I always eat amazing food in Takaoka, but it’s usually from a set number of places. If I want fresh sushi, I go to Sushi Kuine; if I want delicious okonomiyaki or yakisoba, I go to Ruru; if I want craft beer, I go to Hop Tap Shop; if I want yakitori, I go to Jinkuro…and so on.
Last month, I was excited to see that a new restaurant had opened up SUPER close to my apartment. This in itself is significant because I live south of the station, and most of the good restaurants/bars/cafes, and especially the ones that are open late, are north of the station (the downtown area).
The place is called Kusabi Sumiyaki. Sumi (炭) is charcoal, so sumiyaki (炭焼き) refers to cooking with charcoal. I was expecting it to be a kind of Japanese barbecue shop, where I would overeat beef tongue and have to cook my own meal. This was not the case!
We walked into a very stylish little building. There was a private room upstairs, and the owner (who was also the sole chef) sent food up via a rope and pulley dumbwaiter. It sounds a little silly, but the contraption fit beautifully in the shop, which was all exposed beams and carefully crafted to appear rugged (while also being incredibly elegant).
The counter was decorated with a beautiful array of fruits and vegetables, and the menu was hand-written and announced that everything was “fresh today” and “organic” — not a word you hear very often in the countryside of Toyama Prefecture.
I was a little overwhelmed by the all-Japanese menu, and the owner could sense it. He came over and, in broken English plus hand gestures, explained to me a majority of the dishes. When I still seemed unsure, he offered to plan a course meal for me and Kazu, with his best recommendations. He asked if there were any dietary restrictions he needed to accommodate (this is common in the U.S., but pretty rare here in Takaoka) and set to work on one of the best meals that I’ve had since coming to Japan.
We were lucky that the restaurant wasn’t too busy on the night we went. The owner/chef chatted with us as he worked. He said he used to work as a dancer (yes, he showed off a few moves) and then as a bartender, but his true passion is cooking. He said he’s been working nonstop since last year, setting up his organic farm and getting the right licenses to open up shop. He said since opening on March 10th, he has been going to the farm and/or the market every morning, and he’s reworks the menu every afternoon to make sure he has and can showcase the freshest ingredients.
He brought the dishes one by one and told us a bit about each one as he did. The starter was a salad made with lettuce picked this morning from a local farm, with a nutty Caesar dressing that his friend makes. Next was an avocado, onion and salmon dip served with crackers. Kazu is allergic to ikura, so the owner put the fish eggs on the side for me.
He said he doesn’t want to do too much seafood at his shop because we’re so close to Toyama Bay and EVERYWHERE you go, you see fresh fish…but that, well, the fish IS fresh, so sometimes he can’t help but add it to the menu.
Next was fried sweet potato with a bit of salt on the side for dipping, followed by a “caprese salad” with mozzarella, strawberries and prosciutto. The potatoes were creamy on the inside and perfectly crisp on the outside. The “salad” was a surprise, and refreshingly light. About it, the chef said only “simple is best.”
After that, we were served an “omelet” which was in fact a soufflé. It had spinach and bacon and was cooked perfectly. Shortly afterwards, the final course arrived. It was a lovely pork tenderloin served with salt and mustard, on a bed of kale.
The owner asked if we had ever eaten kale before. I almost laughed at the question, since kale is a staple around where I grew up in East Cobb, but Kazu answered that, in fact, he had not.
He asked if we wanted dessert, but I was way too full and had to regretfully decline.
However, we ended up chatting and drinking for a while, during which time the master gifted us some vegetable chips which I devoured alongside my gin as if I had not been ready to burst just a half-hour before.
Next to the gourmet veggie chips, you can see two different kinds of sake (I don’t remember where the one with the orange label is from, but the white label is from Kyoto) and craft gin. From the picture, it’s hard to tell, but those sake cups were not small -the bottles were just really big.
All things considered, it was well worth the $98 price tag.
I hope you enjoyed my restaurant review lol.
In other news, my coworker and I are starting a podcast! It will be called Bilingual Bunpo. We have recorded a single episode, but we’re not live yet. I’ll keep you updated so that you can give it a listen (and a review!) once it’s out.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll have a new post for you next week.
Happy spring!
Alisa & a Visa 