bad joke.
Of course it was a pun.
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That was the one miss of the night. It was extremely rich and a little too salty. Having it with rice helped a lot though.
##Kinjiro
Their uni risotto was so fucking good last week i had to come back and they hit it out of the park again.
Uni, scallop, blue crab with ponzu jelly
Japanese wagyu carpaccio
Insanely delicious
Fried yearling oysters
Agedashi tofu
Chicken maki-age. Why didn’t the chicken cross the road? Because I ate it.
Beef tongue - speaks for itself
Seared foie, force feeding never tasted so good
Bone marrow dengaku
Kanpachi kama
Yellowfin
Japanese octopus sunomono
Australian wagyu skirt steak over rice
Squid ink udon. #blackudonmatters
Japanese sardine tempura
Green tea soba #greensobamatters
Foie gras custard with fig compote. No figs were harmed in the eating of this dessert.
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I love the hell out of these. One may not necessarily think “pickled” - think: leftover - fried fish would work, but it just kills as beer snacks. It was either those again, or the sardines (which were new to me).
Despite OP’s hesitations, Kinjiro is all hits no misses. I hate potato salad, but their potato salad always end up making a showing. That’s how persuasive the food here is (to me).
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A side comment: the menu lists the sardines as “kibinago sardines tempura” when I looked at the menu picture on my phone just now.
It is actually not sardines, but technically silver stripe herring (in defining English proper name for kibinago キビナゴ【黍魚子/吉備女子/吉備奈子】 )
More commonly seen in sushi restaurants in trios wrapped diagonal to the rice pad, often served with vinegared miso sauce.
But I’m sure deep fried this shit good is with a sexcellent JP beer…
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we’re not talking about hitachino any more, are we? (says the guy with the most typos per article ever).
thanks for the clarification. now I wonder what exact fish the “smelt” actually were?
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If you are talking about the fish in “chilled battered smelt”, I suck with hiragana, but I pulled up an online hiragana chart and compared it with the menu picture I took, and it looks like it says Shi Shi Ya Mo Nanbanzuke, so I can only guess it’s shishamo 柳葉魚 シシャモ, but some out there say real shishamo is impossible to get yada yada so some substitute capelin is being floated around instead. Only way to confirm, ask manager/owner Jun-san.
Either way, bomb ass roe inside them smelts. It really helped to have this after the beef tripe miso stew, which I stress i am not a fan of, and was a total miss for me (actually same with their yaki onigiri, just not a fan).
I like Hitachino! I am impressed that an izakaya has such an impressive lineup of their bottles at once. Would be nice if they had more on tap, but they are a very small place. Too bad they don’t have Oze No Yukidoki IPA and Pale Ale, both excellent (ONY also makes two great sakes, one is a super dry Junmai that is designed for izakaya fare).
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How hard is it to get into this place for dinner on a weeknight? How long out should I be calling for a reservation?
I make reservations a week out.
Thanks!
I recommend rezzies. But if you must walk in unannounced, then Tuesday night or Wednesday night would be the nights to attempt this feat with any possible degree of success.
Thanks all–I’ll make a reservation two weeks out to be safe!
I’ve seen the owner turn away walk ins every time I’ve dined there. So many people try to pop in for a drink while waiting for sushi gen too! He always politely declines.
Good grief.
Fuck. I was going to call tomorrow.
Wait, it’s buried deep enough in a piece replete with recommendations that it might not be that bad.
let us know how it goes. raku is another great place to try if you can’t get into kinjiro.
Yeah, but for the friends we were planning to eat there with the extra drive to Raku might be a deal-breaker. Any other recommendations in the Little Tokyo area for similar’ish options?
Though I am hopeful about a reservation three weeks out. I sent in an email and will call right at 2 pm today.
I think you will fine 3 weeks out - things aren’t as bad as New York or San Fran (yet).
You may want to peek at this JIC…