Omakase at Kobachi
flight of sake
Originally uploaded by rosidae
A friend and I made a foray into omakase at a local izakaya Japanese place. We suspect that the restaurant was likewise uninitiated in Santa Barbarans requesting omakase - which isn't surprising - but they put on a damn fine show for it.
* Flash seared halibut fin with salmon roe, red onion, spring onion, vinegar dressing. A favorite of the evening.
* Chicken yakatori with spring onion - eat each piece with with onion - spicy!
* Scallop - seared, with homemade tortilla chips and edamame houmous. It looked like this was a dish the kitchen was experimenting with, to put on the regular menu. Other tables got served this, gratis, but not everyone got the scallop.
* Lightly grilled beef tongue with lemon and sesame oil.
* Kinmedai - lightly breaded and fried halibut, with ginger, spring onion, and salmon roe. I tried looking up kinmedai online and it appears to be a large-eyed snapper type fish. Which is in conflict with the waitress calling it halibut. But she wrote out "kinmedai" on my notes, direct from the kitchen, so I suspect it really is the snapper and her own translation might be the incorrect one.
* Marinated maguro tuna, seaweed, quail egg, ikura, spring onion, sesame seed - served over sushi rice. Effectively a big bowl of sushi and boy was it good.
The sake was also a highlight to the dinner. We sampled a flight of three sakes, ranked at 1, 3 and 5 - low numbers are sweeter, higher numbers are drier. We liked them all, but then the kitchen brought us two more, a jyuyondai and an isojiman. Neither of us are well-versed in sake, but the server insisted these were rare and expensive. Again, tried to look for stuff online, but I'm lacking information on my side to search effectively. It does appear that the jyuyondai is rare and expensive. I'm really touched that the restaurant did this for me and my friend. Then again, I love eating here.
For those who are experts in omakase, please be aware that I am not. But for the price we paid, $35 before tax and tip, it is a very good meal and an amazing bargain.