Sunday, April 30, 2006

Turning Japanese -- just for dinner

For the second time, I ate dinner with Auntie Karen at Kyoto in downtown Scottsdale -- a very fashionable Santa-Monica-Santana-Row-ish area. This time, we ate with her two sons, Darryl and Derrick, and Darryl's fiancee, Nancy. They were very kind to not make fun of me when I whipped out my camera upon seeing a new dish and said "Nobody touch it yet!" Kyoto is like Benihana's (might be because the owner bought the restaurant and its equipment from Benihana's) in that one section has those special teppanyaki tables with a cooking area and they clap and sing for anyone celebrating a birthday. But they have a section just for people who want to eat regular fare. I learned after my first visit that it's better to forego teriyaki meat and rice. Sushi is plenty. I already have a favorite item, which you can see further down. The volcano rolls aren't anything I've had before. They wrap up baked salmon, shreds of crab meat, avocado with cream cheese and a spicy sauce on top. And the cheese has been melted to a consistency that's just shy of being too thin. Each roll sits on a lemon slice giving a bit of tartness. Thanks to the cheese, the roll is a little heavier than most. As for the other image, how could I not take a picture of the caterpillar rolls? Pretty cool how they take advantage of the avocado, a piece of octopus for eyes, and sprouts for antennae. Presentation makes such a difference.

Anyhoo, time to start a new work week. Good news though -- my foot is much better. I can walk without it hurting anymore. Walking is highly underrated.

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