Chef Ken's deft hands
Omakase sashimi
Tonkatsu
Chawanmushi
View from top of the hill
We found our way to this rather hole-in-the-wall japanese restaurant. The food is fresh and perfectly done without pretense. The scallops were the sweetest I've tasted so far, and J's really happy with his Tonkatsu. The place is empty-ish; there was another couple who left soon after we came in, and then there was a regular who walked in by himself, sat at the bar, ordered sushi, and then a sashimi. Finally, no one's asking for rolls. It was an off-season just after the new year so Chef Ken was forthright about the lack of variability in the ingredients. There wouldn't be any fresh uni as the fishermen haven't really gone back to work, live sweet shrimp and fugu was of course out of the question. If I do return one day, I'll make sure to make special orders for those items if they are in season. We chatted a little with Chef Ken, and he learnt that we were visiting from out of town. After we were done with the meal, he tried to tell me in a mixture of Japanese, English and hand gestures to go climb up the hill. "Go up until you see the flashing yellow light, turn left, and there will be a vast expense of the city skyline." is what I figured from his gestures and animated enthusiasm. Granted, I did hear "yellow", "blinking" and "left" in there somewhere. If left to his own devices however, J would not have deciphered a thing. Good that we all have our strengths. :) A steep climb up the hill after a sumptuous Japanese meal was new for me. Doubts did cross my mind. 'Why the chef wanted me to spill all that wonderful food on the hillside?' 'Did I really understand what he said??' At the end of it however, left after the yellow blinking lights, was a breath-taking view of the Seattle skyline indeed. Life is good.
