Hearth-Side Sushi:
Robata Grill and Sake Bar - Part 1 - Reviewed by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
Robata
is the sort of restaurant that I described to my daughter Florence as a little
girl as “fancy” or “touristy, but in a good way.”
I
wanted people in Monterey County to know how fortunate they were to have a real
Japanese-style inn restaurant in the area located conveniently off Highway 1
with lots of parking in Carmel, California.
I
queried my editors at The Monterey
County Weekly (Circulation: 200,000) about doing a review on Robata. I told them in my query that going to Robata
in Carmel was like taking a trip to Japan without having to leave Monterey
County.
I
think The Weekly editors just liked
listening to my pitches sometimes. They
gave me the Robata assignment for the local restaurant that serves locals and
tourists alike, which follows in modified form:
Hearth-Side Sushi:
Robata Grill and Sake Bar
“Honored
guests are here,” says Robata’s owner in Japanese that is loud enough for her
staff to hear, as she seats patrons at their tables. The effect is to make the Japanese
surroundings even more inviting in a restaurant whose name means “fireside.”
Fireside
dining is always available on Robata’s patio, but when we visited, my husband
Laurent, family friend, and I chose to eat in the cozy indoors with dark
woodwork, rice paper covering the windows, and hanging red lanterns.
Laurent
picked up on the Japanese genius for design by noticing how one table would be
covered with a blue tablecloth while the table next to it was covered with two
blue cloth napkins laid out to look like diamonds. Japanese music played softly.
Robata’s
menu reflects the steakhouse and sushi tradition that became popular in the US
due to the high quality of Kobe beef and various kinds of sushi that are hard
to obtain in the US.
Laurent’s
appetizer, called kushiyaki, was a filet mignon kebab with teriyaki sauce and
qualifies as a Japanese steakhouse invention.
Green peppers separated the tender, grilled chunks of meat that the chef
glazed with a sauce made of soy sauce, sugar, and sweet rice wine.
Sesame
seeds decorated the kebabs along with wisps of fresh ginger, adding a lively
flavor to this combination. The
kushiyaki came on a dark green ceramic dish with burgundy-colored flowers,
which contrasted nicely with the color of the peppers.
End
of Part 1.
To
be continued.
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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