Hearth-Side Sushi: Robata Grill and Sake Bar - Part 2 - Reviewed by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Hearth-Side Sushi: Robata Grill and Sake Bar – Part 2 – Reviewed by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

A fresh green leaf along with tender lemon slices decorated the dish of octopus sashimi that I ordered.  I shared the octopus sashimi with our family friend.  We both agreed that it was chewy without being tough.

I could taste the ocean in the octopus slices.  I am wary of fresh octopus, though, since my first try of it left a sucker attached to my lip; I like fresh food, but not that fresh.

Sashimi is raw fish without rice.  It can serve as a prelude to sushi, which is raw fish with rice and wasabi and often nori, a black-green seaweed sheet.  California rolls, by the way, are usually cooked fish presented like sushi rolls.

I prefer Japanese omelets called tamago to sushi however.  My Japanese host mother made tamago for me when I was an exchange student in Japan.  (The owner of the restaurant came from the same town where I stayed in Japan I later found out.)

The flavor of tamago omelets disconcerts most Americans to begin with, because sugar goes into the omelet’s preparation.  The flavor of the rolled omelet I ate had rice inside and nori seaweed outside reminded me of salty-sweet French toast.  I liked this treat dunked in soy sauce without green horseradish wasabi.

Laurent ate grilled sand dabs with a Sapporo beer while I sampled a Kirin beer that seems to go well with sweet Japanese sauces.

A green tea ice cream put the finish on our lovely meal.

It was easy to say, “Thank you.  We have eaten well,” when we left.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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Hearth-Side Sushi: Robata Grill and Sake Bar - Part 1 - Reviewed by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

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

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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