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| - Went to this place for dinner because one, it turned up on a chirashi search on Yelp. Two, the reviews seemed fair. Three, fusion could be interesting.
My order: green tea, smelt roe maki with quail egg (two pieces per order), Korean Beef Bowl.
My bill with tip: $29 and change.
Pros:
Nice building and interior. Good atmosphere. Warm and prompt service.Modern and upscale feel. Generous serving size. My bowl was big enough for two. Sushi was fine.
Cons:
Some of the ink on my menu was smeared. Some of the menu items were harder to read. One page came loose from the corner page holders. There was visible grease mark on a couple of pages. The drink menu had a clear smudge from some sauce on it. Not good. Not upscale. Hope I got the only menu with the problems. Need to pay attention to detail.
Green tea wasn't green tea. It was Chinese tea. I like tea. I am not picky. But, a proper green tea, even if it is an inexpensive one, should be clear. One should not find tea leaves in your cup. Tea leaves are fine and expected for Chinese tea, not green tea. Also, a half decent cup of green tea should not have a slightly bitter after taste. It should leave a sweet and refreshing taste in your mouth. I am no tea expert, but I have had enough cups to know the difference.
Rice in my $13.50 beef bowl was the kind of cheap and dry long grain rice you would usually find served in cheap Chinese carry outs. I understand most American audience might prefer and might be more used to long grain rice. But, if your intention is to charge $13.50 for a donburi-like or rice bowl experience, using Chinese or Japanese short or medium grain would elevate that experience. The more sticky and moist medium or short grains smell sweeter; will absorb the sauce much fully and both have much more interesting texture than long grain; giving your diners a more overall satisfying meal. The right rice is key for any rice bowl. It is the foundation. It is half the magic.
The portion of beef was generous. The taste was fine. The pieces were tender. But, some of the pieces were too big. For fear of choking, I wasn't ready to take entire pieces in one bite. Could consider cutting them down to more bite size pieces for the diners.
The dish was name Korean Beef Bowl but the taste and preparation were decidedly Chinese. I found a piece of ginger in my bowl. No big deal. I l like ginger. But, ginger is not too Korean. The overall taste was not Korean.
The manager told me the chef is from Hong Kong. That is fine but Korean need to look and, ,most certainly, taste Korean. It is too bad.
Bottom-line:
Fusion is a cool concept but fusion could be tricky. So, if we are going to say we offer fusion, we need to make sure we know how to perfect each of the very distinctive flavors. Otherwise, diners who know the difference will know. For me, Otaku should maintain their focus by offering the very best Chinese and Japanese selections. These flavors seem to be their strength. In fact, if the chef is from Hong Kong, I, say, let him do his or her magic and create a few great and unique Cantonese dishes.
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