- Jan 3, 2001
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I am admittedly weak on Japanese cuisine...there's just not a lot of places around here where you can try it. I used to be a chef, and have no fear of food at all (I'm mostly expert in European cooking), but I finally met my match. We went to a new place near us called Nagoya, which is a 4 star Japanese steak and sushi house, with hibachi cooks at every table. The presentation was fantastic, the food was beautiful (it had garnishes like shredded beats, edible flowers, etc), but the taste was so foreign and unfamiliar is bordered on vile.
I did some research before we went, and found that (being an island) Japanese cooking is heavily based on seafood, sea plants, and different kinds of curds. Knowing this going in, I went for a lot of staples to get myself acquainted:
Started with miso soup- it looked like a watery mashed bean soup with chunks of tofu on the bottom and kelp leaves floating around. I understand they eat this like chicken soup in the US. However, the taste was not unlike licking the algae off the inside of a fish tank, and then washing it down by sucking on a dirty dishrag. I couldn't take more than 2 bites. My wife did 3 or 4, and she was done as well.
Next we were served a salad with a "dressing" on it consisting of mashed soy, grated orange peel, and minced sardine. My wife found this inedible after one bite. I found it a little less nasty than the miso, but still difficult to finish.
For the main course, my wife played it safe with teriyaki tuna. It was served with sticky rice, wasabi bean sprouts, and pan seared summer vegetables. It was actually not bad.
I went a little more authentic, since I wanted the full experience. I ordered Chicken Batayaki, which the chef informed me is the best thing on the menu. It consisted of thin sliced chicken, rolled with spinach and cream cheese, coated with an almond crumb crust. It is then fried, sliced into large "sushi" like shapes, and covered with a coconut cream sauce. The meal itself looked like a work of art, but the bitter, sweet, rich, and earthy flavors of everything meshing together was put together in my brain as RANCID. I think it would have been better without the sauce they drowned it in- it looked more like Chicken Bukkakke <sp?>.
For desert, they gave us cucumber ice cream. WTF???? Sorry Japan, I thought English food was bad, but DAYUM! I was out $70 + tip for some god-awful food. It must be good to some people, because the place is packed every night. Just not my cup of tea I guess.
I did some research before we went, and found that (being an island) Japanese cooking is heavily based on seafood, sea plants, and different kinds of curds. Knowing this going in, I went for a lot of staples to get myself acquainted:
Started with miso soup- it looked like a watery mashed bean soup with chunks of tofu on the bottom and kelp leaves floating around. I understand they eat this like chicken soup in the US. However, the taste was not unlike licking the algae off the inside of a fish tank, and then washing it down by sucking on a dirty dishrag. I couldn't take more than 2 bites. My wife did 3 or 4, and she was done as well.
Next we were served a salad with a "dressing" on it consisting of mashed soy, grated orange peel, and minced sardine. My wife found this inedible after one bite. I found it a little less nasty than the miso, but still difficult to finish.
For the main course, my wife played it safe with teriyaki tuna. It was served with sticky rice, wasabi bean sprouts, and pan seared summer vegetables. It was actually not bad.
I went a little more authentic, since I wanted the full experience. I ordered Chicken Batayaki, which the chef informed me is the best thing on the menu. It consisted of thin sliced chicken, rolled with spinach and cream cheese, coated with an almond crumb crust. It is then fried, sliced into large "sushi" like shapes, and covered with a coconut cream sauce. The meal itself looked like a work of art, but the bitter, sweet, rich, and earthy flavors of everything meshing together was put together in my brain as RANCID. I think it would have been better without the sauce they drowned it in- it looked more like Chicken Bukkakke <sp?>.
For desert, they gave us cucumber ice cream. WTF???? Sorry Japan, I thought English food was bad, but DAYUM! I was out $70 + tip for some god-awful food. It must be good to some people, because the place is packed every night. Just not my cup of tea I guess.
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