Kobe was the first hibachi restaurant I ever went to a few years ago.
Went here with a group for dinner one night last year. I love the tricks the hibachi chefs do. I love the way they light the onion volcano on fire; the way they throw food at you and expect you to catch it in your mouth; the way none of them have any eyebrows left because hibachi grilling is a continuous learning process. Unfortunately, I didn't get to witness nor experience any of that mayhem because my group sat in no-man's land: the bar. We're a high-fallutin' sushi group, so the group organizer decided to keep us literally above (the bar is on a platform) and separated from the hibachi serfs. Actually, I was fine with that, as the hibachi prices are a bit steep for me. (Can serfs really afford that??)
I was all excited and hungry with my group until the socially-inept realtor from my meetup at The Lion and Rose showed up. But I got happy again once I realized all the seats at my table were taken and he'd have to sit completely elsewhere.
I had to laugh when my friend, Michele, leaned over and said, "Oh my God, not him."
Me: "I hope you mean Patrick."
Michele: [incredulously] "Yeah! How'd you know?!"
And I told her my Lion and Rose story about how the dufus jokingly asked me three times if I took the bus there, yet failed to pay attention when I answered no the first two times. And then how he tried to sell me real estate, despite the fact that I never mentioned a desire to buy a house. And then how he spoke at length and in detail about the food poisoning episode he'd just recovered from. Michele told me he'd asked for her number and she gave it to him, despite the fact that she thought at the time that he was a complete idiot. (Well, why'd you give him your number, then?!) You can't blame Patrick for calling and asking her out. But Michele said no, and socially blundersome Patrick failed to get the hint and kept calling.
Oh yeah, dinner...
A few of us ordered appetizers. I got a mojito, which was average tasting. (Quick tip: Kobe makes excellent chocolate martinis.) I also ordered the Golden Tempura (shrimp tempura). It came with four long large pieces of shrimp, and tempura onion rings, for some reason. I'd rather have had more shrimp. The onion rings were actually double onion rings, meaning they'd packed two rings inside the batter. Too much onion at once for my taste. The shrimp was incredible, though.
Next I ordered the Dragon roll ("Tempura shrimp, fresh cucumber & avocados topped with fresh salmon, masago, & crunchy tempura crumbs finished with our own creamy, spicy sauce") without avocado. The roll was a lot bigger than I expected it to be. As far as taste, it was pretty good, but I've had better. Tomo and Maki: How Do You Roll are both better. But the sushi was still good. I ate every bite and even wanted dessert. I asked the waitress to bring out the dessert tray, to which she said, "Sure," but she brought my check instead. Okay, I'll stop by H-E-B and get some chocolate on the way home since you don't seem to want a bigger tip.
And, oh, this is apparently the place to go when you have a birthday. Each time I come here there's at least one birthday in the house. On my most recent trip, there were three.
I'll definitely go back again to try some other sushi, and to have that orgasmatron of an appetizer again, but I'll wait to do the hibachi thing until I have a serf date to pay for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment