One of my favorite restaurants is Kingyo in Vancouver. They also have sister restaurants Suika, and most recently, Tamari Bar here in Seattle. It’s not quite the same, but it’s the next best thing when you’re crazing some of those invincible dan dan noodles and rock cooked kobe/waygu. Tamari Bar does have one ace up its sleeve – the Shokado (appetizer bento box).
shokado – NINE different appetizers; cauliflower pot de crème with white chocolate, pickled kale, poke, mackerel, hamachi, tuna – this box changes all the time, so whatever I have in here, you probably won’t get except for the cauliflower in the upper left and the poke in the middle. There are exactly 12 of these boxes available per night – so get there early if you want to try one! It’s so much fun to go through all of these to see one is your favorite and also see what combination of flavors the chef has come up with. It’s only about 2 bites per person if you’re splitting it, so it’s not overwhelming in portion, and it is a MUST TRY!
waygu beef – cooked on a hot rock; yes, you cook it yourself on a very hot rock so that you can control how done it is. Just make sure you don’t overcook these succulently marbled cut of beef! They’re fatty; they’re flavorful – if you overcook one of these, I’m sorry, but your grilling license is getting revoked. These are barely marinated with a bit of Japanese bbq sauice and sesame and green onions. Enjoy!
dan dan noodles – with fried ground pork and Szechwan peppers; this a bit spicy, though my partner in crime didn’t have any issues with it, but I don’t think he ran into a Szechwan pepper like I did; love the noodles and brightness of the green onions, though I’m pretty sure dan dan noodles are Chinese, but does it matter? It’s delicious!
sashimi stairway – sweet shrimp with head, mackerel, hamachi, scallop, taco, toro, sake; nice thick cuts of sashimi, but this probably isn’t my first choice for sushi
potato croquette – full of molten potato on the inside, crispy on the outside; classic izakaya and one of my dishes in general. They use a larger crunchier breading than most places, so it gives it more oomph when you bit into to bring out the contrast in textures to the potato inside. Be careful not to burn off your tastebuds, or you won’t be able to taste anything else for the rest of the night and miss all the deliciousness!
fried salmon sticks – panko crusted salmon fried; fish and chips done Japanese style
cocktail – Tamari Bar specializes in Japanese whiskey and has a few whiskey cocktails to pique your interest; there are also regular and premium sake flights.
sake crème brulee – I’m not sure if this is on the menu, but it’s something manager Makoto Kimoto said they used to serve at Kingyo. We’ve never had it at Kingyo as we’re usually too stuffed from all that great food to do dessert at Kingyo (plus I think we usually get gelato at Bellissma), but it’s just the right of crème mixed with the sake sugar crust with a just a hint of sake in the crème. Le sigh. I want to eat this again.
Japanese cheese cake – with cocoa nib ice cream and raspberry coulis; the Japanese version of cheesecake is much airier and less sweet than it’s American counterpart. There’s still plenty of chocolate in the ice cream for the sweet tooth, but this is an entirely different kind of mellow and delicate cheesecake.
The is a slightly industrial, with a large bar occupying half of the room. I like sitting here if you want to watch the magic happen when it comes to sushi and cocktails. The staff is so friendly and welcoming, I almost want to come back just to say ‘hi’ to them. The service is attentive, as they’ll always ask you if you need another drink as soon as your glass is empty or if they think your rock for cooking meat is cooling down too much to cook properly. It gets busy here, so make reservations to avoid the wait. It was about an hour on a Friday evening at 6pm. The Seven Samurai was playing on the TVs above the bar and the place hums with energy, but it’s never so loud that you have to yell to speak to your dining partner.
Overall, I really like Tamari Bar with its tasty and fun shokado box and I hope that everyone gets to try this dish at the very least! Enjoy a couple of Japanese whiskey cocktails and just have a bit of fun exploring and getting to know this place.
SUMMARY
Overall: happily ever after
Highlights: shokado box, croquettes, dan dan noodles
Footnotes: if you share the shokado box for 2 people, you’ll want at least 3 other dishes – make one of them a smaller plate and the other the dan dan noodles