TiffanyChang

The food was heavenly at kiss. The prix fix I ordered was a 6 course dinner, including pickled goods, sushi, sashimi, grilled fish, some cold noodle and miso soup at the end. There was also this soft tofu stew thingy with fish that was so effing good that I couldn’t stop eating and almost burnt my tongue. The meal was $42, and my friend and I split a large Sapporo, and a raw octopus sashimi appetizer (never had RAW octopus, though it was only so-so). On my part I paid $70. I almost never over tip but I felt the mom and pop team working the entire restaurant deserved it.

The price was on the expensive side for me, but once in a while it is totally doable, given the experience was so amazingly positive last night.

Reservation is a must because they only do two rounds of seating every night, and they easily turn away customers without reservation. They gauge cooking time to accept your omakase orders. And it makes sense, because even the miso soup was made right in front of me, with extra goodies in it.

Contrary to the Yelp reviews on its service, I had a fantastic experience (hence the over-tipping). The wife/waitress was very accommodating when my friend needed to change her order, and never rushed us to finish up when other customers showed for their reservation.

This review is for the yummy brunch I had at Canteen.

Granted, there was a wait. But on a lazy Sunday morning waiting for a table while exchanging gossip about life and various is more of a sport than annoyance. Once seated, we got to order and the food arrived fast and delicious. I ordered the breakfast staple, 3 eggs, bacon and toasted English muffin, which was cooked very well. So, how well can one cook “breakfast”? My egg whites were exactly over-hard. Not even the slightest browned, and of course, no soft center either. My English muffin toasted perfectly crispy. My bacon drained of excess oil. My potatoes well seasoned. Cooking breakfast well is more like cooking breakfast carefully. Something you pay attention to while grilling or toasting, rather than following the typical diner guidelines of mass production… where you’re more likely to end up with soggy potatoes and burnt toasts.

But the well cooked breakfast only met my expectation for paying $8+ for it… The pancakes were the truly divine goddess of my meal… Was it custard poured over the fluffy cakes? I loved them so much I wanted to start a cult. The texture was almost dreamy in my mouth, with fresh strawberries adding bits of sour tangs. Those pancakes completed the fifth star in my rating.

Crudo, how I must come back to you soon.

All those fun nights in your arms… well more like on your stools, with those amazingly delicious “crudos”… From truffle oil drizzled to watercress garnished, your yummy fish defied my stubborn belief that modern fusion seafood could never do what traditional sushi could… Not only Crudo established its own style in preparing their version of raw fish, they combined innovative ingredients to bring out the fish’s best. Plus the extended beer selection… How can one not love this place?

Though I do miss the days when I could just pop in on a weeknight and get seated right away…

Update 7/16/07: A couple more fine examples why I will come back here over and over. Friday night, without reservation, we were told the wait would be an hour. Given the popularity and the size of the restaurant, I liked the fact that they didn’t pull the snobby move many other SF establishments have done to me: “No reservations? Sorry” (eyes rolling as lips moving). Instead, hostess took our number and called as soon as the expectant table was ready. And needless to say, the food was EXCELLENT. The crudo samplers were amazing… Amazing. Vanilla oil dressed white fish (too busy devouring to take note of the proper name) smelled like candy but tasted like heaven. The entire experience was simply the best. Then came the next night, as we needed a place to just chill with some good beer… we turned to Crudo again. It was a daringly odd choice for just drinks, but they have GOOD beer. Crudo didn’t turn us away. They let us hang and drink our beer until closing time. We had a very relaxing half an hour to 45 minutes, with premium beer and a chill enviornment.
This is a rare place that provides both great food and hipness without the attitude. It is only natural to call it my favorite restaurant.

I go there (or used to go there when my rent was cheaper at a few blocks away from the restaurant) for the guarantee on certain items I love so much. Black cod. Live scallops. The entire Aji prepared from head to tail. Incomparably fresh Uni (or live Uni from time to time, if you’re lucky ). And once in a while I throw in Kobe beef sashmi and some salmon belly. Or any other interesting fish that is on the special board that day. I have not been disappointed.

To be able to indulge ridiculously fresh fish that many other restaurants will just outrightly tell you that they don’t have it because people don’t eat that here… I don’t consider the price at Ebisu ridiculously high.