A.
Google
The place has some growing pains to go through, but their food is semi-tasty and fresh. They need better communication when orders are not out, and they need to redo the flan because it's not even close to being a flan- it taste like sour salty mousse.
-TL;DR
"For over 50 years, SANPOUTEI has been devoting ourselves to the development of unique and the very best in flavor and quality."
The opening line on their website. I'm taken aback when I walk into the restaurant with its wood paneling and fine lines of the decor. The hypnotic music ever so softly playing in the background. We were greeted by their matre d' at the door, they sit off to the right when entering. The vibe here is very high end and classy to say the least.
Ordering for the first time we ordered all the signature dishes to get the "best."
Tonight was the grand opening! Glad we made to see where they are starting from.
We ordered (Sanpoutei the signature gyoza they ran out) pan fried bed gyoza, Maguro and Uni Kasane sushi, and Marinated egg with Uni, Ikura as appetizers. For the mains we ordered Sanpoutei Niboshi Shoyu ramen and spicy Miso ramen( they have two sizes of ramen which is great if you ordered too many apps). For dessert we ordered the Kurogama Flan. To get "chocolate wasted" we ordered the Kubuta Hyakuju sake (Asahi brand).
I'll start with the service that was all over the place and welcoming at the same time. We arrived just in the last hour before of closing and seated at about 9:20. Here's where things went into the gutter because we ordered at about 5 minutes after being seated and ordered a few items, and at about 9:45-9:50 they did a last call where i added another app - the marinated egg with Uni. At about 10-10:05 we asked for an update of our food because we were second to the last seated guest in the entire restaurant. The waiter came back about 2 minutes later to let us know there was an issue, and that it had been fixed and we would receive our food promptly. About 2 minutes after this the manager(or asstnt. Mngr.?) came over and explained to us "the other issue", which to me made me a little annoyed because my blood sugar had dropped significantly due to the long wait for food. Having heard two distinctly separate issues means the kitchen messed up, right? Anyhow the manager let us know again the food was coming shortly, and it did.
The food came and I had to stuff my face to cover the insulin I took instead of enjoying the food as it was supposed to come out, which is at a normal pace - apps, main, dessert.
The appetizers I have to say were all great. The gyoza was fresh and full of flavor, with incredible crunch on one side, full of flavor and freshness on the other side and inside. The sushi tartare was fresh and the Uni the adorned it was tasty. The marinated egg had fried mushrooms that added a nice flavor and the Ikura was delicious and added a nice saltiness.
Finally we get to the taste the Miso ramen was awesome and the Shoyu was okay. The flavoring on the Miso was full, rich, and the broth was thiccck and buttery. The Shoyu was salty,light and subtlety flavored, but had a strong hint of seafood (found out it was sardines), which the US population might not love.
The dessert needs to be renamed and the chefs should take a trip trying multiple flans from different countries and different bakeries/restaurants. The sesame Flan was made with sesame, cream, and sea salt and topped with caramelized syrup (not traditional Flan topping of caramelized sugar 😏). The flavoring was sour hints which will throw off many, and the dessert had a texture akin to a cream mocchi of that makes sense. The dessert does not share anything with any type of Flan.
The bad rating was due to the food being so late and the wait of about 30-35 minutes before we had to ask for an update. The food is fresh and the pricing is semi justified, but I think they may be hard pressed to gain enough long term traction with so many quality ramen spots.
