Kamui Den

[raji]

It was brick cold Thursday night... was with my buddy at 14 and A, after debating and not wanting to wait at the Momofukus (I don't know if I'll ever make it to one at this point, I might have missed the whole damn scene) or even Shabu Tatsu, he remembered that there was a Japanese BYOB (a relative rarity) across the street from him.

Kamui Den is very much the type of restaurant you'd encounter in Japan; a familiar half-a-menu, the other half occupied by their own inventions/specialities, but consistently top notch ingredient quality and execution. The only exception might be the presence of a Rainbow or Spicy roll on their sushi menu - American sushi inventions which now Japanese customers order and enjoy probably more than Americans. It's a dark wood room with mismatched colonial-style antique furniture, and I swear I've been in a dozen dining rooms that looked like this in Japan, like in Shimo-Kitazawa, Naka-Meguro and parts of Shibuya, where American antiques are harder to come by so people like this sort of decor. Waitresses were in the conservative whites you'd see at a Sushiya, and is prompt and friendly. Thankfully, there is a korean liquor store half a block way. My recommendation; tell them you're buying a bottle of Iichiko, and by the time you pop back in with it, the ice and lemon will be there waiting for you. I also like Korean chamisul or sansouju. If you can get some imoshochu, that is some smooth drinking there.

We started with their salmon tartar and mentaiko - delicious, server with some crackers, might have been better served with some baked nori or shrimp chips.

Ebi shinjo were lightly fried, essentially shrimp meatballs. If you've had fishballs before in any sort o asian food, imagine an exquisite and deepfried version of this -

Perhaps my only mistake was ordering a course of Shabu-shabu, which was pretty average - altho a very good dashi. I had just checked in at Shabu-Tatsu, so had that smell stuck in my head. But I would highly recommend doing sukiyaki, nabe or mizutaki if you don't know how to do these at home; this is Japanese cold-weather comfort food at it's best.

Their rib-eye steak was seriously delicious... this would easily be the most flavorful steak on any top steakhouses menu. Cooked perfectly rare/medium-rare, it had a nice bit of char on the outside, and is served, apparently, having been constantly basted in a sublime mix of sake, wine, butter, and soy sauce. Seriously good eats right there -

A long table of middle-aged Japanese women were enjoying their sushi rolls - they all looked delicious and I'm going to order some next time. The risk with sushi rolls that have a lot of elements is that so many places get one of those elements just plain wrong, and it just ruins the whole shebang for me.

Shochu is dangerous - it's very much a "slippery-slope" kind of liquor, and the buzz really creeps up on you and before you know it, you're hammered... so we were having a good old time and ordered an additional course of tempura - shiso, yam, shiitake, etc. - the tempura was perfect. i'm glad i did.

Anyway, for those looking for a completely non-pretentious, affordable, _comfortable_ Japanese restaurant, this place may be for you. And the BYOB certainly helps because, well, just go and try to get happy ordering sake and shochu by the glass at any Japanese restaurant. They're not exactly known for the long-pour....

Edited March 2, 2008 by raji (log)

[Pan]

I really appreciate the recommendation. I just looked the place up on menupages, and the prices look very fair.

Are they open for dinner only, or also for lunch?

Edited March 2, 2008 by Pan (log)

[raji]

I had no idea, so I called - their hours are 7pm - 2am, 5:30 - 11 on Sundays. TWO FREAKIN' A M. Thank you! Nice to know I there's a much better option than the St. Marks set. I ended up at Yokocho 2am Saturday night because that was one of few places open, and it was so hit-or-miss that I almost hopped the yakitori counter and slapped it's young "chefs".

But, no lunch. For lunch, I'd see who's holding teishoku lunches - they also just opened a GO!GO!CURRY at 2nd and 7th, should be a pretty good Katsu Curry

Anyway, KAMUI DEN, I'm there like white on rice

Edited March 2, 2008 by raji (log)

[feedmec00kies]

Thanks raji! Since I live in the area, it's good to know about options around me... I don't know nearly enough about restaurants in walking distance. I'll have to try this place sometime.

[raji]

Was back at Kamui Den last Friday night. Can't express how much of a deal this place is being BYOB. It really casts the wrong image of the place - their chef is easily better than the staffs of a lot of the big name places. Had a Tonkatsu their that's the best in the city. Their jidori platter was delicious. Anything they do with beef, delicious...

[Pan]

Raji, I really want to thank you for recommending this place. I went with mascarpone. We started by sharing:

Dengaku (broiled tofu, konnyaku, eggplant, with dengaku miso) and Nimono of sliced beef tongue.

I then had Kabayaki (broiled eel with unagi sauce) over rice (Does that give it a different name? I'm looking at the menupages.com menu right now and don't remember.)

mascarpone got 5 yellowtail rolls, some sashimi, and Nabeyaki Udon. I had one of the yellowtail rolls and liked it.

The eel was great, the dengaku was delicious, and the beef tongue nimono was really special - made with lean tongue that was very tender and had a wonderful beefy taste.

I think this is a terrific restaurant, and since it's so close to my apartment, I will become a regular.

[raji]

Only 5 :laugh: ?

You're welcome!

But, me and my big mouth. I went there with my friend last night at 9pm, and it was PACKED... the poor waitress was there by herself. So service was really slow - good thing there's that BYOB, you can pretty much help yourself. Split the steak and tonkatsu with my friend, preceded by ebi shinjo and a plate of saba sashimi - 12 pieces. my head still hurts, I gotta quit the shochu

So, I found out, the chef was actually a longtime chef at Hasaki, then opened this place a couple of years ago. Hence the heavy presence of sushi, which is fine, but I still strongly recommend the kitchen items.