Mr3dPHD
Google
I've been to Utah three times now, and during those three trips I have made the most of my meals. Utah has a great food scene, and I've truly enjoyed a lot of what I've experienced. I think my meal tonight at Kyoto, however, is the best meal I've had in this state!
To begin, I have to comment on the beautiful landscaping outside. As a plant person, I really appreciate both the variety of plants throughout the property, and the meticulous care taken to make this garden next level for a restaurant. I particularly enjoyed the variety of conifers and the careful pruning. It was like a small Japanese botanical garden!
Okay, let's get inside. The owners put as much effort into the layout and style of the interior as they did in the garden! From the tatami seating to the authentic decor, I was very much immersed in the theme. Our server, Ping, was the absolute best! So friendly and genuine, we all loved her! Everything came out fast too. Very impressive service.
I ordered a locally made unfiltered sake called Tsuki White Peach Nigori Unfiltered which was fantastic! We decided to skip appetizers, which I'm so thankful we did because I had a LOT of food! My meal came with miso soup which was incredible! I've never had a miso soup I didn't like, but this was clearly made from scratch.
For my main course, I chose the combo plate, which included two options: Beef sukiyaki and torikatsu pork. It was basically two full meals on separate plates! The torikatsu was very good, but holy cow, that beef sukiyaki was AMAZING! This dish is a stew with thin sliced marinated beef. It was served with yam noodles, mushrooms, and huge chunks of tofu. So much flavor! I can't recommend this dish enough.
I also tried my friend's saba shioyaki (grilled mackerel) which was also excellent. One more about the mackerel: there are some tiny bones in there so pay attention as you eat.
After dinner I tried the ginger rice pudding and once again OUTSTANDING! Such a great dish!
I'm going to be dreaming about this meal for a long time. When I visit a place multiple times I tend to never eat at the same place twice. Next time I'm here in SLC, I will definitely be eating at Kyoto again, and realistically, ordering the exact same combination of dishes.