5/23/08) One of the most established izakaya restaurants on the island, and also one of the most popular, is found by navigating up a little driveway/side-street off of S. King st. The turn is directly ewa of that 7-eleven near all the flower shops.
However, that's just to find the restaurant. Chances are, there will be no parking available in the tiny lot fronting the store (hate to be pessimistic - I've just been rejected so many times now!), one that it also shares with another popular izakaya restaurant, Kohnotori. A reasonably close parking space on the road is probably the next best thing, but if not, there are several parking lots in the area. Of course, I certainly didn't send you to any of them, as you may be bending the rules a bit if you do! A safe bet (without cheating!) is the lot at the corner of University and Varsity pl. You'll have to feed the box, which was, I think $4 for three or four hours, but don't quote me on that. Imanas-tei is about a three or four minute walk from there.
Once inside, the restaurant has a hip, stylish, and modern izakaya vibe that also maintains its traditional feel in several ways as well, most notably in the food. All your classic traditional dishes are there, like agedashi tofu, mozuku, natto, kinpira gobo, and many more, including great sushi from the full-service sushi bar you see below.
Classic design, classic food.
There were a few specials on the menu, one of which we ordered. It was a negi-toro, but not exactly what I expected. Instead of a sushi of chopped toro with onion and sauce all mixed in, it came sashimi-style, in an unflavored version where you add the wasabi/shoyu sauce yourself. Then you had to place it, along with all the other ingredients (ogo, daikon, shiso leaf, green onion) into sheets of nori. Quite the task, I must say. I found the large amounts of daikon given, along with the strong, ocean-tasting ogo seaweed, much too overpowering to appreciate the toro in any way. I think I'll stick with a more traditional negi-toro next time.
Not the best combination for me.
How about something a bit safer? Like, say... Scrambled eggs? Can't go terribly wrong with that, right? But what about the upside? How great can fried eggs be? Well, sometimes it pays to be conservative, as this was no ordinary breakfast dish. It is called dashi maki tamago, or rolled egg in dashi. A little bit of salty dashi, a little bit of sweet mirin and/or sugar, and lots of ono, let me tell you. The flavors and textures were simple, soft, and delicate, and the side of daikon oroshi, soaked in a little shoyu, was the perfect compliment. I would definitely order this dish again.
This ain't no normal scrambled eggs!
The waiter suggested we order another seemingly simple dish, and we wondered if it would be nearly as rewarding. How about the upside on a stewed Kabocha pumpkin? Turns out, there's plenty! The soft, glistening yellow of the kabocha pieces appeared almost candy-like, and slowly melted in my mouth almost as easily as a spoonful of mashed potatoes, yet failed to crumble and lose its form. The elegant dashi it sat in was light but perfectly seasoned as to appreciate the sweetness and natural flavors of the pumpkin. Marvelous dish, it was.
Simple yet elegant.
Next up was an interesting dish of fried gobo, arriving hot and fresh from the fryer. One of the current fads of the day, I'm normally accustomed to this dish cooked in shoyu/dashi/mirin/sesame, as in kinpira gobo, but hey, deep-fry anything and chances are, it'll taste great!
Fried goodness.
And don't think the sushi section of our site is the only place to appreciate good sushi! As stated in the main text and earlier in this page, izakaya houses often incorporate full-fledged sushi bars, and Imanas-tei is in top shape when it comes to sushi.
I'll skip pics of the first two choices, a sake (salmon) and a hamachi (yellow-tail), because they are shown in so many visits to other restaurants. That's how much we love them. Instead, I'll show you an aji sushi that was just fabulous, coming in its own shoyu and green onion. Don't dip it in the wasabi/shoyu when they tell you not to!
At some of the other restaurants we've visited, I often see them cutting up the fish for this particular order, and I just know it is a local akule. That's all fine, but sometimes they use a Japan-caught fish of the same species. Big difference. The Japanese version is a cold-water fish, and is thus one that develops more fat than the warm-water local ones.
Fatty aji
We also went with two more Japanese-caught fish, the next of which was called shima-aji, or yellow-jack (not yellow-tail, as in hamachi!). As good as the aji was, this one was even better! It was kinda like a cross between the crisp, yet oily aji and the softer, creamier hamachi. The combination of firmness (from the aji side) and creamy-fatty (from the hamachi side) was unbeatable for me!
Best of the night!
Our last sushi choice was a suzuki, or sea bass. It just so happens to be in season right now. One of the reasons I so love Japanese foods is that they take notice of all the little subleties and nuances, all of which take skill and much practice to decipher correctly. A fish in season is not only considered healthy, but like a juicy melon in summertime, at it's peak flavor! Good sushi chefs know not only what fish to eat, but when to eat them.
The suzuki he prepared for us came topped with green onions and a ponzu gelee - wow! That's a first for me. I've never seen that before, but I got a sneaking suspicion that it'll begin to show up a lot more at the other sushi houses, as well - if it hasn't happened already!
The taste was clean and fresh, and was very much on the crispy, firm side. In fact, a little too firm for me. I preferred the softer and more fatty shima aji. Wifey, however, loved it! Interestingly enough, we struck up a conversation with an obviously educated individual (we could tell by how and what he was ordering) sitting next to us at the sushi bar, and he also seemed to love the suzuki best. I guess I'm out-numbered. Just goes to show you how subjective food can be and how "different strokes for different folks" definitely applies to the palate.
As true as that may be, however, personal preference is one thing while quality can be another issue entirely - good quality is something that should always be appreciated and respected, and all of us could easily tell that there was no shortage of quality in this sophisticated dish.
Outnumbered two to one!
It was interesting talking to our new friend, a young and surprisingly single world-traveller who is now based in Hawaii and eats out about every night, just like Big Al! For him to be eating at Imanas-tei two or three times a week says a lot for this great restaurant, that's for sure! Hopefully we'll get to meet again - maybe he'll even share some of his experiences with all of us!
Wifey also got to chat again with the former owner of a big-time Japanese restaurant here. Judging by his ownership and also his palatial home (one of them!) in Kahala, and I do mean palatial, I assume he knows a thing or two about great restaurants. After meeting him and the gentleman next to me in the same eatery, that pretty much seals the deal for Imanas-tei. No doubt about it...
Post a Comment or just say hello! Don't worry about leaving REAL names if you don't want to! Changing to Code names are fine, but just stay consistent with your code names, allright? No e-mails will be posted without consent, either way)! Hope to hear from you all!
