Chicago Eats: Kaisho Lounge at Yūgen

One of the most memorable and incredibly delicious meals I have had in a long time was in the Kaisho Lounge at Yūgen, in Chicago's hip West Loop.

Mentaiko Carbonara

In preparation for my trip, I had stalked a few Chicago food accounts on Instagram, and saw a dish called Mentaiko Carbonara that sounded amazing. I knew that Friday night would be my only opportunity to go, and fortunately, my friends were amenable to my plan of getting there just before they opened at 5 pm.  Yūgen is a prix-fixe omakase restaurant (starting at $200+ person), whereas its front lounge, Kaisho has a la carte ordering. We ending up having the entire lounge to ourselves and the staff was amazing.

Only open for about six months, Yūgen is helmed by Executive Chef Mari Katsumura, and they are already getting attention in Chicago for their outstanding dishes, both in taste and presentation. As well as being one of the few spots that is completely run by women; in addition to Chef Mari, the pastry chef, beverage director, and general manager are all women.

Main Yugen dining room

Turns out, Beverage Director Olivia Noren was our server in the lounge. While my friends had Chandon, I opted for this unique summery cocktail, called Shizen, made with vodka infused with chrysanthemum, muddled shiso leaves, and yuzu juice (a tart citrus, like a grapefruit/lemon cross). Other than perfectly balanced, I am not sure how to describe the flavors, but I loved it!

Shizen: chrysanthemum vodka, shiso, yuzu juice

Fun crispies: Japanese Chex Mix with kombu, ramen, udon and edamame

No doubt, some of the very best Chicken Karaage (with shiso aioli) that I have ever had. Juicy and crisp.

The Mentaiko Carbonara, or Japan meets Italy. Udon noodles, with a uni (sea urchin) butter, tempura crumbs, and chiffonade of  nori. An incredible umami bomb! Great variety of textures.

Olivia could tell we were enjoying our dishes as well as our time in Kaisho, as we were the only ones in the lounge and the main dining room only had a few patrons at the early dinner hour. The kitchen sent out a Ramen Raviolo, one of the previous night's specials. Was this ever a treat! Bathed in tonkotsu (pork) broth, this fat little raviolo had pork shoulder meat inside, with crispy chicken skin sitting on top. In some ways a deconstructed bowl of ramen, and again, more play on the Japan meets Italy theme.

This shake down of  Milk + Cookies for dessert was as creative as the "cracked" plate it sat upon. Meringue wafers on cookie crumbs and a caramel sauce all just melted together in your mouth.

Kaisho's menu

After our meal, Olivia invited us back into the kitchen, which was immaculate. Hot prep on the left, cold on the right, with the expediter at the ready.

Pastry Chef Jeanine Lamadieu clowns around while presenting us with a jellied tomato apertif in shochu. I was slightly nervous at first as I have had other jellied items while in Japan that I didn't care for (looking at you, egg yolk) but this was mild and went down easily.  I can best compare it to a tomato gum drop.

The four gender-neutral single bathrooms were also works of art, and Olivia explained each was named after one of the four seasons. All had elements of beautiful stone work, and then some other interesting element like a huge geode or hefty driftwood. Winter was my favorite, with its sparkly stack-stone quartz wall and reverse-relief sink that ran the entire length of the counter top.

You can't see the relief texture of the sink, but it was there! Drain hole on far right, "downhill" from the flow.

All in all an experience that won't soon be forgotten. If you're in Chicago, stop by Kaisho for a cocktail or meal, and experience what "Yūgen" is all about -- an awareness of the universe that triggers emotional responses too deep and powerful for words. And as they say in Japan before a meal: Itadakimasu.

Asian Dining in Austin: Five Places

I am a big admirer of all types of Asian cuisine, which is fitting as I am half Japanese. Some friends and have have our Asian Supper Club where we try new places or happily go to an old standby such as Sunflower Vietnamese.  Here's a look at five "new to me" places that I have been in the past six weeks, one with the Asian Supper Club!

Fat Dragon, 8650 Spicewood Springs Road
At the intersection of Hwy 183 and Spicewood Springs is a large strip mall on the southwest corner that is probably is the most diverse in all of Austin. Looking at restaurants alone, you've got Asia Cafe, Chen's Noodles (two of my faves) and a bunch I haven't been to: Uzbeki, Nepalese/Indian, Cajun, Mexican and cupcake place. You gotta love Fat Dragon for its logo alone! They opened over the summer and I was there in October. Overall, we loved it and I really look forward to going back. (WHY are you so far away from me?!)

Cute little dragon!

Pork belly bun or gua bao; very meaty portion of pork which was well-rendered and nice + crisp.

Dry-fried green beans, always a favorite.

Lamb cilantro dumplings. These were amazing, and I would probably love them even more by ordering them pan-fried next time. I love lamb and I don't think I have ever had a lamb dumpling. I want a LOT of these right now! Have heard from a friend that the lamb cumin dumplings there are also incredible. (Pork, chicken, beef and vegetarian ones also on the menu.)

Soup dumplings or xiao long bao. They apologized when bringing these out to us and said the dough was too thin, so they had already torn and the soupy liquid had mostly leaked out. (They did bring us some egg rolls for the trouble.)
 They did TASTE good though.

Het Say, 2121 E. Oltorf Street
In another strip mall (between Burton + Willow Creek, a couple blocks west of Pleasant Valley) is Het Say, which opened in August 2017. The gentleman that brought out most of our dishes said he was the owner and many of the recipes were his grandmother's.  While the majority of the menu is Vietnamese, there are some Thai and Singapore noodle dishes and Chinese appetizers available. The stars of the show were the Vietnamese home style dishes under house specials.

Grilled pork bún (vermicelli) bowl. The pork had really good flavor but was a touch dry.

Another pork belly bun!  This one wasn't as meaty as the one at Fat Dragon, but still good.

Chicka-rones, or fried chicken skins! Fairly crispy, some had bits of meat still attached to the skins.
 I think I liked these more than others in our group. 

Bánh mì sandwich

Lemongrass tofu vermielli

Braised pork belly, in a clear broth made from coconut juice, ginger, fish sauce and spices.

Braised catfish, with a similar broth as above but with more of a ginger kick that I LOVED! The catfish is bone-in which makes it a little difficult to eat but the nourishing broth was so worth it. Can't wait for this on a cold day.

Lin Asian Bar + Dim Sum, 1203 W. 6th Street
Open since February, Lin operates out of an old house on the south side of W. 6th, and seeks to be a more health-conscious Chinese restaurant. I loved the look and decor of Lin, and enjoyed sitting at the counter overlooking the kitchen.

From the counter looking back to the front door and bar.

Private dining room to the side of the kitchen that would comfortably seat 8 - 10 people.
 I loved the wooden screen doors and peeked through one of the openings. 

A glass of Riesling went well with this meal.  I have a Boomerang of the ladies making shumai
 but I can't figure out how to post it here!

Shanghai soup dumplings -- these had more of a vinegary taste than what I have had with
 soup dumplings before which was a little unexpected for me. 

Dan dan noodles -- I really enjoyed the peanut sesame sauce, but the noodles themselves were overcooked. 

This eggplant dish was one of our favorites on the night. However it's not on their online menu and can't remember the exact description; I believe it was with ground venison, pork, and beef. Long thin strips of Asian eggplant were coiled together and topped with the sweet sauce containing the meat.

Hawaiian Sesame Chicken with grilled pineapple. This one was a bit of a let down, as the sauce was overly sweet and the pineapple was used more as decor rather than as part of the dish.  The chicken was fried well though.

Salt and pepper tofu, my favorite of the night. This came out screaming hot and was hard to eat at first! Nice crisp outer layer gave way to pillowy silken tofu. Very nice with a little of the eggplant sauce too.

Laterns on the front porch.

Umi Sushi, 5510 S. IH-35 (northwest corner of 35 + Stassney)
I've long heard good things about Umi but had never made it there. A friend and I made it for happy hour, where a variety of items are on special.

Tuna, salmon, and yellowtail sashimi

Shrimp and veggie tempura; the tempura batter was a bit heavier than what I am accustomed to,
but we both liked it! Very crunchy. 

Kani puffs (imitation krab eggrolls, more or less) and sesame chicken skewers.

Spicy crab roll

Crunchy shrimp hand roll 

We were seated on the bar side of the restaurant, which was pretty much your stereotypical bar decor. But the main restaurant had some beautiful kimonos and other Japanese decorations; I'd love to go back for a full meal.

DFG Noodles trailer, various locations
AKA Dang Freakin' Good Noodles, I caught up with this trailer for lunch one recent weekday. Check their website for where to find them.

The Golden Nuggets, fried chicken with sambal chile sauce. Looking back at their menu,
 I think this was supposed to be over their Firecracker rice, but this was straight white rice. Hearty serving for $9.

The Scholar -- vermicelli noodles with pork, ham, fried egg and more! Very tasty. 

Now the curry sauce that came with the roti bread was incredible. Our group ended up with two containers of curry, one a bit spicier than the other, but not majorly so. I ended up taking the leftover sauce home and made chicken empanadas with it. The sauce on it's own is not the most photogenic, but trust me, it had great depth of flavor!

So there's my recent tour of Asian spots around town. What are your favorite Asian dishes and places to go?

EurAsia Sushi Bar in Oak Hill

If you've lived in Austin for more than a minute you know that our fair city is rapidly growing and changing. No part of town is immune to development and gentrification, for better or worse. The far southwest part of town, known as Oak Hill has become a trafficky mess due to the convergence of Highways 290 and 71, with William Cannon, Southwest Parkway and Mopac also nearby. Fortunately for area residents and those stuck in traffic on the way to outlying areas now have more meal options.

On the Highway 71 side of things, across from the HEB is a sprawling shopping center (or is it two centers? three?) with a gym, Goodwill, and what's rapidly becoming a cool selection of restaurants. Slab BBQ has already moved in on the northern side (and I hear good things!). Jim's has renovated. Pluckers is coming. And EurAsia Sushi Bar and Seafood is (mostly) booming.

I went for lunch last month, and even though we were on the early side, it still wasn't very busy especially given the number of employees working. But I have heard from a few different people that in the evening, the dinner wait has been upwards of an hour. (So go for lunch!) Very modern and clean inside, clearly there was some money put into this place. A gorgeous water feature runs along the banked seating. The sushi bar is in the rear of the restaurant and they have a camera directly on one of the sushi chefs so you can watch them prepare the food on TV! If I had to guess, I would say EurAsia is owned by Indonesians, as there is an Indonesian section on the menu and the sushi chefs were wearing Indonesian head cloths.

With a very extensive pan-Asian menu, there is something for every palate, including your standard Chinese and Japanese (non-sushi) dishes, and things like Kobe beef or salmon burgers for lunch. And for those who are there for the sushi, there are a multitude of options, including sashimi, rolls, and chef's specials.

I went with Sushi Combo A, with your choice of two of the classic rolls, so I got unagi (smoked eel) and the veggie tempura. All the plates we saw coming from the kitchen looked beautifully plated, and the orchid was a nice touch. The menu said the veggie tempura included sweet potato, asparagus and broccoli, but instead of broccoli it was taro root. We didn't mind the change, but asked the waitress about it later, who sent the manager over. He didn't really seem to know, but apologized and took it off our bill, even though we weren't complaining! (I do see that the online version of the menu has taro listed, so I don't know if the printed menu was an error or if they have changed it to taro since our visit.)

My Thai friend (the one who turned me on to Thai Taste across the street) has now been a few times and partial to the Indonesian pho, which was really good, though certainly not very photogenic. It's traditional name is Bakso Sapi, but is also listed on the menu as Obama's favorite, as President Obama was said to have enjoyed this soup on a trip to Indonesia.  The broth isn't quite as flavorful as a good Vietnamese pho broth should be, but there's a bounty of meatballs, meat-wrapped hard-boiled eggs, tofu, veggies, and noodles, plus it is a large bowl and good for sharing if you're in the mood.

My friend loves squid, and also in the Indonesian section is a grilled squid dish called Cumi Bakar Pedas. Granted she asked for the spicy sauce on the side, but the squid was fairly dry and tough, and you could tell it had been previously frozen. Has potential though.

EurAsia is located at 7101 Highway 71; they DO take reservations and you also can order food online. They have late hours (open til midnight)  with two daily happy hour from 4:30 - 6:30 pm, and a reverse one from 10 pm - midnight. So if you need a place to wait out some traffic, pull into EurAsia and eat in or get it to go.

Daruma Ramen

I recently attended a soft opening at Daruma Ramen, Austin's latest ramen shop, brought to you from the owners of Kome up on Airport Blvd. They've had ramen on their menu at Kome, but I am sure after seeing how popular Ramen Tatsu-ya and Michi Ramen have been, they decided to venture into the land of noodles as well. 

There are a number of things that set Daruma apart from the others.
-- It's located downtown, on 6th Street (yup), on the north side of the street, between Sabine and Red River Streets.
-- It's a tiny little spot, with at very most, seating for 30, and that would be pushing it! And while I love the decor at Ramen Tatsu-ya (I still haven't been to Michi), I really enjoyed the cherry blossom wall paper, and very minimal, clean lines of Daruma.
-- They're using a chicken-based broth, as opposed to the more traditional pork (tonkatsu) broth, and they have a vegan ramen bowl too, so these broths aren't quite as rich.

There were four of us (and you can read Mad Betty's take on Daruma here), and there were four ramen bowl options, so we got one of each, and passed them around the narrow table.

Shio -- certainly the lightest and cleanest, you can taste the chicken in the broth (which also takes hours to make). This would be the perfect "chicken noodle soup" when you are under the weather. The same noodles are used in all the bowls; I thought they had a nice texture and give to them, but more on the noodles in a minute.

Shoyu -- very similar to the Shio, but with the addition of dashi (made from fish and kombu seaweed) broth, which gives it a little more depth. Also characterized by the fish cake, or naruto, the white and pink-swirled piece next to the soft-boiled egg.

Miso -- this seemed to be the consensus favorite at our table! The addition of miso to the chicken broth really brought the umami sensation to your palate. Plus you have shredded chicken, the saffron threads, and a bit of chili oil.

Vegan -- talk about eating the rainbow, this was a gorgeous bowl! This vegan broth also takes an extremely long time to produce, which also makes it a touch more expensive than the other ones. Apparently in the broth is made primarily from Japanese sweet potato and I believe pineapple. At first I didn't really get the fruit influences in the broth, but I was gradually able to taste a light sweetness with almost tropical undertones I didn't see any sesame seeds (as listed on the menu) nor really taste the ginger in this bowl, but it will surely be popular with the vegetarians and vegans!

As we were eating, owner Kayo came over to talk with us. She had seen we were taking pictures of everything, and asked how the food was. She also told us about the noodles. They had just met with the noodle man from Los Angeles, and after sampling lots of different noodles, they decided to change the noodle slightly from what were currently eating. I was happy with the ones we had, but I believe the new ones will have a touch more bite to them. 

So on your next venture to 6th Street, go check Daruma out, but just remember, this is a lighter style of ramen than the other shops in town. The friendly staff also told us what "daruma" meant -- it's the little creature depicted on their bowls that serves as their icon, that's known as a talisman of luck to the Japanese. Good daruma, indeed.