Tonight's Dinner: February 10, 2014

Tonight we went to dinner at Kobe Japan Restaurant to celebrate my sister-in-law's birthday. The last time we were here was to try out their teppenyaki side of the restaurant.  I enjoyed the show, but after a while they all are the same.  Call me spoiled, but I like well cooked food.  Though I am all for simple food, teppenyaki is a little too simple and leaves a lot of room for errors.  Often times I find that the food is either too salty or not salty enough.  Surprisingly, the chefs at Kobe Japan had it right on par.  Still, I think I prefer their sushi.

Kobe Japan has pretty good sized rolls, which is something that I enjoy because we all know that I eat like a man.  I'll be the first one to say that I'm not a sushi connoisseur.  That being said, if a sushi chef can make a good California roll, (s)he is worth trying out.  The fish, to me, smelled and tasted fresh and I felt full after a California roll or two (I did try a couple of raw items).  The scallop (showed below) was so fresh and light in flavor that it was almost a little hard to detect with the slices of lemon.  The texture was smooth, but not slimy and the flavor a subtle ocean saltiness.  It was really good, but of course I had to share.  To me, a Rainbow Roll is adventurous so trying scallop sashimi is like venturing into a jungle without a guide.  On a side note, I think that we may get special treatment because my father-in-law knows the owner and sushi chef so our rolls are a little bigger.  I love my California rolls, and theirs has fresh crab, which was light and fluffy.  I enjoy crab-with-a-K, but I hate when it's soaking in mayonnaise. Their fresh crab was very well seasoned and not heavy on the mayo.

I always enjoy dinners with my in-laws.  Since I don't go and sit around their house like I do my parents, not yet anyway, I like seeing them at least once a week during dinner.  Whenever we go without a week of not seeing them, I always ask Nick if he wants to invite them over.  It's funny because when we first met, his parents lived in Kuwait and we rarely saw them.  Now it feels strange not seeing them on a weekly basis.

Started out with a nice cold draft of Asahi beer. 

Grilled hamachi kama.  This is one of Nick's favorites. 

Fried scallop innards. 

This is the second part of the dish above.  Scallop Sashimi.

Rare Kobe beef roll

Shrimp tempura roll with sashimi

Salmon tempura roll and nigiri.

These are huge pieces of Uni nagiri. I pulled off the top of mine
and gave it to my sister because it was a little too much
for me. 

Birthday ice cream and fried bananas.