natural flavors of the fish, and the thin, crisp skin was a nice foil to the moist interior flesh. Another standout dish was the inari yaki:

The inari wrappers were filled with natto (fermented soybeans), grilled, and topped with green onion. Even if you are squeamish about eating natto, I would recommend trying this dish, as the grilled wrapper was a really nice complement to the more pungent natto.

One of the great highlights of the meal was the homemade tamago yaki (Japanese egg omelette). Most sushi restaurants will serve tamago nigiri, but this can often be lackluster. The process of making the omelette is so time-consuming that few restaurants will make it in-house, so was a real treat to try not one but two homemade tamago samples at the Sunday izakaya meal, courtesy of Fukashi Adachi:

These blocks of tamago are a work of art, as I am told that they emerged from cooking exactly in the perfect form you see in the above picture. The block on the left is an omelette infused with slivers of the green seaweed ao-nori, while the flavor of the block on the right literally sang of dashi. Both samples were delicious, complex, and had a very nice texture: firm, but with a latent juiciness. This is easily some of the best tamago currently being served in the Bay Area. Here is a close-up shot of the ao-nori tamago:

And once more, the tamago, but served on a plate:

Yesterday was the very first izakaya Sunday and the restaurant was, rather surprisingly, packed for much of the night, so the cooking pace was rather frantic. However, I am sure that Michael, Danny, and Fukashi will work out the operational acrobatics in time. Even on this first day, the dishes were really nice, so I am looking forward to seeing this new tradition evolve and mature. With the izakaya Sundays, Michael and Danny have continued to demonstrate their passion for serving their customers a serious, high-quality product.

RATING:

COST:

517 Hayes Street (between Octavia St. and Laguna St.)
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: 415.864.2122
Hours: Tues-Sat (sushi menu), 6:00-10:30 pm; Sun (izakaya menu, no sushi), 6:00-11:00 pm.

Cuisine: Japanese
Neighborhood: Hayes Valley/Civic Center

Naturally, the restaurant offers a selection of tajines, a signature dish of North Africa, generally slow-cooked in a glazed pot that also shares the name tajine. Also offered is the traditional harira (a lentil soup), kabab plates, salads, sandwiches, and various dishes involving meat and vegetables over couscous. On a recent visit to Tajine, a friend and I shared two dishes, including the lamb tajine:

The slow-cooked lamb was quite tender in some spots and a little tough in other spots, but it was still delicious, steeped in the spices and herbs. Soft prunes added a sweet fragrance to the dish, and almonds, roasted to enhance their flavor, added a comforting crunch. The whole dish was topped with sesame seeds and was served with a plate of Moroccan bread. The bread was a bit too dry but was still good to mop up the thick sauce in which the lamb and prunes had been stewing.

We also enjoyed the chicken bastilla:

Although listed as an appetizer, this dish is easily the size of an entree. Essentially a large fillo pancake, the flaky bastilla is topped generously with a brown and white criss-cross pattern of sweet cinnamon and powdered sugar combined with a savory interior of chicken, egg, and almond. I found the interior of the bastilla to be somewhat under-seasoned, but the diversity of textures and flavors made this is a successful dish.

Mint tea is a serious endeavor in Morocco, so if you visit Tajine, you will want to try out a pot of the mint tea:

Served in a traditional pot, poured from a couple feet above the cup, and brewed with a large stalk of fresh mint, this tea is richly sweet and is a very nice treat either during or after the meal.

Although the food can really be quite delicious, my experiences at Tajine have not exactly been a home run. The cooking at the Polk Street location is at the same level as what was offered at the Tenderloin location. However, prices have risen considerably since the move, and to my mind, the quality of the total experience has not risen in correspondence with the prices. The service is often friendly, but sometimes indifferent, and repeatedly forgetful — either portions of my meal have been forgotten, or I have heard diners around me reminding the server that some portion of their meal had been forgotten. I am usually completely willing to overlook this for meals under $10, especially if it happens only occasionally, but now that Tajine’s entrees are in the double-digit range, it is easy to spend $20+ per person here including tax and tip, even without a salad or appetizer. (Note: diners should keep in mind that despite these prices, the restaurant is cash only.) At that price point, the “value” of a meal is not only connected to the quality of the cooking, but also the atmosphere and service, and therein lies the disconnect. Basically, the price increases seem to be disproportionate to the dining experience, which is essentially unchanged except for the somewhat larger (but often very crowded) space.

I still enjoy Tajine’s food, but the restaurant has been in a slightly awkward stage since the move to Polk. At heart, it is still a hole-in-the-wall serving tasty dishes. The price increases suggest that it strives to be something more, but that has not really happened yet. Although no longer a bargain secret gem, Tajine is still a nice choice in the area.

RATING:

COST:

1338 Polk Street (between Pine St. and Bush St.)
San Francisco, CA 94109
Phone: 415.440.1718
Hours: Daily, 12:00 noon – 10:00 pm.

Cash only. Takeout available.

Cuisine: Moroccan
Neighborhood: Polk Gulch/Van Ness

I wasn’t really planning on such a long hiatus, but the time off has been useful and productive. Life has been very busy, and in the meantime, I have started writing another blog on a topic completely unrelated to restaurants. I’ve been enjoying working on that other project, but it became too difficult to maintain two blogs while doing everything else, and something had to give somewhere. Unfortunately, Short Exact turned out to be the something that gave. If you have been checking in all this time, I would like to apologize for my silence and to let you know that I appreciate your readership.

The good news is that I am planning on calling an end to this hiatus, and it will be nice to get back to writing restaurant posts again. With everything that is going on, it will be difficult to post as often as I sometimes have in the past, but at least, I will try to keep to some sort of regular schedule. If you haven’t already done so, subscribing to the feed is a good way to to be notified about any updates.

At any rate, it’s nice to be back. Please check back in tomorrow, as I’ll have a new review posted — for real.

In an earlier post about Mikaku (a Japanese restaurant located right next to the Chinatown gate), we mentioned the chirashi, slices of fish carefully layered atop sushi rice. On a recent visit, we had the opportunity to try a couple of the dinner specials written on the white board located just east of the sushi bar; the restaurant really shines in its preparation of these specials.

At dinnertime only, Mikaku offers house-made soba (buckwheat) noodles. The noodles, which are served cold in the form of zaru soba,

had a nice bounce and texture, easily superior to the soba noodles offered at many of the more popular noodle houses in Japantown. The noodles are served with the tsuyu dipping sauce, a refreshing and light yet robust combination of soy sauce, dashi, and the sweet rice wine mirin. Perhaps best of all, Mikaku also serves the traditional sobayu,

which is the water in which the soba noodles were just boiled. Pouring the sobayu into the cup containing the leftover tsuyu dipping sauce makes for a delicious drink and is an excellent way to cap off a plate of soba noodles.

We also sampled the chawanmushi,

a traditional savory Japanese egg custard with surprise fish, meat and vegetables inside the custard that are to be unearthed. The chawanmushi we had at Mikaku, which included crab and chicken, was a delight, with a clean egg flavor that was a good complement to the other ingredients. Mikaku’s rendition of this dish is quite nice.

At a standard dinner, Mikaku offers at least a dozen specials. Recently, in addition to the soba noodles and chawanmushi mentioned here, we’ve seen daikon soup, dishes involving yam and kabocha (“Japanese pumpkin”), different preparations of clams, and hirame usuzukuri, which are paper thin slices of fluke sashimi dressed in a very light ponzu sauce. Although Mikaku’s menu has all the standard tempura, teriyaki, and sushi roll combination deals that Americans have come to expect from Japanese restaurants, the skill of both the sushi chef and the kitchen are most clearly displayed in these authentic specialties, and we’re glad to have gotten the chance to sample Mikaku’s versions of these dishes. “Averaging” this with our previous visits to Mikaku, an upgrade of Mikaku’s rating is definitely in order:

RATING:

COST:

Please scroll to the bottom of our original review for the restaurant hours and contact information.

Pho Tan Hoa used to be named simply “Pho Hoa”, and the name was changed only recently to “Pho Tan Hoa.” This restaurant is not a member of the huge worldwide Pho Hoa chain, and so we can only assume the name was changed to avoid confusion. Good thing too, because Pho Tan Hoa’s soups are far and away superior to the fare typically offered at the Pho Hoa chain, which — to put it lightly — leaves much to be desired. Pho Tan Hoa is run by very gracious and friendly people, and they are quick to remember and acknowledge repeat customers. As is often the case at pho joints, the service here is usually lightning quick.

On our most recent visit to Pho Tan Hoa, Short Exact ordered the pho dac biet,

which the menu declares to be a “house specialty,” and rightly so. On top, you can see the slices of rare steak. At some pho joints, slices of “rare” steak are served stewing in the broth, so that they are already overcooked by the time the bowl reaches your table from the kitchen. Here, though, care was taken to make sure that the slices were mostly perched atop the broth, so that the rare slices were actually rare. The above photo shows the slices more submerged than they actually were upon serving, since we had poked our chopsticks in, almost forgetting to take a picture! It was a close call.

We did not do it on this last visit, but for an additional 50 cents, several slices of rare steak are served on a separate plate with an additional bowl of broth, allowing you to personally customize how much to cook the meat.

In addition to the rare steak, our bowl of pho dac biet had plentiful and tender chunks of tendon, strips of tripe exhibiting a nice snap and bounce, and several slices of well-done brisket. The noodles were a bit clumpy but pleasantly chewy. The broth was a touch murky, but generally good, as flavors of anise and cilantro rounded out the substantial beef base. Fresh slices of onion supplied a welcome touch of crispness.

If we had to go one way or the other, we personally prefer the clean purity of the Northern Vietnamese broths (such as those found at Turtle Tower) to the more dressed-up Southern-style broths, and we are partial to Turtle Tower’s fresh wide noodles. However, Southern-style pho is also very nice, and Pho Tan Hoa serves up a quality version.

RATING:

COST:

431 Jones Street (between O’Farrell St. and Ellis St.)
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: 415.673.3163
Hours: Daily, 8:00 am – 7:00 pm.

Cash only. Takeout available.

Cuisine: Vietnamese
Neighborhood: Tenderloin

How to get there: Muni lines 2, 3, 4, 19, 27, 31, 38, and 76. Pho Tan Hoa is 4-5 blocks from both Powell and Civic Center BART/Muni stations (lines F, J, K, L, M, N, T).

Ed Jew claims to live in this bungalow on 28th Avenue, just south of Taraval,

but neighbors who have been parking in his driveway because it’s always empty are pretty sure that isn’t the case. And of course, it makes perfect sense that very little water is being used in this house, since Ed Jew showers at his Chinatown flower shop!

Even sketchier are the shady business dealings between Ed Jew and Quickly,

a chain of tapioca milk tea shops that generally serve milk tea which is decidedly mediocre, at best, or in the worst case, essentially inedible. In this case of “Bobagate”, SFist-dubbed “Tapioca Ed” required $40,000 in exchange for help solving a problem relating to permits. Now, Quickly is a huge chain of stores, and their tea is often rather poor. Not only that, but their insistence on distinguishing between “large tapioca” (i.e. standard issue tapioca pearls) and “small tapioca” (a horrible perversion of the first order) is completely misguided. Under no circumstances should we have to utter the words “large tapioca” just to get tapioca pearls. Anyway, sorry for the digression; we do not feel especially sorry for Quickly, but, to say the least, Ed Jew probably could’ve handled this more gracefully. Just to be clear, the above picture is of the Quickly store on Taraval Street, which Ed Jew — “living” as he does on 28th Avenue right off Taraval — no doubt visits quite frequently. However, the specific store exploited by “Tapioca Ed” is actually on Irving.

Given the preponderance of evidence against him, it seems pretty clear that Ed Jew’s house on 28th Avenue has been completely unoccupied, and that the supervisor of District Four has been living with his family in Burlingame — a completely different city, and nowhere near District Four. Anyway, you’ve probably been wondering why we’re talking about Ed Jew instead of a restaurant. To be honest, we really just wanted an excuse to check out this mysterious 28th Avenue house, and also to make fun of Quickly (an activity we like to indulge in semi-frequently). A blog post seemed like just the ticket. Still, this post would be incomplete without mentioning a restaurant in “Ed Jew’s neighborhood,” the Parkside district.

Had Ed Jew actually spent any time at “his” 28th Avenue house, he would have certainly run across El Burrito Express,

a charming little taqueria at 26th and Taraval. This restaurant is mostly a take-out operation, since it only has a few cramped counter seats. There is often a line here, as it is a popular choice for residents in this not particularly burrito-laden neighborhood. The menu is a little cumbersome in terms of the terminology (regular burrito, super burrito, bronco burrito, super bronco burrito, and “expresso burrito” — to say nothing of tacos and the specials), but it all comes down to choosing the combination of ingredients you want. Rather than describe all the details, we figured it’d be easier to just provide a photo of the menu,

and, as usual, you can click the photo for a larger, more readable version. On this Ed Jew-instigated visit to El Burrito Express, we ordered the grilled steak bronco burrito,

which included the grilled steak, tomato, cheese, onion, avocado, and pinto beans; the regular bronco burritos do not include rice — making them somewhat more reasonably sized than the monster super burritos, and a good deal at $3.85 for a bronco burrito with meat. The beans and vegetables here were good (with several chunks of fresh avocado), and the steak was quite flavorful, but there was an abundance of excessively chewy pieces. We would have appreciated more uniformly and thoroughly melted cheese, but at least the tortilla was nice and flaky-grilled. The biggest strike was that in spite of our request for heat, this burrito almost completely lacked all spice and heat. All in all, this burrito was certainly not bad, but it lacked punch and a unification of flavors. In an excellent burrito, the combined effect of the interior ingredients is greater than the sum of its parts, but that was just not the case here. Still, you could do worse, and El Burrito Express is a decent choice for the neighborhood. If you come here with high hopes to find Ed Jew, though — well, let’s just say you may want to catch the next train to Burlingame instead.

RATING:

COST:

1601 Taraval Street (at 26th Ave.)
San Francisco, CA 94116
Phone: 415.566.8300
Hours: Mon-Sat, 11:00 am – 9:00 pm. Closed Sundays.

Credit cards accepted. Takeout available.

Cuisine: Mexican
Neighborhood: Parkside/West Portal

How to get there: Muni lines 66 and L.

When it was further revealed that the restaurant in question this time around was next door (and actually connected) to The Mint karaoke bar, and that it had the somewhat corny name Sushi Delight (rather than having a name which is, you know, Japanese or something) — well, suffice it to say that of all the emotions we were feeling at that moment, delight was nowhere on the list.

So imagine our surprise when we walked in to find a white board list of specials that included items such as uni (sea urchin) and ankimo (monkfish liver). Not that these items are particularly rare, but seeing as how this restaurant also has a long list of huge Americanized rolls with “crazy” ingredients, we were expecting lots of fusion, and not as much in the way of our favorite, more traditional items. It was, of course, necessary to try out a few of these specials:

The hamachi belly (middle, in the above photo) was pretty good quality with a somewhat buttery texture, but it should have had a stronger flavor. The mound of sushi rice on which the fish slice rested was too large, and the rice itself was not very flavorful, and did little to support or complement the fish. An uninteresting sort of ponzu sauce largely overpowered the mild ankimo (on the right), but the liver did have a reasonably nice, creamy texture. The uni (on the left) also had a pretty good texture, but only brief wisps of uni’s characteristically briny flavor. Not a bad sample, though, and best of all, it was not the least bit bitter, which is the usual worry when ordering uni at an unfamiliar restaurant. So, while none of these special items were stunning, they were all of at least decent quality, and as we said earlier, finding them at all was a pleasant surprise.

We also tried the maguro sashimi,

which, despite the attempt at a slightly creative presentation, was completely unremarkable; the fish was tasteless and was served too cold. For kicks, we sampled one item from the extensive roll menu,

the “gari saba” roll, consisting of mackerel, ginger, and a little scallion. This was a pretty good roll, but the mackerel was unusually sweet, and the overall flavor of the roll turned out to be surprisingly mild, considerings its core ingredients, perhaps in part due to the outer layer of the rice, which was disproportionately thick. It wasn’t bad, but we probably wouldn’t order it again. (Readers should also note that this is one of the more conservative rolls on the menu. If you’re interested in the more complicated rolls with lots of ingredients, Sushi Delight has plenty of those you can try.)

Service here was fine, although the restaurant was not that full, so we’re not sure how the service holds up under pressure. Still, the number of patrons can be deceiving, because it looks like quite a few people from the karaoke bar next door also put in orders, even if they do not sit in the actual restaurant. The karaoke bar The Mint, which is connected to the restaurant by a door, is a little noisy, but not horribly so; the soundproofing still makes it easy to have a conversation. The restaurant’s late hours are definitely a plus.

Sushi Delight is in a location such that the exact classification of the neighborhood largely depends on who you ask. Upper Market for sure, but is it Hayes Valley? Essentially, but not especially close to the heart of that neighborhood. Duboce Triangle? Close, but it seems just outside of the traditional boundaries of the Triangle. We’ve filed this post in those two neighborhoods, figuring that this restaurant might be of interest to people in both locales. Whatever you call the neighborhood, Sushi Delight is a decent neighborhood joint. For us, it would be a stretch to call it delightful, but it’s a good choice if you’re in the area with a hankering for sushi.

RATING:

COST:

1946 Market Street (between Buchanan St. and Laguna St.)
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: 415.621.3622
Hours: Sun-Thurs, 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm; Fri-Sat, 5:00 pm – 12:30 am.

Credit cards accepted. Takeout available.

Cuisine: Japanese
Neighborhood: Hayes Valley/Civic Center, Castro/Duboce Triangle

How to get there: Within a few blocks are Muni lines 6, 7, 22, 37, 71, F, J, N. Church Station (lines K, L, M, T) is a short walk away.

and the generic name “Larkin Express Deli” does nothing to discourage that notion. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, Larkin Express Deli has a bit of a split personality. If you click on the above image and enlarge it in Flickr, the menu written on the chalkboard looks like a fairly standard American deli menu, including a variety of burgers, meat plates, and sandwiches (such as turkey, chicken, meatball, roast beef, pastrami, reuben, and others). However, lurking beneath the surface of this seemingly commonplace deli is a second menu, consisting of several authentic Burmese specialties — including such favorite, classic dishes as the catfish chowder moh hinga, the tea leaf and ginger salads, and the chicken coconut soup ong noh kau swer. Note: we have not ordered any of the American deli fare, only the Burmese dishes, so this review is based exclusively on the Burmese food, and this post has only been filed away in the Burmese cuisine category.

On a recent visit, we ordered the chicken coconut soup,

and it was a delight. The noodles were perhaps a touch softer than we would have liked, but they were still pleasantly chewy (not the least bit mushy), and they thoroughly absorbed the flavors of the soup. The soup base was a deliciously layered and well balanced mix of curry and coconut milk, with a deep underlying chicken flavor from the stock. Chunks of tender, moist, flavorful dark meat chicken were scattered throughout the soup, and the fried peas added crunch and an additional flavor dimension. Considering the very reasonable price ($5.50, at the time of this post) for this generous portion of soup, the garnish of fried peas and fresh cilantro was unexpected, but very much appreciated.

We also ordered one of our favorite Burmese standards, the tea leaf salad (la pat dok), to go. We sort of mumbled in passing that we would probably end up trying a bit of the salad in the restaurant, just as a sample, and we expected to simply take a bite or two out of a to-go container. Imagine our surprise when a small portion was served on a plate,

a plate that was even green to match the hue of the green tea leaves that are the centerpiece of this dish. This was a simple gesture, but it helps to demonstrate the genuine and thorough service here, which was all the more unexpected because the words “express” and “deli” in the restaurant name do not immediately suggest that there should be good service, or even any service at all.

Of course, the portion of salad in the above picture is just a small fraction of the much larger full portion. This dish was a touch oily, but it contained a delicious mixture of textures and flavors, with numerous ingredients, including garlic, peanuts, split peas, sesame seeds, wedges of tomato, and the namesake tea leaves. The centerpiece of this dish is, of course, the tea leaves, which feature a wonderfully strong, pungent flavor that is complemented well by the other milder ingredients. No corners were cut, as these tea leaves were imported straight from Myanmar. Notably, the la pat dok does not include any Western salad greens (which less traditional versions of this dish will sometimes use, perhaps to make it appear more salad-like to Americans), and the fact that the tea leaves are the only greens present helps to emphasize their role in the salad. When all is said and done, the la pat dok is a lovely, flavorful mixture.

Visiting this restaurant was a great experience. We dropped by later in the afternoon, when we were one of few customers, and this gave us the chance to chat with Dennis, the owner, for quite awhile. (Dennis also runs the Tennessee Grill restaurant, out on Taraval, which we have not visited. Unfortunately, there is no Burmese food to be found there!) Our chat not only revealed what a genuinely friendly person Dennis is, but also the care and effort which has gone into crafting the Burmese side of the menu. While the American half of the menu is a legacy of the previous owners (and, we imagine, the sandwiches and burgers are probably popular at lunchtime for office workers in the area), the Burmese half of the menu is a labor of love, in which Dennis showcases the cuisine of his native country, and the time and care that is put into these authentic home-cooked Burmese dishes shine through clearly. Combined with the kind and caring service, this restaurant has all the homey comfort that one might experience eating in a friend’s kitchen.

For Burmese east of Divisadero Street, look no further than Larkin Express Deli.

RATING:

COST:

452 Larkin Street (between Golden Gate Ave. and Turk St.)
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: 415.474.5569
Hours: Mon-Fri, 10:00 am – 7:00 pm.

Cuisine: Burmese
Neighborhood: Tenderloin, Hayes Valley/Civic Center

How to get there: Muni lines 5, 19, 21, 31, 38, 47 and 49. The restaurant is 4-5 blocks from lines 6, 7, 9, 71, F, J, K, L, M, N, and T (Civic Center BART/Muni station).

The focal point of Kaygetsu’s mission is to provide an authentic, high quality kaiseki menu. The menu changes every six weeks (twice each season) and directly reflects the fish and vegetables that are in season at the time. These menus are constructed by Kaygetsu’s kaiseki chefs, Shinichi Aoki and Katsuhiro Yamasaki, both trained in Kyoto. The focus on kaiseki is no small feat in this corner of the world, whose population largely views Japanese cuisine as consisting exclusively of tempura, teriyaki, and sushi — or so you’d think by looking at the menus of most Bay Area Japanese restaurants. Now, Kaygetsu does have a sushi bar in the corner with a separate sushi menu (consisting mostly of nigiri and a few token rolls, of the simpler, more traditional variety such as tekka maki — no crazy Dragon Rolls here!), and several a la carte cooked dishes are also offered — but the raison d’etre is really the kaiseki menu.

We will get to the kaiseki in just a bit, but there is one other important thing to note. Although Kaygetsu focuses on kaiseki, Toshi-san, the itamae at the sushi bar, is one of the finest sushi chefs to be found in the Bay Area. It is a pleasure to watch his hands, nimble and deft, form, within just a few seconds, masterpieces of nigiri sushi construction — dead-on precise slicing of the fish, and perfectly proportioned fish and rice. Like kaiseki, the craft of sushi is another art form of sorts, and watching Toshi-san rapidly but expertly sculpt perfectly-sized pieces of nigirizushi is a treat. The fish at Kaygetsu is of very high quality, but it is also expensive. A combination of the high quality fish and the fact that this restaurant does not focus on sushi contributes to the high prices; a single piece of nigiri is usually at least $3.50, and much more than that for the “market value” items. Toshi-san does not keep a really extensive fish supply, but he has a few special items which might appear in the sashimi course of the kaiseki. The selection is still much better than what you would find at your average neighborhood corner sushi restaurant, but because of the focus on kaiseki, the selection is not as stellar as you might think it would be, given the quality of the fish. The somewhat smaller fish supply prevents the sushi bar at Kaygetsu from attaining the legendary status of the old sushi bar at Anzu under the helm of Takahashi-san (who, regularly, on a good evening, carried at least few dozen distinct fish types, some quite difficult to find elsewhere) — sadly defunct and very much missed, since Takahashi-san has left San Francisco. Nonetheless, in terms of chef skill and fish quality, Kaygetsu’s bar is one of the best, most authentically Japanese sushi bars to be found in the Bay Area, and it definitely warrants a separate trip.

Enough about sushi, though: we had our eyes set on kaiseki. The kaiseki experience is subdued in atmosphere, but sublime in terms of the cuisine, making it an excellent choice for a Mother’s Day dinner last week. We had the late spring kaiseki menu, which features 6 courses, followed by a final dessert course. First up was the sakizuke starter course, which featured three delectable, carefully-presented morsels:

From left to right in the picture: (1) amaebi (sweet shrimp) enveloped in gelatin, (2) sea urchin and kisu, served fried, with fava beans, and (3) perfectly seared slices of white tuna topped with a light sauce from shiitake mushrooms.

The starter course was immediately followed by a seasonal assortment of sashimi (served with fresh wasabi): a delicate preparation of snapper, treated with the lightest ponzu sauce,

and slices of hon maguro (blue fin tuna) and shimaaji (stripe jack):

The hon maguro was rich and almost pillowy, while the shimaaji had an excellent texture: just the right level of firmness and initial resistance that melted away after a few seconds, with a bright lift in the flavor occurring later in the process of chewing. All three specimens of fish were very good.

Next was the takiawase course, which featured assorted slow-cooked vegetables:

Included are dried tofu, bok choy, fuki (giant butterbur), konnyaku (a potato-like vegetable in the taro family that is valued for its medicinal properties), and kabocha squash. A delicate preparation of these excellent ingredients masterfully preserved the individual taste and texture of each component, with the clear fish broth tying together all elements of the dish. Highlights here included the lovely sweetness of the kabocha squash, and the distinctly sponge-like texture of the tofu: upon biting the tofu, a small rush of broth would leak out, much like a sponge. The release of liquid invites at least a small comparison to the rush of soup that comes from biting into a xiao long bao (Shanghai soup dumpling), but this version is more subtle and nurturing.

The fourth course was the sunomono,

with barely blanched fresh octopus and white kikurage mushrooms, which had a thin, wonderfully elusive, chewy texture. Both octopus and mushroom paired well with the plum sauce, which was not the least bit cloying.

The yaki mono was attractively displayed,

featuring delicious, colorful, perfectly cooked vegetables (including potato, daikon, and bamboo shoots) layered atop a piece of domestic Kobe beef from the Snake River area. Although the beef was slightly tough, it was also highly flavorful, with nice notes of ginger and soy.

The sixth course, and the last of the main meal courses, was the gohan mono, which included a hearty, nurturing dark red miso soup with a touch of mustard, and a small bowl of rice cooked with tender asari clams:

The seventh and last course was the dessert course:

A black sesame gelatin was served with pristine strawberry slices, resting in a pool of kuromitsu, which is essentially a Japanese molasses. The flavors here complemented each other perfectly, and the dessert was an excellent end to the meal.

This is one of the best, if not the very best, kaiseki experience to be had in the Bay Area. We’ve never been to Kyoto, so we can’t compare this to the original, but this is definitely the best kaiseki experience we’ve ever had. As you might expect, it does not come cheaply — as of writing this review, the kaiseki menu is $95 per person, with an optional $34 sake pairing (we did not order this). There is also a 17% service charge automatically added to the bill, which functions in lieu of a gratuity. Obviously this is not an everyday sort of meal, but it is a wonderful experience for a special occasion, and we feel that the quality justifies the price. It’s also probably a bargain compared to what this might cost in Kyoto, and there’s no airfare. The menu featured a diverse set of dishes, excellent ingredients that were carefully prepared, and lovely presentation. In addition, the service was excellent. Our server was very knowledgeable about every detail of each course, and he paced the delivery of the courses well, allowing enough time for us to savor each dish and enjoy conversation, but never leaving us wondering when the next course would come. In terms of both the service and the food, Kaygetsu offers a first-rate dining experience. Bravo.

RATING:

COST:

325 Sharon Park Drive (near Sand Hill Rd.)
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Phone: 650.234.1084
Hours: Tues-Fri, 11:30 am – 2:00 pm; Tues-Sun, 5:30 pm – 9:30 pm. Closed Mondays.
A note on reservations: Kaiseki (dinner only) requires that reservations be made 48 hours in advance, but because the restaurant is small, you may want to allow even more time, to help ensure you get the time slot you want. Since the kaiseki meal does take at least a couple hours, only a limited number of seatings are available each night.

Cuisine: Japanese
Neighborhood: Menlo Park

How to get there: Kaygetsu is not at all in a transit-friendly location, so we can’t provide detailed public transit info like we usually do. The restaurant is located on the free Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) Marguerite shuttle bus line, so it’s not impossible to reach via transit, but for all practical purposes, you will probably just want to carpool.

A traditional Korean meal will feature a collection of banchan, smaller side dishes that are meant to accompany the main entree. There are many varieties, but the most famous of these is kimchi, a fermented dish of vegetables; very often this is cabbage with chili peppers, but there are many varieties. Despite the fact that Namu does not generally serve precisely traditional Japanese or Korean dishes, there is a nod to the tradition of banchan, since every dinner at Namu begins with a banchan plate:

Only one serving is complimentary, but the banchan plate appears on the menu (for $2.50) if one taste is not enough. The two portions on the left were simple preparations of carrot and shiitake mushrooms, while the sample on the far right is of course the kimchi, made in-house, which was our favorite of the three. The cabbage was crisp and fresh, and the spiciness was balanced, clarified, and focused, as little sparks of pepper danced on our tongue. It was a nice way to begin the meal.

Next up was the scallop carpaccio,

consisting of Hokkaido scallops, cilantro, small cubes of tomato and a touch of delicate yuzu vinaigrette all atop thin rounds of cucumber. The thin, confetti-like strips of cilantro and the small of touch of acid from the tomato helped to accentuate the delicate sweetness of the scallop. The flavors here are subtle, not bold, but still satisfying. These scallop bites are actually reminiscent of nigiri sushi, and eating them in a similar way seems to be the best way to go. The traditional way to eat nigiri is not only to dip the fish (not the rice) side in the soy sauce, but also to place the piece fish-side down in one’s mouth, so that the neta (the fish slice) makes immediate and direct contact with the tongue. With this dish at Namu, the more uniform taste and texture of the cucumber slice may conceal the action on top of the slice, and so just like with nigiri, flipping each piece helps to emphasize the textural and flavor contrasts of the scallop, cilantro, and tomato.

The shiitake mushrooms from the banchan plate made a repeat appearance,

this time hiding in fresh, neatly-wrapped dumplings — garnished with scallions and thin seaweed strips, and resting in a mushroom dashi broth. Good ingredients were used, and the dashi paired well with the mushrooms in the interior of the dumplings pouches, but to our taste, the dumplings could have used a contrasting flavor to enliven them.

The last dish was the eggplant,

which was served with a tasty onion sesame vinaigrette. The texture of eggplant can sometimes be difficult to work with, but the eggplant in this case was cooked just the right amount and held up very nicely, benefiting from the contrasting texture of the katsuobushi (bonito) flakes. As you can see in the picture, the eggplant slices have nice grill marks on them, and the dish has good presentation; the flower carved from carrot emphasizes that the eggplant is sliced into pieces that look like the petals of a flower.

All in all, we had an enjoyable meal at Namu. Dishes are generally well-prepared and use good ingredients, and although service was perfectly friendly on our first visit, it seemed to be even more knowledgeable, expert and polished the second time around. In the first post, we mentioned that even though the food was good, we personally would not have cravings for the dishes at Namu (even though we regularly have cravings for the more traditional dishes that are the inspiration for Namu’s offerings). This is still the case, but it’s all a matter of taste, and we are glad we returned to dinner to try more of the menu.

Although one can obviously order a full meal’s worth of food here, in our mind, Namu’s ideal role is less that of a traditional restaurant, and more of a lounge, a place to unwind and socialize with friends over a few well-prepared “Asian tapas bar bites” and a glass of sake or wine — not exactly an izakaya, since the atmosphere is different, but somehow similar in spirit. Ironically, as of our last visit that led to this post (the actual restaurant visit was in April, not May), Namu had still not procured its liquor license. Fighting through the bureaucracy to get this license can be frustrating, and we certainly do not hold it against them that the details are still being worked out; rather, we are glad that they are being persistent. However, in our view, the character and spirit of Namu will really blossom once the drink aspect is introduced to accompany the dishes, which often consist of just a few bites, making them ideal to share with a small group. For our first review of Namu, restaurant co-owner Dennis Lee was nice enough to drop by and leave a couple notes in the comments section, indicating that the restaurant would soon offer wine, beer, and sake, and that the sake part of the menu was being compiled by Seana Adachi, who has lived, worked with, and learned from sake masters in Japan. This should be an interesting development when it gets off the ground.

In light of this second visit, we’d like to update our original rating of Namu:

RATING:

COST:

Please scroll down to the bottom of our original post for restaurant location and hours. Since our first review, Namu has introduced a brunch menu, and the hours have been updated to reflect this change.