My companion and I went to Kyoto soon after our good friend Eric W. However, as our palates are quite different, we ended up ordering all different rolls and thus I will continue the blog about Kyoto as a two-part series. Check out Kyoto Japanese Cuisine (Take Out on a Budget) from Eric W here!
 |
| Complimentary Miso Soup |
My companion and I decided to postpone Valentine’s day
celebrations until Friday due to our extremely busy week and in order avoid the
restaurant traffic/congestion that builds on Valentine’s day. We originally
planned to go to Tzin Wine and Tapas but unfortunately the Friday night had
been booked out completely (likely by other couples who had the same thought).
Thus, we headed to Edmonton’s (by Urbanspoon votes) second favourite
Japanese/sushi restaurant Kyoto Japanese Cuisine directly after work. We
arrived at Kyoto at 7:30PM to a packed restaurant. Fortunately, Kyoto had a
fairly quick turnover and we were seated in a large six-person private dining booth
not even 10 minutes after we arrived. One of my favourite things about Kyoto is
their booths – it is set up very much like a traditional Japanese table, but
has a large cut-out below the table so you can sit with you legs dangling
underneath. This way, you can feel like you are having an authentic Japanese
dining experience without the awkwardness or numbness of having your legs
crossed throughout the meal.
 |
| Chuka Salad |
As my companion and I have been to Kyoto many times (though
never for takeout like my co-writer Eric W.), so we were fairly familiar with
the menu. We decided on the Chuka Salad, Fresh Baked Oysters, Isobe roll ($8.50),
Gold Dragon roll ($9), Mexican roll ($8.30), Hurricane roll ($5), Salmon Sushi,
Toro Sushi, and Chop Chop Sushi. It took a while before our orders were and
drinks were brought out, though given how busy Kyoto was that night, the wait
was not unreasonably long. Like Ichiban, Kyoto offers complimentary miso soup,
though in the more traditional style without spoons. Our main dishes came out
fairly quickly after our complementary appetizer. Our Chuka salad came out
first: in my opinion, the Chuka salad was fairly standard and actually tastes
very similar to the seaweed salad at 168 Sushi on good days (which is not
necessarily a bad thing). My companion, though he originally enjoyed it, mentioned
that it was quite chewy on the last bite.
 |
| Gold Dragon Roll |
Our sushi rolls came out quite quickly following our Chuka
salad. Our first roll of the night was the Isobe roll, which feature a
rice-less roll of salmon, tuna, and avocado rolled in a lightly battered and
fried seaweed coat. Isobe rolls are one of my favourite rolls, considering how
much I like sashimi, and unlike the Maki Maki roll at Ichiban, had a simple, fresh
fish flavour without the blandness. The second roll we tried was the Gold
Dragon roll – one we had never tried before – which featured spicy tuna and
avocado in a lightly battered seaweed wrap. The Gold Dragon roll was
surprisingly one of the more flavourful rolls of the night, with a
near-tear-jerking kick in the spicy tuna. We were both really glad that we
decided to branch out and try the Gold Dragon roll that night.
 |
| Right to Left: Isobe Roll, Salmon Sushi, and Toro Sushi |
 |
| Right to Left: Chop Chop Sushi, Hurricane Roll, and Mexican Roll |
Our next venture of the night was the Hurricane roll, which
was a simple roll featuring salmon and crawfish. I had only ever tried crawfish
once before this on my adventures in Italy. In Italy, crawfish – or scampi as they called it – was generally
served in its entirety with pasta. Crawfish looked and tasted very much like
mini lobster, though admittedly not as sweet and with a more distinct “seawater”
flavour. I was curious as to how Japanese cuisine would fair with the protein,
especially in such a traditional form. To my disappointment, Kyote did not
actually fair well at all with the crawfish. I found the mix of
crawfish and salmon rather bland and the mix had a weird chalky/grainy texture
that did not properly showcase the natural sweetness of the crawfish. Lastly,
we chose the Mexican roll; we had actually debated between the Tiger roll and
the Mexican roll for quite a while as both rolls are typically hit and miss at
every restaurant. The Mexican roll, comprised spicy tuna, avocado, and tempura
bits, was much more “traditional” than the Mexican roll at Sumo Sumo but was
nevertheless a “miss” at Kyoto. The spicy tuna, which I assume was the same
spicy tuna in the Gold Dragon, did not pack as powerful of a punch as the Gold
Dragon. Overall, a pretty average roll in both of our opinions.
We decided to break up our rolls with our fresh baked
oysters. The baked oysters – baked with cheese and egg whites – were served
steaming hot in a real oyster shells, to my delight. The oysters were large (at
least three times the size of the oysters at Ichiban) and cooked perfectly.
Like Ichiban, the cheese-mayonnaise sauce was creamy, light, and silky and was
equally as enjoyable as the baked oysters at Ichiban.
Normally I end my Japanese meal with the sushi order of the
night. That night we ordered the salmon sushi, toro sushi, and chop chop sushi.
The salmon and the toro were fresh and had excellent flavours – the toro that
night was especially outstanding! The chop chop sushi at Kyoto on the other the
hand, was somewhat disappointing. The chop chop, while generous in terms or
proportion, had a bland mix of sauce and tobiko. I was definitely unimpressed
with the chop chop, which I normally like at other restaurants.
 |
| Fresh Baked Oysters |
Overall, my companion and I had another enjoyable night at
Kyoto. I agree with my co-writer, Eric W. that Kyoto is an excellent choice for sushi in Edmonton and Kyoto remains a close second on our list of go-to sushi restaurants (though not quite our first choice).
The only disappointing thing about Kyoto, in my opinion, is that Kyoto offers
very few “options” in terms of sushi and very few specialty rolls – a big
disappointment, considering my companion and I love trying new and wondering
specialty rolls at different restaurants.
Rating: 4/5 Erics'
No comments:
Post a Comment