Joy G.
Yelp
Amazing. Maybe I'm inherently biased towards the omakase process, where the pacing and selection are completely out of your hands, and you simply sit back and let the process wash over you. For a control freak like me, it actually lets me concentrate on the food more. I'll also add a plug for eating omakase with your hands - it makes for a pretty sensual experience that you wouldn't otherwise get with utensils.
So for Kaito, I had been looking forward to it for days. Kaito offers some interesting combinations and flavors (think chili, olive oil, and finger lime as accoutrements, with some pink Himalayan salt thrown in for good measure) but there were also many pieces that would appease a purist, with just a dab of wasabi and drizzle of soy sauce.
The first thing they'll ask is whether you want the 12- or 16-piece. We went with the 16-piece (which comes with a starter plate, hand roll, miso soup, and tomago) and two a la carte pieces, and walked out pleasantly satiated but not stuffed at the seams. Do NOT eat the white stuff at the bottom of the starter plate, by the way. Instead of ground-up radish, as I had thought, it was pure salt and I had a panicked moment where I thought I was going to start hacking uncontrollably.
The standouts:
- Oyster on the starter plate. If there's one thing Sushi Yasaka and Kaito do exceptionally well, it's the oysters. I can't tell you what's exactly on them but I will say I could down a platter without any trouble.
- Fatty tuno or otoro. This was one of the pieces I had to get a repeat of.
- Scallop.
- Miso soup. I grew up on the overly salty miso that came in these dried up little pellets - this one tasted home-made.
- Ebi.
- Tamago.
I sort of lost track about halfway through because of the deliciousness overload. Our chef was so friendly (thanks for posing with the uni!) and offered me an extra birthday piece of the tamago.