Being by nature a romantic old fart, I took the ever lovely Tama out to dinner on the 14th. Upon her request we went for Japanese food at a local eatery called Takara.
What a delight. They have an outstanding sushi bar, but I am so very done with sushi and we wanted more food than that so we waited for a table in the restaurant proper. Lots of bamboo and wood (but artfully placed) and a tall guy like me couldn’t turn in any direction without crashing through the cotton noren hanging willy-nilly every where.
Made it to the table and received menus and those nifty little rolled up, steaming hot towels on a plate (where are those towels when you really need them after you’ve fingered your way through a whole platter of tempura?) The house tea they delivered was a pot of genmaicha, my favorite green tea. It was originally tea for the poor, working class since it has roasted brown rice in it, added back then as filler, which gives it a nutty, toasted back flavor.
Next came the salad… a moment I normally dread in Japanese restaurants. It is generally my opinion that the Japanese only tangentially caught the concept of salad. Usually some shredded iceberg lettuce and a glop or two of a nasty, viscous dressing that reminds me a little too much of fluids better left unexamined. Imagine my surprise when this one turned out to be plate licking good. A guest appearance by sundry other vegetables and a dressing lightly flavored with ginger and sesame oil with a hint of wasabe. Things were looking up.
For an entrée Tama had a combination of tempura and beef teriyaki. Frequently the cow bits for teriyaki come from the chewier portions and require the use of a wakizashi to render it into bite sized chunks… not so here. Tender and well flavored and of a healthy size (often the asian fusion chefs seem to have no knowledge of how big a cow actually is…) it was generous enough to make lunch the next day.
After dithering between tonkatsu which I love, even though it is just a breaded veal cutlet in a kimono, and tempura, I went with the full combo plate of battered bits of this and that. Shrimp and a wide variety of underground veggies.
I had nothing left for lunch…
Everything was just a hint above expectation and it is someplace I would be happy to take the yokels who are visiting from out of town.
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