Main Entrance of Osaka
Review courtesty of Chantelle, friend (and sister) of foodies.
The first things I noticed about Osaka was its convenient location on Hollywood Blvd, not far from the 101 after exiting Vine. Parking was relatively easy to find on the street, costing me $4.00 to park for 2 hours. Fortunately, parking was free after 8 pm on this block. Walking up to the restaurant, I had to navigate my way to the hostess over a path of flat stones that are surrounded by water and dimly lit by candles. Jong-yu was smart and took the safer handicap access ramp to the left. Because we had arrived during their soft opening, the restaurant was relatively empty. Lighting was too dim for me. Also too dim to take pictures of the food.
We began with some Pisco cocktails. They had all types of cocktails made with Pisco. The “Pisco Sour”, made with ORO Acholado Pisco, fresh lime juice & bitters, was straightforward and delicious. The “Capitan” displayed a more herbaceous quality with the Punt e Mes Vermouth that was mixed in with Encanto Pisco Acholado, Cointreau & fresh lemon juice. We all decided that the most interesting of the three, though not made with Pisco, was the Kyuri Caipi, made with Tanteo Jalapeno Tequila, fresh lime juice & cucumber.
The menu consisted of a list of cold dishes– Ceviches, Tiraditos, Rolls and some Sushi, and a list of hot dishes– Causitas, Anticuchos & some house specialty dishes. We ordered the Ceviche Sampler, choosing the “Classic”, “Al Aji Amarillo” and “Creamy Wasabi”. We also ordered the “2 Olives” Tiradito and a couple of half orders of rolls. Unfortunately, the Tiradito and Rolls came out before the Ceviches. I would have expected the Ceviches to open the meal, and that these cold dishes would not have taken 45 minutes after being seated to begin arriving, but perhaps they’re still working out some kinks.
The Classic consisted of shiromi, leche de tigre and glazed sweet potato tempura. The Amarillo was a mixture of shiromi, Peruvian aji amarillo, sesame seed oil and sweet potato wontons. The Creamy Wasabi was a combination of seafood and fish, creamy wasabi, leche de tigre and sweet potato wontons. The flavors were well balanced in all of the ceviches, but the Amarillo was my favorite. There were also some fried corn nut type things in the ceviches that weren’t noted on the menu.
My favorite dish of the whole meal was the 2 olives Tiradito. The fact that it was the first ordered dish to arrive may have had an impact in my decision, but it certainly wasn’t our first taste of food. We did receive an amuse buche of peeled, blanched okra in leche de tigre with daikon sprouts. The 2 Olives was delicious because it featured smooth purees of black and greens olives on octopus carpaccio, served with lettuce dressed with an Asian dressing and crispy wonton crackers. The octopus was amazingly fresh & chilled. You could tell it was fresh because it didn’t lose its firm, almost crunchy texture after chewing it a few times. It didn’t get mushy either. I didn’t expect octopus to pair so well with the bright flavors of the olive purees.
The Spicy Crunchy Roll won out over the 2 Tunas Roll with its Japanese butter-coated shrimp, crab, avocado, crispy quinoa and togarashi. Rich & melts in your mouth, with little sparks of crunchy quinoa on the outside of the roll for contrast.
Scallops in a Chinese garlic sauce came in the shell with a flaming salt in the center. Showy but unnecessary.
I then decided to order a Yebisu beer to go with my hot items. That came quickly, but Bryan’s Peruvian Monkey Tail cocktail was unappealing and Jong-yu’s Caipi Uva was so-so.
First came the Ebi Causita– 2 spoons, each topped with a single grilled shrimp resting on a bed of what seemed like mashed potatoes. But the menu described creamy red curry leek sauce. Perhaps it cooled and thickened, because by the time I put it in my mouth it wasn’t hot anymore.
The Kokoro Anticucho was grilled American Kobe heart with anticucho panca sauce, which was a reddish, textured sauce with scallions and very light, like it had daikon in it. These two skewers of well-marinated heart were flavorful and meaty.
Next up, Sakana Ishiyaki– seared white fish sashimi, Peruvian pachamanca herbs, served over hot stone. A sizzling stone came out to the table with this fish that had a very delicate texture. The herbs had a minty aroma to them. And the potatoes on the stone were well-seasoned, crispy on the outside, and fluffy on the inside.
And finally, Shiromi Wrap– banana leaf wrapped white fish, anticucho sauce, coconut milk reduction, served in bamboo steamer with white rice. Comforting to have the rice at the end, but the flavors of this sauce were not ok. We were also pretty full by this time, so we must have been harder to please at the end. No room for dessert!
I’d return after they get a chance to “warm up” and practice a little. I think it’s a terrific fusion of flavors and they seem to really know what direction they want to go in.
Raw
