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
Hiya very nice blog!! Man .. Beautiful .. Wonderful .. I’ll bookmark your web site and take the feeds also…I am happy to find a lot of helpful info here within the put up, we need develop more techniques in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .
1Hello! I know this is kinda off topic but I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest writing a blog article or vice-versa? My website goes over a lot of the same subjects as yours and I believe we could greatly benefit from each other. If you are interested feel free to shoot me an email. I look forward to hearing from you! Superb blog by the way!
2I have been browsing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me. Personally, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will be much more useful than ever before.
3Hi my friend! I want to say that this post is awesome, nice written and include almost all important infos. I’d like to see more posts like this.
4Usually I do not learn post on blogs, however I would like to say that this write-up very compelled me to take a look at and do it! Your writing taste has been amazed me. Thanks, quite nice article.
5I have been surfing on-line greater than three hours today, but I by no means found any attention-grabbing article like yours. It is beautiful price sufficient for me. In my view, if all webmasters and bloggers made excellent content material as you did, the net can be much more useful than ever before.
6I’ve read a few good stuff here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how much effort you put to create such a excellent informative site.
7I’ve recently started a blog, the info you provide on this site has helped me tremendously. Thanks for all of your time & work.
8Hello my family member! I want to say that this article is amazing, nice written and come with almost all vital infos. I’d like to look extra posts like this .
9Hi, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, fantastic blog!
10Superb blog! Do you have any hints for aspiring writers? I’m hoping to start my own site soon but I’m a little lost on everything. Would you advise starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many options out there that I’m totally confused .. Any recommendations? Thanks a lot!
11Amazing blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A theme like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog stand out. Please let me know where you got your theme. Many thanks
12I’ve been exploring for a little for any high quality articles or weblog posts on this sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I finally stumbled upon this website. Reading this information So i am happy to show that I’ve an incredibly just right uncanny feeling I found out exactly what I needed. I such a lot definitely will make sure to do not omit this website and give it a look regularly.
13Hi there would you mind letting me know which web host you’re working with? I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot quicker then most. Can you recommend a good internet hosting provider at a honest price? Thanks a lot, I appreciate it!
14You made a number of good points there. I did a search on the issue and found mainly folks will have the same opinion with your blog.
15great post, very informative. I wonder why the other experts of this sector don’t notice this. You should continue your writing. I am sure, you have a great readers’ base already!
16It’s truly a nice and useful piece of info. I am happy that you just shared this useful information with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
17Hi, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, fantastic blog!
18Perfectly composed written content, thanks for entropy. “You can do very little with faith, but you can do nothing without it.” by Samuel Butler.
19This is very interesting, You are a very skilled blogger. I have joined your rss feed and look forward to seeking more of your magnificent post. Also, I have shared your site in my social networks!
20Hello. fantastic job. I did not anticipate this. This is a great story. Thanks!
21I have been surfing online more than 3 hours as of late, but I by no means found any attention-grabbing article like yours. It’s lovely price sufficient for me. In my opinion, if all website owners and bloggers made just right content as you probably did, the internet shall be a lot more useful than ever before.
22I’m really loving the theme/design of your website. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility issues? A small number of my blog readers have complained about my blog not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Firefox. Do you have any solutions to help fix this problem?
23Very interesting information!Perfect just what I was searching for! “To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.” by Bertrand Russell.
24I see something genuinely special in this site.
25I like what you guys are up also. Such smart work and reporting! Keep up the excellent works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it’ll improve the value of my web site :).
26Of course, what a magnificent blog and instructive posts, I will bookmark your site.Best Regards!
27I don’t even know the way I ended up right here, but I thought this post used to be good. I do not recognize who you are however certainly you’re going to a well-known blogger when you are not already 😉 Cheers!
28Only a smiling visitant here to share the love (:, btw great layout.
29You got a very wonderful website, Gladiola I detected it through yahoo.
30you have a great blog here! would you like to make some invite posts on my blog?
31I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I do not know who you are but certainly you’re going to a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!
32I keep listening to the reports speak about receiving free online grant applications so I have been looking around for the top site to get one. Could you tell me please, where could i find some?
33Thanks for sharing superb informations. Your website is so cool. I’m impressed by the details that you’ve on this blog. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for extra articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found just the info I already searched all over the place and simply couldn’t come across. What a great web site.
34Nice post. I was checking continuously this blog and I am impressed! Very useful info particularly the last part 🙂 I care for such information much. I was looking for this particular info for a very long time. Thank you and best of luck.
35I truly enjoy reading through on this website , it contains wonderful articles. “The longing to produce great inspirations didn’t produce anything but more longing.” by Sophie Kerr.
36I dugg some of you post as I thought they were invaluable extremely helpful
37Nice 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.
38I gotta bookmark this site it seems very beneficial handy
39Sweet web site, super design and style, really clean and use genial.
40I’ve recently started a site, the information you provide on this website has helped me greatly. Thank you for all of your time & work. “The man who fights for his fellow-man is a better man than the one who fights for himself.” by Clarence Darrow.
41Hi there, I found your website via Google whilst searching for a related matter, your web site got here up, it appears good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
42I think this internet site contains some very great information for everyone. “Variety is the soul of pleasure.” by Aphra Behn.
43Fascinating blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my blog shine. Please let me know where you got your design. Cheers
44Dead written written content, appreciate it for information. “The earth was made round so we would not see too far down the road.” by Karen Blixen.
45Hello! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this website? I’m getting fed up of WordPress because I’ve had issues with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives for another platform. I would be great if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
46Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues. was truly information. Your website is very useful. Thanks for sharing.
47Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is a very well written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of your useful information. Thanks for the post. I’ll certainly return.
48I am thankful that I discovered this blog, precisely the right information that I was looking for! .
49I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz answer back as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know where u got this from. cheers
50