 |
 |
Izakaya Tairyo, a closer look
 Izakaya Tairyo on Yelp! |
 World Wide Ed checks out Tairyo! |
Dale Yasunaga visits Tairyo! |
Melissa Chang and Co. at Izakaya Tairyo! |
Aloha!
1/22/11 - Looks like Chef Mavro has been honored on Gayot's Top 40 Restaurants in America list for the 5th time - that's more than any other restaurant in Hawaii!
AAA (the American Automobile Association) also recently came out with their 4 and 5-Diamond Awards, and while Mavro's took top honors last year with a 5-Diamond ranking, the only winner this year, as far as Oahu restaurants go, is repeat winner La Mer at the Halekulani Hotel. A number of other island restaurants achieved the 4-Diamond spot, though, including Azul at the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa at Ko Olina, Bali Steakhouse at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Hoku's and Tokyo Tokyo at The Kahala Hotel and Resort, Orchids at the Halekulani, and, of course, Chef Mavro's. All I wanna know is where's Alan Wong's? Aaah, no worries - he's already got as many similiar awards as anyone else here!
Elsewhere, Kumi and I left the house at 6am this past Thursday hoping for a repeat of last year's Eddie, but Eddie was a no-go, as you've no doubt already heard. Instead of patronizing another North Shore Shrimp Truck while there, however, we gorged on a couple of curry plates at the relatively new Fiji Market, at the Kahuku Sugar Mill complex. Owner Nitin Singh is a super-nice guy who took the time to chat and tell us all about his operation and a whole lot more - you'll hear about it soon enough!
As far as the subject of today's Closer Look goes...
I'm very interested in seeing what happens with this particular restaurant in the coming year. They sure did open with lots and lots of press coverage, as it's hard not to be curious about a new izakaya around town, especially one with such a loud and pronounced personality. I mean, with that brightly-colored roof and those ornately-designed inner sanctums, you can't deny giving these guys a try, yes? Having been open for more than a half-year, the crowds seem to have thinned quite substantially, something that often happens after the initial honeymoon period is over, honeymoons in the restaurant business being measured in dog years as they are. I do hope they can pull through in this highly competitive market, though, as I just hate seeing places go under unless they really deserve it. Not that there aren't a few concerns here, as there certainly are, but there are also many reasons I enjoy this place, reasons I'll get into as we go.
Izakaya Tairyo is conspicuously located on Piikoi St. and Hopaka, the latter being on the same street as the original Side St. Inn. There are a few parking spaces, but most times, you'll have to park on the street or in the shared self-pay lot behind the restaurant, slightly deeper into Hopaka St. As in so many new places, don't worry about not seeing the gaudy fish roof on Google maps, as it wasn't there when the camera vans rolled by.
I gotta say - perhaps the biggest reason I love coming here is the atmosphere. With Taiyro meaning large/great catch, this place plays the part with gusto, right down to the old Japanese fishing uniforms waitstaff are sporting. As I've stated many times before, I love walking into a well-orchestrated theme in any restaurant, as there's something to be said about being transported to another time and place. It's the stuff of fairy tales and fantasies, an alternate world we all need once in a while to escape the banalities of every-day life, even if we gotta stretch a little to get there! It's said that the appeal of humor is that there's an element of truth embedded in, and the appealing nature of a theme is also that inherent element of truth, even though we know it's all make-believe.
The spacious facility is partitioned by a series of partially open dividers, adding to the suspense of it all, as you can't see the entire place from any single vantage point. All throughout, the place is stocked full of fish nets, crab pots, tarai tubs, squid lamps, milk crates, merchandise boxes, Japanese paper lanterns, and other fishmarket/warehouse type props, mimicking a busy, industrial setting. Even when slow, it still somehow seems lively and fun!
The kitchen area is located near the rear, just before the restrooms and fronting another open dining area.
Like a steakhouse with pictures of a cow, detailing each section of beef from skirt and flank to chuck and round, Tairyo features an interesting chart of a tuna hanging on its walls:
I've heard customer service horror stories about this place, but I think that was probably opening bell jitters, as our several visits here all came within the last couple of months, and every time, we've always been spoiled with great and cheerful help.
Another huge reason I love coming to Izakaya Tairyo is their happy hour specials. $8 Kirin pitchers between their opening time of 5pm and 7, and also between 9:30pm and closing? Most definitely - hard to go wrong! I could just come here, soak in the atmosphere, and enjoy myself without eating a thing! And when you come with this attitude, the small samples of food, freshly made either piping-hot from the fryer or raw from the refrigerator, always tastes better!
That being said, I gotta say, though there was absolutely nothing here that was really bad, 'only problem was, there was nothing really outstanding, either! Most items were kinda middle-of-the-road to me, all straight-up dives and slants that gained a few yards each time, sometimes acquiring first downs and sometimes not. The closest thing we had to any kind of momentum change in the game would have to be their Nagoya-style chicken wings:
I've often wondered why certain restaurants use the term Nagoya-style chicken wings. Turns out, Nagoya is famous for a certain type of chicken first bred in the Meiji period (1868-1912) from a true Chinese Cochin and a local breed. Like Wagyu beef and just about all things Japanese, they've perfected the art, and Nagoya cochin is now known for huge sizes, colorful and crazy-full plumage, and a pinker-than-normal meat (aspects true cochin's have, as well!). It's doubtful, however, that the actual breed is used here, as these wings, while decently-sized, aren't any bigger than typical Costco wings. No worries, though. They are still delicious, coming with a soy/sugar sauce heavier on the soy side than local styles, forming a sticky glaze on the outsides. A great pupu dish, for sure!
On the opposite end of my personal ratings spectrum was a quintissential Japanese dish, agedashi tofu:
The garnishes did their part in helping the dish immensely, its chopped green onion, grated yama-imo, katsuo-boshi flakes, nori strips, and ponzu-like sauce worthy of any agedashi tofu dish. The tofu, however, was sorely grocery-store ordinary! Not only was the battered coating starchy and limp, but the tofu itself was waaay firm, a crude brick that seemed out-of-place in the midst of such reasonably sophisticated garnishes.
Everything else seemed to fall within a narrow band, a small, core section splitting the tofu and Nagoya-style wings. Here's the first of a long line of small dishes, as can be expected in any izakaya:
This snow crab sunomono, or snow crab in a vinegar-based sauce was not bad at all. The crab was tender and sweet, the slightly-sweetened vinegar refreshing, and the crisp cucumbers, daikon, and hint of ginger a great complement.
The next couple of items are no strangers for anyone visiting this site for any amount of time. Kumi can't get away from uni, ika, and ikura upon availability. The first two mentioned were reasonably fresh; no complaints here. The ikura, or salmon eggs, were, as in all but the most exclusive spots, a bit salty, either from not taking the time to de-brine them or not purchasing a premium type of roe.
Our final cold (or room temperature) dish was a type of sushi they hail on their menu as a new and original creation. Only, is it?
They say you can eat each section of uni, ikura, and snow crab sushi together, or consume the toppings separately. Sounds a bit self-evident and melodramatic to me! I don't know if I'd consider a couple of hoso-maki rolls topped with various items as new and original, but technically, it could be considered so - don't think we've ever seen topped hosomaki rolls anywhere else, right?
Moving on to our hot dishes, there's one I recommend almost as much as the Nagoya-style wings:
Yeah, there's only one ball of tsukune (chicken meatballs), but it is rather large. I loved the fact that it was really tender and moist inside, and also carried a light glaze of teriyaki-like sauce that really added a nice punch of flavor. And when eaten along with the par-boiled egg, it really does feel like a luxurious dish:
Many of the early reviews chronicled a glaring lack of seasonings used here at Izakaya Tairyo, but I think they seem to have learned from the comments, as our next order of fried salmon belly was waaay over-salted. The bellies themselves were tender, juicy, and fatty-delicious, but the salt proved difficult to deal with despite the $8 pitcher of Kirin draft sitting on our table!
Better was our kushikatsu, this one coming with a nicely-crisped panko coating, a tender cut of pork, and a pre-sauced drizzle of that Japanese Worcestershire called tonkatsu sauce. Like yakitori, or grilled items on a stick, kushikatsu means katsu items on a stick, and both are popular street-type foods in Japan.
The fried squid pieces also came with a tender meat and a perfectly-crisped coating, but there was some type of seasoning giving me double-takes. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what it was - a touch of Indian curry, Chinese 5-spice, spicy Cajun? Who knows. Though it wasn't anything bad, I think I probably would have preferred a straight salt seasoning, instead.
I don't know how I got Kumi to agree on so many fried foods, but we continued with one more fried dish, a veggie tempura. The giant block of gobo, carrot, onion, and kabocha was fried to perfection, and I was glad to see a very generous amount of gobo, or burdock root, as it is a potent blood detoxifier and source of fiber.
A great way of ending any izakaya evening is to finish with a hot bowl of zousui, a kind of Japanese rice porridge, this one coming with the added benefits of snow crab. Tairyo's version, to me, was one of the better ones around town, coming with a perfect combination of flavors. You could taste or sense the simple-sophisticated essence of dashi, the earthiness of shiitake mushrooms, the luxuriousness of soft egg, the wholesomeness of white rice, the delicateness of thin-sliced veggies of various sorts, and, of course, the obvious indulgences of real snow crab.
Remember that this next shot is from my small individual bowl, not the larger original bowl, which was big enough to satsify three of us on this particularly wonderful evening out:
I dunno - taken in the larger context, the food itself may not be the biggest reason for me, personally, to visit Izakaya Tairyo on an on-going basis. But considering everything - the excellent and fun atmosphere, especially, along with awesome happy hour specials, decent prices, and not having to worry about crowds (at least these days!) - I kinda like this place! For small or medium groups looking for a good time, I'd say go for it!
Hope your New year is going well!
Take care, and Aloha till next time!
Aku
Post a Comment or just say hello! Don't worry about leaving REAL names if you don't want to! No e-mails will be posted without consent, last names will be abbreviated, and if you don't want me to post all or any part of your correspondence, please state so! Hope to hear from you all!
