The Short Exact Guide…

The other night, Short Exact and a friend were on the escalator leaving Church Street station on the hunt for dinner, when our friend revealed that we would be eating at her new favorite sushi bar. At that point, Short Exact groaned both inwardly and outwardly, recalling a lackluster experience from the last time we went to her “new favorite sushi bar” (somewhere different at that time) — an opinion, it turned out, was formed exclusively on the basis of a few Yelp reviews, rather than any sort of personal experience. This time we were quick to make sure that a prior visit had occurred at some point.

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.

Short Exact has been terribly busy lately (which explains the lack of posts recently), but Larkin Express Deli — a restaurant located (funnily enough) on Larkin Street, in the shadow of the old Federal Building on the Tenderloin/Civic Center border — is a restaurant we’ve been meaning to write about for several weeks now, and we didn’t want to wait on this any longer, since it’s a special sort of spot. On the surface, it looks unremarkable, like any standard deli,

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).

It seems hard to believe that one of the Bay Area’s best Japanese restaurants is located in a quiet strip mall in the hills of the Peninsula city Menlo Park, and yet, this is the case — sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Located in a strip mall off of Sand Hill Road, with Safeway and Longs as its neighbors, the small restaurant Kaygetsu is a hidden gem of the first order. It leads a mild-mannered existence, quietly serving diners one of the finest kaiseki menus (perhaps the very finest) to be found in the Bay Area. Kaiseki, a tradition originating in Kyoto, is a multi-course meal originally intended to accompany the tea ceremony. It has since evolved away from its tea ceremony origins, but there is a focus on careful preparations of seasonal ingredients. True kaiseki is an art form unto itself, an exquisite combination of art, beauty, and cuisine working together in perfect harmony.

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.