Wasabi Returns
Oct 24, 2007 |
What’s different now is the embracing of kaiseki, a culinary art form that prioritizes the “balance of food”. The origins of kaiseki involved simple vegetarian cuisine though, and for these modern times, the movement has been updated with a bit of nourishing creativity. For people who don’t consider themselves food snobs, this means the meal looks nice and the fresh, carefully chosen ingredients taste good. And the prices went up a tad.
To truly embrace the concept at Wasabi & Nadaman, one may as well just order the $80 matsutake kaiseki, which we shall call: the meal of mushrooms. Keeping in line with the nature aspects of kaiseki, the prevalence of mushrooms makes sense in this opening menu special.
The meal starts off with mineoka tofu, milk tofu garnished with caviar and the mysterious wolfberry, which tastes like a blend between a mild cranberry and a raisin. Mixed with the caviar, the sweet and the salty come together nicely with the firm tofu. As a starter, it’s a nice clean beginning in a relatively small portion. Keep that in mind throughout the rest of the meal, for it is indicative of things to come: beautiful presentation, subtly clean taste and diminutive size.
Next is a set of five appetizers: mushrooms and boiled greens, smoked salmon and green asparagus with egg yolk citrus dressing, geoduck clam and mozuku seaweed garnished with minced okra and ikura, vegetables in a bleu cheese and tofu dressing and fried shrimp paste rolls. These “samplers” are all a touch smaller than bite-sized and taste like they sound. The most memorable though, is the smoked salmon. The egg citrus dressing has a certain creamy tang that complements the smoky fish. If only there were more.
At this point, one realizes that the portions are going to lean on the … well … lean side. The rest of the menu has standard izakaya fare and one might want to order some of their favorite Japanese staples, or sushi, to accompany the kaiseki menu. For the more adventurous, there are interesting fusion entries like maguro carpaccio ($12), amaebi cream croquette ($15) and the amazing foie gras chawanmushi ($13), a variation on the egg custard dish with goose liver and shark fin sauce. Foie gras is surprisingly good with tofu.
The kaiseki meal continues with the matsutake dobin mushi, a mushroom stew. Here Wasabi & Nadaman outdoes itself with the presentation. Up until now, the food has been presented in aesthetically pleasing, if unsurprising arrangements, but this simple mushroom soup comes in a tea pot with a lime balanced on the lid. (The lime helps cut the earthy bitterness of the broth.) The lid is removed and this is your cup with which to sip the soup. Inside the pot is the steamed bits of shrimp and fish-hamo or pike eel.
Next comes a selection of daily sashimi and nigiri sushi. The mirugai has a slight, satisfying crunchiness and the chu-toro melts adequately on the tongue. By now, the proteins are coming, but again, size matters.
The onaga and fired tofu with mushrooms in a scallop sauce is barely memorable since it comes in a tasting size. It might have been good, but it was hardly there. One wonders if kaiseki means “Deceptively large dishes hiding petite portions.”
This leaves the wagyu ishiyaki steak to pick up the slack and finish off the”substantial” portion of the meal. The presentation is again impressive and, best of all, fun. A hot stone slab is brought to the table and you heat the grilled sirloin beef, which comes already partially cooked. The meat is tender and flavorful with the ponzu sauce, but unfortunately, there are only five small pieces.
The meal ends with the matsutake kamadaki gohan, rice cooked in a clay pot with mushrooms. This shouldn’t be anything new for hot stone-pot rice fans. (Shokudo anyone?) Ask for it to be served with the steak for heartier eating. Unexpected, but welcome in a simpler way to accompany the rice, is the rarely seen red miso soup. The terrific tsukemono is mildly pickled with a thicker than normal shoyu juice.
Of course dessert is in order and the gula Malacca (tapioca and coconut milk with black honey syrup) and the coffee jelly with vanilla ice cream are excellent choices (both $7). The tapioca comes with a couple of those intriguing wolfberries and the coffee jelly is intoxicatingly good and strong, with an almost liqueur-like aftertaste.
The staff is an attentive set, the majority of which is made up of older women, giving the sense that your mother is waiting on you. You feel kind of bad and want to help with the dishes after eating. And just like your mother, they can actually be too attentive. During the early evening, before the rush of Japanese Nationals and J-Pop star-looking 20-somethings (this is apparently the hip place for boboras to blow some serious yen), they watch your every move. “Long time boy-san take for decide, no?”
The environment is still a fine-dining classy affair. Fresh flowers and pleasantly scented pillar candles accent the nicely spaced tables and certain parts of the room have larger orchid arrangements that denote key areas. Window niches house multi-colored glass vases, carefully directed track lighting makes everyone look pretty, the booths have pillows and near the entrance, glowing blue dots punctuate the entranceway. The outside dining area is cool and spotless with giant potted shrubbery shielding diners from the noise of Kaimuki Avenue traffic and the inhabitants of the sketchy Crane Park across the street. The attention to fashionable detail must’ve required an armada of queer eyes. The only demerit is a subjective quibble: Kenny G on the stereo; but who knows, maybe he’s huge in Japan?
The final verdict on Wasabi & Nadaman is also a subjective quibble-granted, a pricey one. Do you savor each dish in luxurious environs or wait impatiently with hunger? Bottom line: The option to order dishes izakaya-style is there, so if you’re in the mood to scarf, by all means, this is the better option with which to dine in style. But food snobs will not be disappointed by the kaiseki menu. Food snobs with smaller stomachs, that is.
