Anzu revisited
Although we try to be objective, numerous factors always manage to skew our view in one way or another. Surely there are objective facts, like the restaurant is small or the fries are spicy, but generally the taste can be affected by the conversation of a nearby dining couple, the window seats looking out to a blazing sun, an unusual day at work, or sometimes just the unwillingness to compliment. The mood makes the food. My mood wasn’t particularly bad last time I was at Anzu, but it was particularly good this time I was there, as we were seated in this half-hidden corner. The bamboo curtain half obscured the view, the brown and green room was half sedative. The oksusu cha was half surprising, but fully pleasant.
We didn’t expect to be seated in such nice seclusion, nor did we anticipate an appetizer. But now that it came, two small cubes of fried tofu with honey,we seemed to recall that last time they also gave us something small for taste opening – a couple of gyozas it was. The tofu beats the gyoza. A thin crunchy crust contrasts yet complements the soft-almost-to-creamy inside, same with the bean blandness and the honey sweetness. Tofu can really do wonders sometimes.
For the main course, Anzu offers some good deals with combinations, such as a bento-box meal – like what we ordered last time – or the sushi-udon pair which we got today. The sushi comes in a full roll (6 pieces), with thinly sliced ginger and wasabi for kicks. But really, you don’t need kicks with California rolls, the nori’s salty streaks and avocado’s buttery dollop suffice. I also believe that what we have here was real crab meat, not surimi, because it wasn’t rubbery. It was good.
The sansai udon was also a delight. Thick wheat noodle in vegetable broth, it tastes far more interesting than it sounds. The stock is so pure and yet so relishing, with a profound taste of shungiku (Garland chrysanthemum, or rau tần ô). There was also an unsolved mystery: the pickled “bean sprouts” (translucent strands at the left corner). They look like bean sprouts, but only from a distance: close circumspection revealed rectangular cuts. They also taste starchy like some kind of root. I incline to say turnip, as such texture is midway between the porous crunch of jicama and the granulous dense of potato. Whatever it was, it had a great companion – some kind of pickled radish in ruby color. It was like a sour candy, all different tangy levels sang a song in unison, the song is called “The Best Pickle I’ve ever Had”.
Yes, this visit was full of cute little surprises. What can I say, subjective factors aside, some restaurants are like a bunch of grapes, you wouldn’t stop eating the bunch just because the first grape you picked out happens to be a bit sour. Anzu at Berkeley is such a place, and this time, the grape was perfect.
Dinner for two (free appetizer, 1 California roll, 1 udon, 1 tonkatsu): $15.04
Anzu Japanese Cuisine at Berkeley
2433 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 843-9236
P.S. Anzu also has an excellent salad dressing made of peanut sauce, mayonnaise, and a bit of seasoning. The salad comes with the entree, no extra fee.
Update: the “bean sprouts” are actually kohlrabi (German turnip, or su hào). Thanks to my mom who knows every ingredient upon hearing the description of the texture!
I’m not sure why but this website is loading incredibly slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later and see if the problem still exists.
1I have been exploring for a little bit for any high quality articles or weblog posts on this kind of area . Exploring in Yahoo I finally stumbled upon this web site. Reading this information So i am satisfied to exhibit that I have a very excellent uncanny feeling I discovered exactly what I needed. I most indubitably will make sure to don’t omit this website and provides it a look on a relentless basis.
2certainly like your web site but you need to test the spelling on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling issues and I in finding it very troublesome to inform the reality nevertheless I’ll certainly come again again.
3Hey, you used to write wonderful, but the last several posts have been kinda boring?K I miss your tremendous writings. Past few posts are just a little bit out of track! come on!
4Great web site. A lot of useful information here. I’m sending it to several pals ans additionally sharing in delicious. And naturally, thanks for your sweat!
5Very interesting info!Perfect just what I was looking for!
6I like what you guys are up too. Such intelligent work and reporting! Carry on the superb works guys I have incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my web site 🙂
7I always was interested in this topic and stock still am, thanks for putting up.
8very nice put up, i actually love this web site, keep on it
9I got what you mean , thanks for putting up.Woh I am lucky to find this website through google.
10Its like you read my mind! You seem to understand so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with a few p.c. to force the message house a bit, however other than that, that is excellent blog. A fantastic read. I’ll certainly be back.
11Hello there, just became aware of your blog through Google, and found that it’s truly informative. I’m going to watch out for brussels. I will be grateful if you continue this in future. Many people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
12Some really quality articles on this site, saved to bookmarks.
13With havin so much content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright infringement? My site has a lot of unique content I’ve either written myself or outsourced but it looks like a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my agreement. Do you know any solutions to help prevent content from being stolen? I’d certainly appreciate it.
14I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you design this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz answer back as I’m looking to design my own blog and would like to find out where u got this from. thank you
15Those are yours alright! . We at least need to get these people stealing images to start blogging! They probably just did a image search and grabbed them. They look good though!
16Thanks, I’ve recently been looking for information approximately this topic for a long time and yours is the best I have discovered so far. However, what about the bottom line? Are you sure in regards to the source?
17I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself? Plz reply back as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know wheere u got this from. thanks
18I really like your writing style, excellent info , thankyou for putting up :D.
19Hi there! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers? I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any suggestions?
20he blog was how do i say it… relevant, finally something that helped me. Thanks
21Glad to be one of several visitants on this amazing site : D.
22Awsome website! I am loving it!! Will come back again. I am bookmarking your feeds also.
23hey there and thanks to your information – I’ve certainly picked up anything new from right here. I did however experience some technical issues using this web site, as I experienced to reload the web site many instances prior to I may get it to load properly. I had been pondering in case your hosting is OK? Not that I am complaining, however slow loading circumstances occasions will very frequently affect your placement in google and can injury your quality ranking if ads and ***********|advertising|advertising|advertising and *********** with Adwords. Well I’m including this RSS to my e-mail and could look out for a lot more of your respective exciting content. Make sure you replace this once more soon..
24Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the internet. Shame on Google for not positioning this post higher! Come on over and visit my site . Thanks =)
25Heya i am for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out much. I hope to give something back and aid others like you helped me.
26It’s onerous to seek out educated people on this matter, but you sound like you realize what you’re speaking about! Thanks
27Perfectly written written content, Really enjoyed reading through.
28I truly appreciate this post. I have been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thx again
29Thanks a lot for sharing this with all folks you actually understand what you are speaking about! Bookmarked. Kindly additionally consult with my website =). We could have a link exchange contract among us!
30Almost all of what you point out happens to be supprisingly appropriate and that makes me wonder the reason why I hadn’t looked at this with this light before. This article really did switch the light on for me as far as this particular issue goes. However at this time there is one factor I am not too comfy with and while I try to reconcile that with the actual central idea of your position, let me observe just what all the rest of the visitors have to say.Very well done.
31You made several fine points there. I did a search on the matter and found most people will have the same opinion with your blog.
32Some genuinely grand work on behalf of the owner of this site, dead great articles.
33Great post. I am facing a couple of these problems.
34you have a great blog here! would you like to make some invite posts on my blog?
35This blog is definitely rather handy since I’m at the moment creating an internet floral website – although I am only starting out therefore it’s really fairly small, nothing like this site. Can link to a few of the posts here as they are quite. Thanks much. Zoey Olsen
36Thanks for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do some research about this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more clear from this post. I am very glad to see such wonderful info being shared freely out there.
37You can certainly see your skills within the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how they believe. At all times go after your heart.
38I have learn some good stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much effort you set to make this type of magnificent informative web site.
39Excellent post. I was checking continuously this blog and I am impressed! Extremely helpful info specially the last part 🙂 I care for such info much. I was looking for this certain info for a long time. Thank you and good luck.
40Nice post. I learn something more challenging on different blogs everyday. It will always be stimulating to read content from other writers and practice a little something from their store. I’d prefer to use some with the content on my blog whether you don’t mind. Natually I’ll give you a link on your web blog. Thanks for sharing.
41I’ve been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this blog. Thanks , I will try and check back more often. How frequently you update your site?
42It’s actually a nice and useful piece of info. I am glad that you shared this useful information with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
43I am very happy to read this. This is the kind of manual that needs to be given and not the random misinformation that is at the other blogs. Appreciate your sharing this best doc.
44I simply wanted to write a quick message so as to thank you for some of the magnificent solutions you are giving on this site. My time consuming internet research has at the end been honored with high-quality information to go over with my co-workers. I ‘d believe that most of us visitors actually are rather fortunate to exist in a good site with very many outstanding individuals with very helpful plans. I feel quite privileged to have seen your website and look forward to many more fabulous moments reading here. Thank you once again for a lot of things.
45WONDERFUL Post.thanks for share..more wait .. …
46After all, what a great site and informative posts, I will upload inbound link – bookmark this web site? Regards, Reader.
47I beloved up to you’ll receive carried out proper here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored subject matter stylish. nevertheless, you command get got an nervousness over that you want be delivering the following. ill no doubt come further earlier once more since precisely the same nearly very frequently within case you defend this increase.
48I like what you guys are up too. Such clever work and reporting! Carry on the excellent works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it’ll improve the value of my website 🙂
49Hey, you used to write fantastic, but the last few posts have been kinda boring?K I miss your great writings. Past few posts are just a bit out of track! come on!
50