The short answer is: yes, but with some caveats. Don’t expect blow your mind quality or innovation. With that being said, the price makes it an incredible bargain.
Less than a year ago, the owners of Ahi Sushi on upper State opened Kobachi Izakaya in the Mercado Plaza near 154 and State. What made this restaurant different than all the other sushi joints in town is, in the evening, they served izakaya. The equivalent of Spanish tapas, izakaya is very popular in Japan especially in the late night bar scene where sake and beer demands to be paired with unctuous morsels of food.
I’ve been to Kobachi once with a co-worker Rosiminah. She’s quite the foodie so we’ve talked about her experiences (she’s been there many more times than me). She spoke about getting sent free dishes (a mark of a kitchen proud of their wares), and I wondered out loud if they’d be willing to do omakase. She said she asked the waitress about it last time and they seemed like they might.
Omakase, if you don’t know by now (and you should if you read this blog), loosely translates to “in your hands.” You are telling the chef, “give me your best shot. The freshest fish, the most innovative dishes, Blow me away.” It’s not to be confused with “I’m an idiot and I don’t know what to order. Please hold my hand.” The thing is, I think most chefs know they are not good enough to require or deserve an omakase request.
I had a long day in Ventura so I was tired and hungry. Unfortunately, before I thought of Kobachi, I had two tall glasses of a mango smoothie, courtesy of my VitaMix. I waited an hour and headed to the restaurant alone. I immediately ordered water and tea and when the waitress returned, I asked about omakase. She seemed really confused and I would be money I am the first person ever to order it there. She went to the kitchen to ask the chef. While l I waited, I read the August 2008 issue of Saveur that I brought along for company. She came back and asked "how much did I want?”
“How much? What do you mean? How much food?”
“No, how much do you want to ..”
“Spend?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t care.”
“You don’t care? Hmm ok”
I repeated that I wanted dishes brought out one at a time so I could stop the train when I got full. When asked about what dishes or foods I didn’t like or was allergic to, I told her everything is game but I didn’t want natto (fermented soybeans) or salmon (which I consider to be the chicken of the sea – boring). I also stressed I wanted small plates and don’t ruin it by bringing me a bowl of udon noodle soup or a hunkin’ plate of tempura. She understood.
I didn’t take pictures but here’s what I had:
Whole Fried Aji – Small (2-3 inches long, 1/2 inch wide) Aji fish fried whole and served in a large bowl with ponzu sauce, thinly sliced onions, and scallions. This dish was a terrible start to the meal. First of all, there were about 15 fish. They would have not been good on their own. Luckily the sauce and onions saved it. I powered through them, leaving about 3 left. I was starting to get worried.
Gindara Saikyo Yaki – broiled black cod in sweet saikyo miso glaze. 100% perfect. Amazing. Enough said.
Assortment of White Fish – This was good but I realized some fish just needs some sort of little flavoring (even a sprinkle of lime and sea salt) to make them sing. I always get served white fish at Go’s and his are close-your-eyes-and-enjoy-this-moment good. Eating most of the fish on this plate was good but sort of work too.
Grilled Oyster – I love love love raw oysters. I hate grilled ones. This thing was piping hot and cooked oyster gets so pasty and chewy. I finished it and drank some tea to make me forget.
Ankimo – The best ankimo I’ve had is at Go’s Mart. Come to think of it, the best (anything) Japanese I’ve had is probably from Go-San. I had an ok ankimo at Ahi and an absolutely terrible, I want my money back, example at Ichiban on the Mesa. I was impressed they’d sent out ankimo to me. I guess we were starting to build some trust here. Verdict: it was good. Not great, but better than ok. It was served with red bell pepper strips, thinly sliced onions, scallions, and ponzu sauce. The monkfish liver definitely needed the accoutrements. I am convinced SB just does not source good liver.
Chicken Gyozo – I like gyozo but I don’t love it. No matter, this was a great example. They cooked it the right way too, steamed and fried.
Egg Tofu with Uni and Ikura – I requested uni for my last dish so it was a coin flip between this and the shooter. I was secretly hoping for this. The egg tofu is really an egg custard (which I’d like to recreate. Are they using agar agar?) sitting in cold broth, topped with sea urchin and fish eggs. The eggs, tofu, and broth go perfect together. However, the uni, while I love uni, is completely lost in the dish. When I slurped up some broth and uni, all I could taste was the broth. I am not sure how they’d even fix this dish short of serving the piece of uni separate. But then, what’s the point?
Toro Roll – This was on the house and one of the best dishes of the night. I know that’s kind of crazy but toro is crazy delicious. Very simple preparation, I barely tapped the pieces in soy before devouring. I am not sure where the moisture came from (I am hoping the fat of the tuna), but the texture was not firm like a piece of fish. It was loose and sticky, sort of.
The meal lasted something like 1.5 hours and the service was great. The spacing was a little unpredictable, sometimes with long gaps, then with two dishes at once. I had a few refills of tea and got through almost my entire magazine. The damage? You’re going to laugh – it was a little over $30 before tax and tip
Total for 1: $42
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