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All through December, Kobachi was giving away coupons as Christmas gifts. Between two people, we’d collected about $15 in vouchers, so on this time we were in the mood for sashimi and thought we’d combine these, along with another $30 and request sashimi omakase. Ken-san was in, and agreed. First, though, some drinks and nibbles. We had Asahi on draft and some seaweed salad.
Good, as usual, but this was more what we were waiting for – a big platter of luscious fresh sashimi! Ooooooh.
Simple, wonderfully cut, and so so good. I’m not sure I can remember everything we got, but I’ll try. Starting in the upper left and going clockwise: two kinds of maguro, premium hamachi and standard hamachi, Santa Barbara uni, snapper…then two other fish I cannot remember, and finally salmon roe. Jebus, the premium yellowtail was so good. Everything was so good. And to think the people next to us got some boring California roll and pot stickers. Sorry guys!
Then we had an additional small sushi roll, I *think* it was a spiced yellowtail roll. I do know for sure that it was very good. Finally, a wee bit of dessert with ice cream and fresh fruit. I love Kobachi! Past posts. And there are a lot of them. Kobachi Izakaya Dining Another yummy dinner at Kobachi!
Top row: Bottom row: We’d joined Vo after he’s already started eating, so we shared a few more items, then ordered for ourselves. We weren’t expecting to have much sushi, but the fish seemed very fresh tonight, and we treated ourselves to some fine albacore nigiri as our last dish.
Kobachi Izakaya Dining Kobachi is celebrating its 2nd anniversary with izakaya specials! For the month of August, the following deals were available. $1 edamame Of the specials available, we got the edamame, the salmon poki and the shrimp and vegetable tempura.
Kobachi Izakaya Dining Cindy’s in town! We all trooped over to Kobachi for her first night visiting. First, what’s new. Beer on tap! For my birthday I received a copy of Oishinbo’s Izakaya Pub Food and the first story is about a master beer pourer in Tokyo. The main character has been talking up the perfectly poured beer to his friends, but upon receiving a glass he can immediately tell it was not done by the Master. It turns out the highest honor the master beer pourer could bestow upon a guest (speciality black edamame) was mis-interpreted as rotten beans, but since the beer pourer would never assume the guest would be so ill-educated as to not know about the beans, he quit. Long story short, a perfectly poured beer has at least one inch of foam on top, and during the time of drinking it, there always remains a solid layer of foam covering the beer. This way, the effervesence of the beer stays in the beverage, and the flavors do not escape. The new tap at Kobachi pours the beer in two ways; first as the liquid, while a second tap tops off the beer with a fine foam. Okay, so they cheated a little by not pouring by hand. BUT, Ken-san insisted that HE pour the beer, so they maintain the tradition of being honored with having someone pour our beers.
Top row: freshly poured Asahi beer, seaweed salad, vegetable tempura. 2nd row: mame aji nanban, shiitake nigiri, tsukune renkon shiitake-an. 3rd row: renkon chips, hamachi kama, seared tuna in sauce (this dish is not on the menu). 4th row: aburi saba, and mixed sashimi with sweet miso sauce. Kobachi Izakaya Dining It was *supposed* to be a late night snack, just 3 dishes or so. But everyone there was so nice and and we ran into friends who came to a group happy hour a couple weeks earlier, and that put us in an everything’s-great mood. PLUS, I told them we were leaving for vacation until after Labor Day. And yummy treats came forth.
Kaki Fry – panko fried oysters and homemade tartar sauce. Then, Aburi sabi, of course.
Chicken tsukune – chicken meatballs with homemade sweet soy. Mmm, delicious. The chicken had a lovely smokey flavor that Ted described as yakitori style and Yoko nodded knowingly.
And once the surprise sashimi came out, the floodgates opened and the kitchen went omakase style. First, they brought an item we’d considered ordering, but didn’t. And now we had it. Crispy curry calamari – crispy fried calamari strips, lightly dusted with curry salt. Then, a custom item (hello!), that was eel on top of a bowl of white rice that had been steamed with a sauce similar to that which comes with the eel. A wonderful comforting dish for late night snacks. Yoko said chef Ken brought in his personal rice cooker to make this dish, so I’m feeling honored to have been able to try it.
The ama ebi prawn made its appearance again, deep fried and served with a little additional sashimi and salmon roe. I nibbled a few legs and feelers, but let Ted have a go at this one as it was brand new for him. Oh so good! Probably the best bon voyage meal I’ve ever had, and completely unexpected. With that, I am off to Burning Man, for a week of trail mix, pringles, beef jerky and soy milk. BYE!! Past posts: Kobachi Izakaya Dining It was a Tuesday, one of the nights I have the most success ordering omakase. And the kitchen obliged. This was also my first night having omakase without Vo. Instead, it was Ted and he was in for a real treat. We started with a small bottle of cold sake, I let the kitchen choose what kind. I’m sure I also ordered some shochu with oolong tea, but it appears I did not get a photo of it. Too busy eating I guess! Omakase #1: we were served individual bowls of a fruit, vegetable and seafood salad, which included red onion, strawberries, fish and shellfish. A generally sweet dish, with a little zip thanks to the onion. Omakase #2: on the menu, this item is called yasai no nimono – vegetables simmered in a fish and soy broth. But I recall the menu dish was all vegetables and the one we ate had pork. I have no complaints at all about the addition.
Omakase #3 (large photo) was a simple shared dish of warm stir-fried Napa cabbage. It was a favorite of the night, from its simplicity and my association of Chinese homecooking. Omakase #4: (lower row) this was a new dish, and I don’t believe it’s on the menu. Tender hamachi (yellowtail) and tofu in sauce. The yellowtail came off in fine shreds when touched gently with our chopsticks. The tofu was smooth and took up the flavors of the sauce nicely. Omakase #5 was the ever-popular sashimi assortment. Kampachi, special hamachi, red snapper, mackerel and a mystery fish. Only the chef knows what that last fish was. Ever-delicious with just a little dab of wasabi and a little sliver of ginger. Omakase #6 carried on the theme of the last dish with more sashimi in a sweet miso sauce. Of course, no wasabi or ginger needed with these additional flavors already on the plate.
Omakase #7 was a treat reminiscent of my tasting menu at Matsugen in Manhattan. Cold soba noodles, mountain yam, quail egg, uni. Great layers of flavors and textures, and a very large portion. Ooof!
Ted enjoyed his soba noodles, as did I, and neither of us were able to finish. Crazy delicious, that is. Past posts: Kobachi Izakaya Dining |
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