restaurant week part II
Kaz Sushi Bistro was excessively better than Butterfield 9. Not that it was amazing, but it was good. Heres .
Kaz in an attractive place, only slightly more upscale than your average neighborhood sushi joint, but with a polish that matches the fancy touches on the food. We were seated promptly (in the corner again... should I be taking a hint?) and provided with the costomary hot towels... these werent particularly hot, but its the thought that counts, I guess. The RW menu was tucked into the larger one, and offerred a choice of 8 or so appetizers (choose 1), 20 or so kinds of sushi and rolls (choose 5, max 3 rolls), and 3 desserts (choose 1). I had the mussels appetizer-- 4 large mussels, each cut in half to make for more bites, covered in pleasantly spicey sauce and baked, and served on a small salad with a peanutty dressing and sliced peppers. Very tasty. The mussels were pleasantly firm, the spice was well calculated, and the only unpleasnt part was the small pool of grease left in the bottom of each shell. Ah well.
Next up was the sushi- my choices included a flounder with ume shiso, a salmon with mango sauce, a crunchy shrimp roll, a spicy scallop roll, and the "DC roll" which included egg, eel, and cucumber and was covered in black sesame seeds. The rolls were relatively plain, but adequate- the scallop was the best, with tender buttery pieces of scallop and a subtley spice to it. The other two were fine, but not very exciting. The salmon was very much upstaged by its slightly-too-sweet mango puree, and I think the combination would have been better suited to sashimi, as the rice seemed to only get in the way of the creaminess of the fish and the fruit. The flounder was unremarkable, but the ume shiso (a small dab of sour-plum sauce) was intensely, wonderfully sour. To my taste, it would have been better served over cheesecake or ice cream-- or alone-- than with the mediocre fish. The sushi was not large, although no smaller than at any average sushi joint. Kaz's sushi is, generally, rather average.
Dessert, however, was wonderful. I had the green tea tiramisu, which was a substantial tower of mist-green, fluffy, lightly tea-flavored mousse sandwhiching a wafer of light cookie-ness.... roughly tiramisu-esq in texture, but delicious in its own right. It was plated over an amazing red bean paste drizzle, which tasted just like everything i remember loving in Japan. Overall, it was Japan on a plate, and that made me happy. All kinds of happy.
So Kaz, in summation: Average sushi, with fancy (and good!) sauces that would, to me, be better suited to just about anything but fish. The mussels were not particularly special, but very satisfying. And dessert was wonderful, but green tea and red bean are certainly not universally beloved tastes. Better than Butterfield 9, for sure. More gracious service, more reasonable portion sizes, more authentic atmosphere.
Zola is next.
Kaz in an attractive place, only slightly more upscale than your average neighborhood sushi joint, but with a polish that matches the fancy touches on the food. We were seated promptly (in the corner again... should I be taking a hint?) and provided with the costomary hot towels... these werent particularly hot, but its the thought that counts, I guess. The RW menu was tucked into the larger one, and offerred a choice of 8 or so appetizers (choose 1), 20 or so kinds of sushi and rolls (choose 5, max 3 rolls), and 3 desserts (choose 1). I had the mussels appetizer-- 4 large mussels, each cut in half to make for more bites, covered in pleasantly spicey sauce and baked, and served on a small salad with a peanutty dressing and sliced peppers. Very tasty. The mussels were pleasantly firm, the spice was well calculated, and the only unpleasnt part was the small pool of grease left in the bottom of each shell. Ah well.
Next up was the sushi- my choices included a flounder with ume shiso, a salmon with mango sauce, a crunchy shrimp roll, a spicy scallop roll, and the "DC roll" which included egg, eel, and cucumber and was covered in black sesame seeds. The rolls were relatively plain, but adequate- the scallop was the best, with tender buttery pieces of scallop and a subtley spice to it. The other two were fine, but not very exciting. The salmon was very much upstaged by its slightly-too-sweet mango puree, and I think the combination would have been better suited to sashimi, as the rice seemed to only get in the way of the creaminess of the fish and the fruit. The flounder was unremarkable, but the ume shiso (a small dab of sour-plum sauce) was intensely, wonderfully sour. To my taste, it would have been better served over cheesecake or ice cream-- or alone-- than with the mediocre fish. The sushi was not large, although no smaller than at any average sushi joint. Kaz's sushi is, generally, rather average.
Dessert, however, was wonderful. I had the green tea tiramisu, which was a substantial tower of mist-green, fluffy, lightly tea-flavored mousse sandwhiching a wafer of light cookie-ness.... roughly tiramisu-esq in texture, but delicious in its own right. It was plated over an amazing red bean paste drizzle, which tasted just like everything i remember loving in Japan. Overall, it was Japan on a plate, and that made me happy. All kinds of happy.
So Kaz, in summation: Average sushi, with fancy (and good!) sauces that would, to me, be better suited to just about anything but fish. The mussels were not particularly special, but very satisfying. And dessert was wonderful, but green tea and red bean are certainly not universally beloved tastes. Better than Butterfield 9, for sure. More gracious service, more reasonable portion sizes, more authentic atmosphere.
Zola is next.