Why has brusell sprouts got such a bad rap amongst children? Is it because TV shows says they are the enemy to the palette of those under the age of 12? What a tragedy - because these are delicious. A sweet, very umami soy glaze coats each ball, flecked with chilli (I see they enjoy flecking with chilli at this place). Generous squeeze of lemon (meaning, squeeze every drop of juice you can get from that lemon) is needed. It is quite oily and heavy from the sauce and oil in which its been roasted.

Beef tongue. The least amazing. Was not bad, but wasn't great. They used sichimi togarashi (the Japanese seven spices powder) all over (again). The red sauce on the bottom was so unmemorable that I have no recollection of what flavours it brought upon my tongue.

Sliced hamachi (I presume this was near the belly. The fat was so graciously marbled), avocado. This was one of the specials (the other one was a roll if I am remembering correctly), and it really just alternating slices of avocado, hamachi, topped with tobiko and the yuzu sauce. Hamachi was very fresh. But still was not worth however much we paid. Not sure how the avocado helps the hamachi (or the other way around). Both are so fatty and moreish. At least place the tobiko on more neatly - maybe in small blobs and not just sprinkled all over. Looks messy. The microgreens also make an appearance here. They were not eaten.

Service was amazing though. The owner took care of us well and is a friendly guy with some long time friends of >10 years that still come to visit him here. Okay that is all I have to say.

Why my love for izakayas is greater than yours:

1. the variety of small-portioned dishes allow me to eat a greater variety without sacrificing stomach space

2. pork cheek is almost always on the yakitori option (and I love pork cheek/neck/jowl)

3. my alcohol tolerance increases, and devastation of hangovers decreases when consuming asian alcohols

The most delicious firm-ish tofu ever. The texture holds, but is also soft. Creamy, but with a touch of graininess. It is accompanied perfectly with the freshly grated wasabi and a clean tasting soy sauce.

Lovely sauce here. The tomato was a beautiful addition.

I believe that there is a anti chicken breast field emitting from my body as I'll never buy it nor will I order a dish containing it. But friend who says, let's order the chicken breast yakitori, has defied my wishes. I ate a piece and was mindblown. Wtf is this tender piece of what I had previously perceived as a cardboard of a meat. So juicy, soft, flavourful (the japanese have a knack for seasoning savoury grilled foods really well. I suppose it is so that it can be better accompanied with beer). My anti chicken breast field shall not only be turned off when I'm in Rintaro.

 

The outside area where you can enjoy some okonomiyaki on Thursday nights. They'll bring it to your table if you're dining at Rintaro and there just for the Japanese pancake. The crowd of Japanese people just chilling out here makes it all feel so authentic and real deal.  Okonomiyaki courtesy of the stall just beyond the doors of Rintaro - all with their own tables and steady gathering of peoples constantly ordering. I love that they bring it to your table inside of Rintaro. Other than that, it's pretty mediocre. Probably would not order again.

Omg doneeee. Getting ready for the next post now.

I really rarely eat ramen. The last time must have been last year, and I also happened to be in SF as well. Also have zero recollection of where it was in SF, or what ramen I ordered. In the back of my mind, ramen gives off an instant noodle vibe - which I love, when you scramble in an egg.

So we came here after a long day at work. Actually I'm not sure if it was long or we just happened to stay back later than usual. Seeing that none of us had consumed anything for our meal of the evening yet, one of us had suggested this very *amazing* ramen place that has notorious lines and a killer broth.

And the four of us embark on a ramen trip. Where there was no line and no wait for tables *gasp*

Chicken broth. Did they make this broth like how the French makes their beurre blanc? Cause the creaminess was no joke. A viscous broth with an equally intense and creamy taste that coats each ramen strand more than it needs too. Also very salty. The lack of veggies in this makes me concerned about my well being after a few spoonfuls of the broth. Okay.

The shoyu/soy sauce one is very different from the chicken broth. Not as salty and pleasant to drink. Clean taste - is that kombu I suspect? Reminds me of the clear korean soups too. Good.

Wow my favourite one. This soba has everything your soul desires: egg yolk, thick savoury sweet sauce, pea sprouts, more veggies than the other two, peanuts. Reminds me of the noodles we have in Malaysia. If only we ordered the spicy version of this. Good.

Between the four of us, we still managed to struggle to clean the bowls. This is the kind of food that knocks you out and makes you fall into an eternal slumber.

Good night dear friends.

Our friend's had their Japanese restaurant opened for almost a year and I still haven't been yet! After I went once a couple of months ago, I've been visiting once a week since then.

Now every time we come on a weekend (is when they stock types of fish aside from salmon, tuna, butterfish, mackerel, ...), we get orders of these fish:

Clockwise from 1200: Hamachi/yellowtail, sea bass, sea bream, flounder

Flounder is the one laid out in a fan. Texture has more of a bite and does not necessarily 'melt in your mouth'. You can get a varying taste by adding the grated radish (orange), green onion, and an almost yuzu tasting sauce. Very good.

I've ever only had sea bass cooked, and knowing that there was a sashimi sea bass available, we had to try it. Maybe because I have been so used to the texture and flavours of cooked sea bass - that I think I enjoyed this less that I would have hoped. Good. 
Sea bream. I've had it where they score the skin in a diamond pattern and then torch the skin lightly. Here, the sea bream is completely skinned. Nothing special here, but a good change in taste from salmon and tunas. Okay.
My favourite hamachi / yellowtail. I order this everytime now, and it isn't even one of the in-stock-on-weekend only fishes. The fat marbling is dispersed well (unlike salmon where you can clearly see the lines of fat from meters away - which of course is not literal.)

And then when it is not weekend we get the chef's choice:
 I don't usually get these cause it'll come with the surf clam, of which I was never fond (cause it would be tough and hard to chew). But chef here scores the underside of the surf clam in a criss cross manner so that it is remarkably easy to bite into. 

Tuna tataki here is coated with black pepper and when not ordered as an appetizer, does not come with the yuzu sauce and green onion, radish garnishes.
Clam sake broth soup. So intensely flavoured. I underestimated the flavours simply because this broth looks see-through and clear. But it hits you right away - the sweetness of the clam, the umami from the mushroom (which I would assume is heavily involved in the flavouring of the broth), the kombu, dashi (involved in this seafood taste), and the sake (very mellow). The amount of clams in there were very plentiful. This kind of soup is the warming soup you'd like to have when you're sick or trying to recover from a hangover. Very good.
Cool Autumn: One of the four season rolls they offer. Chef makes 4 very different rolls with different techniques to capture the 4 seasons. The autumn one includes a sweet savoury eel and crispy salmon bits, and a smooth avocado. It's drizzled with more of that sweet savoury sauce, bonito flakes, and refreshing slivers of green onion. Probably ordered this at least three times. Very good.

I actually came here on so many occasions I'll need at least three more posts of the same restaurant. Coming soon.

My very first yakitori experience and before I even had anything, I was already drooling.

Super hole in the wall restaurant

Perhaps I was extremely hungry that day after a day of strolling through warm sand and Golden Gate Park. Or maybe because it smelled so damn good inside the store, especially when you're sitting at the bar seats right in front of the (was it charcoal?) grill.
When you have a shelf of sochu and sake in front of you, you pretty much can't go away with not having one. I had pointed to a random one (I think it was a sweet potato based sochu) on the menu but turns out they just ran out, and instead recommended this sake:

A new one they just stocked

I'm always inclined to go for Asian alcohols (except for China's baijiu which sets my innards on fire) cause I seem to handle them quite well. And it's fitting for an Asian meal. So we had some of this first while they took a while to get our order started. Served chilled and really smooth. Waitress made a hella good recommendation.
They have beef belly on the menu and I'm sold. I'm trying to image the fatty layers before it even arrives on my plate and it's hard to not get excited. SO DELICIOUS. Could this be like a wagyu-wannabe? (I don't know cause I haven't had wagyu either) When it first lands into your mouth you taste the grill flavours (you know, the yummy color and flavours from your Maillard reaction) but then the fat hits your tongue and begins to melt. It's juicy, rich, and you think you've reached the peak of your love but then you bite down onto a meatier bit and the beefiness hits you. Yes, I am beef, it reminds you, and you think, wow. You'd think that the fat>meat ratio is too much but no. So then you take another strip of beef belly (they've arranged 5-6 well-portioned pieces of the belly onto the skewer to satisfy your pleasure). Very good
So while the beef belly still lingers in your mouth, the next plate comes by with chicken cartilage (right) that isn't super crispy (I've only eaten it deep fried so I was expecting a similar texture, which was stupid and ignorant of me). A bit on the salty side. Not sure if I would order it again, but I'll have a couple of pieces off your skewer when you order it. Bad

No, eating chicken heart (left) doesn't creep me out, I'm Asian. Actually this was marinated really well, and the texture when grilled was amazing. Nice bite, not chewy. But I was still thinking if we should get another order of the beef belly.... Good
Pork cheek is so delicious grilled - you can't get the same cooked-ness from even pan frying it on high heat. And it sounds good in Japanese too - tontoro. Very fatty, but unlike pork belly you get a nice bite (wow what's with these 'nice bite' descriptions I have today - current count: 2, I promise no more). And salted nicely so they also give you a yellow wasabi mustard which helps you cut through the savoriness. Usually I've had this served with some yuzu salt. But perhaps this wasabi mustard is a better accompaniment. Good
Chicken skin had crispy edges and a soft kind of chewy interior. Nice way to end off the meal. Maybe a bit too salty for my liking (I enjoy the sweet - savoury mix). (My favourite skewered chicken skin still has got to be this satay in Malaysia, specifically, the cart a few steps away from our apartment, whose chicken satay would be  tender chicken thigh meat and chicken skin alternately). Okay

We didn't have dessert here and actually I was reaching a good volume of satisfied. This place is tiny and only fits maybe maximum of 25-30 people? We stayed seated for a bit after our meal but see that there's a crowd outside waiting for seats.

Beatles memorabilia everywhere

The next day we needed to grab something to eat quick and I wanted to come back for only the beef belly. My friend thought that idea was ridiculous. We went to a Japanese place (run by Koreans of course) instead.

Waiting for our 'Clever' coffee (pour over)

And because I can never make coffee or espresso like those guys I've now been making my routine batches of cold brew to try and cure the lack of good hot coffee and lack of cali cold brews.