This was a sort of a last minute, same day reservation…we were having our taxes done and figured we might as well go out and eat. There were a couple new restaurants I wanted to try, but they weren’t open for dinner on Sunday. I’ve been wanting to come back here to Nisei (japanese born american….so the cuisine is a california modern japanese)…we ate here once in the second week they opened, but hadn’t been back since. They did receive a Michelin star in the latest guide. This dinner was a special dinner event with a pairing with local sake maker Den (Oakland). Dinner was served in the private dining room with communal seating which was great to get to talk to other local foodies.
The sake pairing was very interesting in unique. The sakes were of very different styles than the typical (and it’s probably fair to say we’ve had our share of sake over the years…we happened to have a bottle of Dassai 23, our go to, last night with dinner!). The sakes from Den were typically more acidic (IMHO a good thing since it better balances the sweetness from the residual sugars), some with a richness and umami (esp. the unpasturized and the aged sakes). We ended up buying 6 bottles to take home and forunately, they also sell at True Sake, our go to for many many years now.
The dishes were delicately composed and moderately portioned (which actually was great since we have often felt very full at many other tastings). It’s hard to say which was our favorite – the crab gyoza in the first course was packed with flavor. The white asparagus with the amadai was probably the tastiest presentation of white asparagus we’ve ever had. And I’m a sucker for kakuni (pork belly) always.
For sake, I really liked the Red Label Yamadanishiki, the unpasteurized Den 90 Kimoto, and the aged Batch #5.
Also, for the, record, there were two different bathrooms – the first with the Toto was the one available to Gen Pop and the other with the funky black lighting was the one available to the private dining room.
It was a great dinner and we won’t wait so long before we come back again!
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