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| - Abandoned by my girlfriend for the evening as she frolicked wantonly in Scottsdale (okay, she went to watch a movie with her parents while I was at work), I struggled to find solace in uncooked fish. Remembering there was a very highly rated restaurant next to the AMC on the way home, I decided to stop by and see if House was as good as reviewed, or if indeed, Everybody Lies.
Walking in, I was immediately nervous at myself being the lone diner at about 7pm on a Saturday night. I considered pretending to have an emergency and declaring my girlfriend was going into labor, but I realized that could be a horrible thing to do, and perhaps it would not be good to tempt fate. Buoyed by my resolve to not inflict copies of myself upon the world, I took in my surroundings, and was bemused by the relatively classy surroundings on my left with sleekly lined contours, contrasted to the relatively campy decor on my right right, with a wall that had a built in wave, and photos of their food with descriptions on colored paper.
Their menu has a nice variety of standard fare across the spectrum of Americanized aps to comfort Japanese food for non-sushi related items, but I was here for the fish! I ordered an Iced tea along with Red Snapper + Yellowtail Nigiri to start. Alas, though the fish was fine, the rice was constructed terribly and fell apart when coming into contact with the whisper of soy/wasabi that I attempted to apply. Applying the mixture to my chopsticks and then unto the nigiri made do, but I couldn't help but be miffed at the reversed process I'm accustomed to. Explanations of my girlfriend's theoretical triplets entering the world was on the tip of my tongue, but I decided to wait until the Tuna Karai made its appearance before attempting a classy exit.
Fortunately, my canceled deception was rewarded in the form of one of my favorite bites at a Japanese restaurant of all time. The Tuna Karai was described to me as spicy tuna sashimi. I feel that calling this spicy was dishonest, as a more accurate description would be that the world was ending early, with the hellfire gathering in my mouth beating the Mayan's predictions by about 9 months. To save the world I swiftly consumed this dish, being duly grateful for the shaved daikon to nullify some of the heat, with bits of squid to provide some texture against the the yielding tuna.
One of the items on the wall caught my eye, as I can never resist calamari wherever I go. I was grateful they provided me with a half order, as I wanted a bit more sushi. Their rendition of calamari was wonderfully airy tempura lacking in oiliness, with the accompanying wasabi mayo leaning towards wasabi as the dominant flavor, and the traditional tempura sauce that I preferred, being a well-executed version with a very mild sweetness, light body, yet dense umami flavor reminiscent almost of nuoc cham.
My desire to explore the Modern side of House led me to the Citea roll, humorously named as a tribute to a friend of the server who wanted a roll named after his clothing line. If his clothing line satisfies me half as much as this roll did, I will drape myself in Citea apparel for a year. Inside lurked spicy tuna with avocado, while above loomed seared salmon, masago, scallion, and chopped peanuts with eel sauce. This was a wonderful dance of complementary flavors, while the peanuts and scallions added poignant counterpoints in rougher texture compared to the smoothness of the rest of the roll.
In lieu of desert, I opted for a final set of salmon nigiri. I had expressed my disappointment of the previous order to my server, and happily I received a more tightly packed nigiri with avocado and lemon garnishes as well. This was a pair of wonderfully buttery, vibrant bites to end my meal. With 30% off rolls during traditional Happy Hour times I was also happy with the cost of my meal relative to how much I ate.
As I left, I couldn't help but notice the lines outside the chain restaurants around Stapley and Baseline, and the irritation pushed me to write my first review in months. This is an excellent family run restaurant with lovely food + service that will provide you with a completely satisfying meal at a good price, and Yelpers should congregate to this location and partake in a feverish frenzy of foodie bliss!
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