 |
 |
Akasaka, a closer look
5/14/08 - Just picked up wifey from work and she was in the mood for sushi - again. This woman is insatiable for sushi, I tell you. Not that I'm complaining... It beats a burger and fries.
A note to my co-workers and friends - I was not at the Wild Horse Showroom Tuesday night! No, no, it was not me at the girlie bar, ok? I was at Akasaka for some sushi! Fo' real! The place shares the same entrance, but is further down in the parking lot torwards Ala Moana Center.
Now that we've got that cleared up (even though you don't believe me), let's begin, shall we? As always - first thing's first... SAKE!!! This first bottle was an Onigoroshii, while our second was a more decently-priced Kikumasamune. And our third was... Sorry, I always forget by the third one. Hey, just kidding, HPD. That's all we had that night - always below the legal limit, are we...
 |
First thing's first! |
Before we could even get our sake, they presented us with a couple of complementary small dishes - one a mix of cucumber, bell peppers, clam pieces, and imitation crab tossed in a mayo sauce while the other was the classic healthy pupu - edamame (soy beans, for all you who should be ashamed of yourself for not knowing).
 |
 |
Wifey got right to work disarming the often stern-looking sushi chefs with her innocent-is-me smile (but I know better), feminine wiles, and masterful command of the Japanese language (ok, I guess it helps that she's from Japan). It's all fine by me, though, because if she wasn't there I'ld probably get the discarded freezer cuts or something.
As usual, she went right for the salmon. Take a look at this creation, boy, wrapped so intricately with radish sprouts, thinly-sliced onions, and nori. Why is it that when I order a simple salmon sushi, all I get is fish and rice! Pretty girls get it so easy, I tell you me. It's not fair.
Her order.
Next came the hamachi. As you can tell, I ordered it.
 |
My order. |
The third round was an aji sushi. Most places list it as horse mackeral, but it sure looked like the local akule, or big-eyed scad, to me. I'm pretty sure they are one and the same. Yup, wifey placed this order, as you can see.
 |
Her order |
Here's a shot of the small, comfy-cozy sushi bar area. Hope the chef doesn't get mad at me for taking his pic! I think I'm starting to like sitting at the bar as opposed to a regular table - I was a bit intimidated at first because you're going head-to-head with the chef, but it's great because watching him prepare everything right in front of you is almost like dinner and a movie.
 |
Sitting head to head with the chef! |
Lo and behold, this guy was staring at me all night! Not sure if there's some kind of significance or meaning to his lip action or not. You know when you walk into these Japanese restaurants, you're always a bit uneasy about looking like a stupid gai-jin and upsetting the harmonious balance of age-old tradition and form. Perhaps I wasn't supposed to make eye contact with him. Perhaps I needed to make an offering. I just don't know.
 |
You lookin' at me? |
But I digress. We saw chef chopping a healthy piece of ahi into oblivion, and instantly knew that he was preparing negi toro (finely chopped ahi toro and green onion). Me, me!!!
 |
Sushi sure is getting fancy these days! |
Rounding out the evening, wifey ordered ika (squid) with quail egg. I'm not really into ika, nor raw eggs (most of the time), so she went to town on it alone. I gotta admit, I've never seen this combination before. It sure was pretty to look at.
For some reason, we didn't order the item we consider a must-try here - butter-yaki scallops. It is absolutely fabulous! The smell is amazing as the sizzling platter of jumbo scallops jiggles like a Bill Cosby jello commercial from the bubbly, boiling-hot sauce of soy and butter it sits agitatingly in. I bet you'll never hear that description from any sane food writer out there. Yeah, they're all too scared...
Akasaka is a bit of a "rough-around-the-edges" type of place when it comes to your more "polished" sushi bars, most likely because it sits smack-dab in the center of adult entertainment row and shadowy buy-me-drinky hostess bars. It just always "feels" different in that area. The food is surely excellent and I've never once felt like I was in any danger or anything, but it does seem more likely that at any moment a group of rough-talking Korean taxi drivers or Japanese businessmen, hopefully with all their fingers intact, will come to join us. Come to think of it, that would probably be fun!
The decor, once inside, is definitely classic old-style Japanese, with the white-screen and dark-wood contrast of shoji doors, delicate wooden trim, hanging lanterns, rows of kanji banners, and the stern chef with the kimono-style robe (not that he's "decor" or anything - he just blends in so well with the decor, is all). One big thing that puzzles me is the American radio that's always playing. C'mon now, someplace dressed up like this should have some Itsuki Hiroshi enka or a few shamisens going on. Heck, I'll even take J-pop over Crater 96, at least in this setting!
Such an ecclectic divergence of varying influences should make you curious enough to want to experience this cozy-little shop. The sushi and butter-yaki scallops should be reason enough, actually. And don't worry about the rough bunch I may have overly drama-fied earlier - the crowd, in my experience, has always been no different from any other place, and I have, at times, been known to watch one too many Japanese gangster movies than is proper (at least back when I was single!)...
