Too Fond of Books

Ever since I left Japan in 2001* I've gotten hankerings, fairly often, for the good, everyday food that I used to eat in the izakaya** of Kochi. When I try to explain this to people, I usually get a confused look in return. "Can't you buy the food and make it yourself?" Some of it, yes, but it's not just the food; it's the combination of the food, the place, and the experience, and up until last night, I hadn't found a place where the combination was just right.*** But last night, tucked into an unassuming and thoroughly unprepossessing strip mall on Convoy St., yebisu9 and I visited Okan, and it was the magic combination.

Okan has a tiny premises and the moment we stepped in, I was worried we'd trip one of the waitresses up by simply standing in the doorway. Fortunately, we snagged one of the last available tables and discovered they were having anniversary specials of $2 draft Sapporo**** and interesting menu items at discounted prices. Wasting no time, we started with the spicy kinpira (burdock salad), which turned out to be not as spicy as advertised, but still a lovely, fresh mixture of tastes and textures, and pretty much just as I'd remembered it being. From there, we had a fried tofu dish, with savory sauce, that served as a good counterpoint to the kinpira. (Again, not as spicy as advertised.)

For the main course, I had two onigiri (rice balls), rolled in sea salt, with special pickles and fried shrimp. The onigiri were simply delicious and the pickles that accompanied them divine. (I always wish I could ask for more, but really what I want is to go and chat with the cooks in the kitchen while eating the pickles.) Two kinds, one cucumber and very sour, and the other sweeter and crunchier. The fried shrimp came in a very generous portion and were fresh out of the pan; I nearly burned my fingers when I started to peel them.***** The breading on them was very subtle and amazingly delicious. Yebisu had soba with duck; he did not care for the dish as much as I did for mine, although I did taste the soup and thought it was lovely. The menu also lists good old standbys like kitsune udon and zaru soba, which means I need to go back there as soon as possible and try them.

For dessert, I had a lovely slice of green tea tiramisu, which was a light and airy taste compared to the salt and relative heft of the dinner foods. All in all, from a cuisine stand-point, it was an excellent outing. My tastebuds were thoroughly convinced that I'd returned to Kochi and began clamoring for other favored foods. (We had to visit Nijiya, the Japanese market, next door after dinner, where I found yet another beloved treat I hadn't had in 10 years.******) Next time, I would definitely have a reservation, since the place got really crowded after we arrived and there was a fairly long line outside when we left. I am very excited to go again, because one of Okan's selling points is that their menu changes seasonally, and I have high hopes for fall/winter foods.

I think I've found my new favorite place.

Okan Wa Dining
3860 Convoy St. St. #110
(Check out their website here.)

* OMG: That's 10 frakkin' years ago. Pardon me while I freak out quietly about being old, time passing, etc. etc.
** An izakaya is a restaurant/bar, usually a place where you can sit on traditional tatami, at tables, or around a bar.
*** With the possible but very expensive exception of Sushi Ohta, and getting a table there either takes considerable planning ahead or serendipitous arrival.
**** OK, not the world's best beer, but good enough!
***** I know that I'm meant to eat the shell along with the shrimp, but I can't bring myself to do it. When I want to eat shrimp, I want a particular taste and texture, and it does not include needlessly crunchy bits that get stuck between my teeth. Yeah, yeah, I'm a foodie philistine, so sue me.
****** Kyoto green tea mochi pockets with sweet bean paste. :D

I had the most amazing food tonight at Chez Loma on Coronado:

~ An appetizer of raw salmon, crouton, avocado creme fraiche, and pickled cucumber. The salmon was at exactly the right point for good taste--the first bite, the salmon taste hit my tongue just so, the next bite spread the salmon taste, which is predominantly a pleasant fat with a hint of salt that lies just above the tongue, around my entire mouth, and the third bite was a combination of the salmon and all the other ingredients together, the textures perfectly matched--salt and fat and crunch and sour and smooth, all together. My tongue was so happy!

~ Half of yebisu9's lobster bisque. How happy I was to "help" him with this delightful sherry and seafood treat. Of course, there could have been more lobster meat, but I ALWAYS think there could be more lobster meat, even when I'm eating lobster. So that's nothing to judge by.

~ A pan-seared halibut that came with crab, carrots, whipped potato, asparagus, and a creme sauce. My mother, next to me, was having a sirloin with bleu cheese butter, and the bleu cheese smell was pretty pungent. (Lord, how I despise bleu cheese! We are not meant to eat spoilt things!) So it is a compliment to the chef that I didn't care about the vile smell from my right and was able to concentrate on dish before me. The crab was at the point where you put it in your mouth and it just melts away, and there's this glorious flavor left behind. The potatoes and carrot were lovely, and not too garlic-ed up. And the fish and the sauce... I've had dull halibut before. This halibut was not dull, not by any stretch of the culinary imagination. It could have stood well on its own, so flakey and soft and delicious, but it was aided by the creme sauce, which was thoughtfully arranged in one corner of the plate so that the fish wasn't dripping with it or the flavor overwhelming.

~ A glass of Gloria Ferrer champagne, much better than Freixenet that I usually buy. I'll put it this way: Freixenet is like a friendly punch to the tastebuds--great among chums, but every now and then, you long for friends who don't smack you every time they see you. The Gloria was a smooth, smooth champagne, a handshake rather than a punch.

~ The "Fallen Chocolate Cake Souffle" and a cappucino: heaven will be made of chocolate cake with a runny center, baked in a ramekin and garnished with creme fraiche and raspberries.

It was my parents' 40th anniversary. Hence the celebrating and the French food. :D