Kaneyama and mixed feelings
Curry rice with tonkatsu – $10.95 – a bit more peppery than the curry rice at Musashi in Berkeley, but still mild enough to my taste, pretty good.
On the western edge of Yosemite National Park is a little town called Sonora. In Sonora there is Koto, the only Japanese restaurant in a 38-mile radius. In Koto, I had saba shio for the first time. It’s a grilled mackerel seasoned with salt, squeeze on some lemon juice if you like. I love homey things like that, especially when it’s so good I wanted it again the next day, but Koto was closed on Sundays. We left on Monday, with a hole in my heart.
Now before I go to any Japanese restaurant, I check if it has saba shio.
Not many do, but Kaneyama does. Only as an appetizer (which means half a mackerel instead of the whole fish) but better than nothing. A delicious crunching sound broke the air as Little Mom broke the skin with her chopsticks. We knew at that instant that the saba shio was the best dish of the day.
Saba shio – $6.25 – Grilled mackerel with salt. So simple and the best of the bunch.
Gindala – $10.95 – Black cod marinated in sweet miso glaze, and they weren’t kidding, it was really sweet. Nice and plump.
The gindala appeared fancier, took longer time to prepare, and I liked the moist, dense, almost doughy flesh of the black cod, but the miso glaze was too sweet. The spinach goma ae, another common Japanese sidedish that I was only recently introduced to and was eager to show Little Mom, didn’t impress her too much because the sesame sauce could also use more salt and less sugar.
Spinach goma ae – $5.50 – a bit expensive for some boiled spinach with black sesame sauce, and not as good as expected. The sesame sauce could use less sugar and more salt.
I was surprised to see okonomiyaki on the menu, however described as a seafood pancake. Feeling demanding for no good reason, I asked the waitress if they could add pork belly, but no luck. 🙁 I was even more surprised when the okonomiyaki was brought to me: instead of the usual round shape I’m used to, this one is two quarters of dough on an oval hot plate, the kind you see with dak bokkeum at Korean restaurants, with copious amount of mayonnaise and katsuobushi (at least this part is familiar). I don’t know where the seafood in “seafood pancake” was. Even the cabbage was scarce. Final verdict: I make better okonomiyaki. 😉
Luckily, Little Mom’s udon with shrimp tempura and Dad’s curry rice with tonkatsu, looking unassuming as they were, actually tasted good. I’m glad, you know, cuz I actually wanted to like this restaurant. Sure, its food needed some fixing to live up to its posh setting, and the saba shio was not as good as the one I had at Koto in that little town Sonora. But I did order things off the beaten path (should have gotten sushi maybe?), and the waitress was cute.
For dessert, I tried my luck again and asked for black sesame ice cream, although it’s not listed on the menu. But Kaneyama is no In ‘n Out with a hidden menu, the manager said no, adding “That was the first time I got this question. Not many people know about it.” Guys, next time you’re at a Japanese restaurant, ask for sesame ice cream.
Okonomiyaki – $8.95 – strange looking and too doughy. I make better.
Udon with shrimp tempura – $10.50 – The noodle soup looks pretty barren (seriously, just kamaboko and spinach?), but the broth is good. The tempura is also good, “not oily” always scores in my book.
Red bean, plum and green tea ice cream – $2.50 each scoop – Too expensive, not good enough, casual pho restaurants have better green tea ice cream than this, but the plum ice cream is good.
Speaking of ice cream, today I realized that I have become a sea urchin of a customer. I asked questions, and returned the wrong scoop of ice cream to the kitchen, although Little Mom said it was fine. (The right scoop turned out to be her favorite and the best flavor. I did something right, Mom 😉 ) In another year will I be sending back a medium well steak when I had asked for medium? (On a few occasions, I thought of sending back pork sausages that weren’t properly defrosted and still a bit pink inside. But I just didn’t eat the sausage.) What will I be then… a durian?
Address: Kaneyama
9527 Westheimer Suite D
Houston, TX 77063
(713) 784-5168
www.kaneyama-houston.us
Lunch for three: $67.76
Some times its a pain in the ass to read what website owners wrote but this site is really user pleasant! .
1you’ve gotten a fantastic blog here! would you prefer to make some invite posts on my weblog?
2Дом моды Rick Owens считается одним из наиболее ярких новаторских лейблов славящимся своему уникальному оригинальному визуальному языку и высококачественным тканям. Марка создаёт вещи для поклонников предпочитает собственный стиль вместе с креативность и каждая деталь оказывается настоящим произведением искусства. https://rick-owens-boutique.ru/
3F*ckin’ remarkable things here. I’m very satisfied to peer your article. Thank you so much and i’m taking a look forward to contact you. Will you please drop me a e-mail?
4Some truly interesting points you have written.Assisted me a lot, just what I was searching for :D.
5I dugg some of you post as I cogitated they were extremely helpful extremely helpful
6This website is my inhalation, rattling fantastic style and design and perfect articles.
7Wow, wonderful weblog layout! How lengthy have you ever been blogging for? you make blogging glance easy. The total look of your site is excellent, let alone the content!
8I really appreciate you for sharing such great article. I love your website. Many thanks for letting me share my thoughts on your article. I would love to see more useful content from you in the near future.
9You have brought up a very good details , thankyou for the post.
10It is really a great and useful piece of info. I’m glad that you shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
11certainly like your web-site but you have to test the spelling on several of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling issues and I to find it very bothersome to tell the reality on the other hand I’ll surely come again again.
12Its excellent as your other blog posts : D, thanks for putting up.
13구미오피는 이 페이지에서 구미의 오피스텔 형태 공간에서 일반 관리 서비스를 제공하는 곳을 뜻합니다. 프로그램 이름만 보고 결정하기 어렵다면 관리 항목과 실제
14구미오피는 이 페이지에서 구미의 오피스텔 형태 공간에서 일반 관리 서비스를 제공하는 곳을 뜻합니다. 프로그램 이름만 보고 결정하기 어렵다면 관리 항목과 실제
15Your style is so unique compared to many other people. Thank you for publishing when you have the opportunity,Guess I will just make this bookmarked.
16Good day! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay. I’m absolutely enjoying your blog and look forward to new posts.
17F*ckin’ awesome things here. I am very glad to see your post. Thanks a lot and i’m looking forward to contact you. Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?
18Many thanks for providing such great information. I love your website. Thanks again for allowing me to comment on your website. I hope more engaging articles from you soon.
19Hello. remarkable job. I did not imagine this. This is a great story. Thanks!
20This really answered my downside, thank you!
21