Foodie Digest

Small and Big commute most days, and Small’s birthday was just another one of those days. On one of their treks home they popped in at Wakuriya, a new kaiseki restaurant just opened in San Mateo. The restaurant apologized that they couldn’t accommodate us without reservations and encouraged us to plan ahead and come back.

Wakuriya is owned by two couples with experience at the well known Kaygetsu restaurant in Menlo Park. We haven’t tried Kaygetsu, either, but reservations are hard to get there. Since Small’s birthday was approaching, Big made reservations at Wakuriya.

We arrived a little early for our reservation so we were the first diners at the restaurant. Wakuriya is teeny; there are two 4 top tables, one table for 2, and 8 seats at the bar. We were seated at the bar opposite Mika, one of the chef-owners. Mika is also the resident sommelier and sake expert. 

Wakuriya offers a set kaiseki menu each night. The menu remains constant for a month or so; we arrived to a relatively new menu. You can choose whether you want 3 courses, 6 courses, or 9 courses. With 3 you get to choose one entree type course (which wouldn’t be a completely satisfying meal). With 6 courses you can choose 3 and with 9 you get all the courses on the menu. Since we were celebrating, we chose all 9.

We had:

Saki-zuki was the starter course. This was seared white tuna on a mizuma leaf salad. Very light and delicate.

Zensai (appetizers) was next. This was a plate of 4 small bites. We both loved the uni. The mustard served with the chicken made that dish and I love anything to do with fava beans. The octopus salad was fresh and tender. Overall we both liked all 4 of these bites quite a bit.

 

• uni and ikura okawa sea urchin and salmon roe on steamed mochi rice
• simmered petaluma chicken with snow peas and Japanese mustard
• chilled soramame (fava bean soup)
• nama tako (fresh octopus) salad served with japanese turnip and tomato

 

On mono (steamed dish) asari clam in creamy chawanmushi (steamed dashi egg custard). I’m a big fan of egg; Big isn’t as much. This was perfect comfort food to me. Mika noticed my smile while I ate this and said it made her happy. Made me happy, too. We were sitting opposite the steamer so we got to watch these cook for other people all night long. The egg came out a little runny on top. I thought it tasted fine; I think Big would have preferred this cooked a little bit more

Tsukuri (sashimi) with hirame, maguro, amaebi. All of these pieces were very tender. The hirame was thinly sliced. The maguro was buttery and the shrimp were quite sweet. A very delicate touch on all of these. Extra bonus—the sashimi was served with fresh wasabi.

Age mono (deep fried dish) snow crab and portabella mushroom wrapped in soybean and deep fried, served with vegetable tempura. This was one of the dishes I would have skipped if I’d gone with the 6 courses. It tasted good to me because I haven’t had fried food in such a long time. The vegetables included pumpkin and asparagus. Was perfectly fine but not one of my favorite dishes of the evening.

Hashiyasume (granite) fresh peach and sake sorbet. This was very strong sake flavor with barely a hint of peach. I thought it was just OK, though I loved the little spoon they serve it with.

Yakimono (broiled dish) broiled salmon with shredded ginger, radish and mountain berry. This would have been another dish I would have skipped. I tend to not be a fan of cooked fish and salmon is high on my list of fish I prefer raw. However, this was very good. It wasn’t dry at all and the salmon still had a fresh and non-fishy flavor. 

Gohanmono (rice dish) choice of sukiyaki (stewed beef with enoki mushroom and green onion or unagi boiled in dashi sauce with egg. We got one of each. I loved the unagi and Big preferred the beef. I thought this was one of the best preparations of eel I’d ever had, and I realized yet again I’m a fan of eggs and broth. Big would rather his eel be caramelized. Would absolutely get this dish again. and again. The rice served with these dishes was cooked to perfection. 

Dessert strawberry parfait with flan, kuromitsu (black sugar) jelly and seasonal fruits. We watched Mika meticulously place mint and fruit on this parfait to the point we thought she was obsessing for show. The resulting dish was beautiful. Again, I was pleased with an egg-based (flan) dish. The strawberry in this was ice cream which was a bit too frozen. The black sugar jelly was a layer of rich caramel.  This was light but, except for the detail put into presentation, wasn’t all that special.

All in all I’d have to say the dinner was a success. They have a tiny but impressive wine list including Turley zinfandels by the glass. Next time I go I might try some of the sakes based on Mika’s recommendation. I’m now very curious to try Kaygetsu as well.

Overall thumbs: Two thumbs up. The atmosphere was cozy and relaxing. We had an incredibly leisurely dinner and appreciated the slow pacing.

Tastiness rating: high. The presentation and flavors were very interesting. 

Service: high. From the moment we walked in the door until we left we were treated well. Sitting at the bar gave us an insider’s viewpoint into the kitchen and Mika was happy to answer any questions we had.