Tour de Nippon: Kamakura Japanese Restaurant

Arguably the oldest Japanese restaurant in Champaign-Urbana, Kamakura has been around for a long time.  About fifteen years ago it was a small stand-alone hole-in-wall place over on Philo Road where CVS is now located.  Back then the rule of thumb about sushi was never to order any of the discount sushi from Monday to Wednesday because the fish wasn’t fresh.

Almost twenty years later things have changed with the advent of flash frozen fish filets and other fresh seafoods ready for our consumption.  Since then Kamakura has moved from their original location to the new one on Neil in Champaign.

What makes Kamakura unique among all the Japanese restaurants in C-U are Japanese ownership (versus the predominantly Korean owned places around town) and a teppan grill, a la Benihana.

The last time we were at Kamakura, my #1 dining partner had a rather bad reaction to the naruto he had with his udon, which was at least two years ago.  This time there was no such thing as we went there for our annual pre-Christmas meal.

Shrimp and scallop tempura at Kamakura Japanese Restaurant

The tempura were acceptable, although the shrimp were quite small.

Ramen at Kamakura Japanese Restaurant

#1DP ate his ramen, although his only complaint was that it smelt like pee.    No comment from me.

Tonkatsu dinner bento box at Kamakura Japanese Restaurant

My meal was the tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet) dinner bento (meal in a box).  There were a lot of food – soup to start, a salad, tempura, steamed veggies, the cutlet itself, rice, and sushi (see below).  A few down sides were an over peppered fried rice, no sauce for the tempura or tonkatsu, and the salad not being well covered by dressing.

Inigiri from Kamakura Japanese Restaurant

One of the things I don’t like about Kamakura (or any other place with teppan in general) is the poor ventilation.  Diners may come out of the place smelling a bit like the grill.  For all we had the price was rather affordable.  If we can’t make it to Yellowfin, Kamakura is a good second choice.

On the road: Chicago

My apologies for not having written in a while (cold weather slows me down and my attention span’s been rather short lately).  With a little time off from work I decided to take a quick trip up to Chicago.

I got in rather late to Chicago via Amtrack and thought I’d meet up with my brother, but didn’t come by the hotel until even later, so…  On the hotel’s recommendation I walked to the Emerald Loop for some grub.  Couldn’t take a picture because the bar was dark, but I had their Mac Piggy, which was a saucy macaroni and cheese with bacon, Andouille sausage, and ham on top.  It was big and tasty enough (to my poor taste buds).  Plus a pint of Harp.

Afterwards it was a trip to the Hopleaf, which is an Uptown gastropub.  Bro complained about how he had been there four times last week (but it’s one of his favorite places).  Good beers, and an equally good kitchen.  Hopefully he’ll take me to some his other places next time I’m in town in cognito.

The next day I wound up walking around the Macy’s area (formerly Marshall Fields) on State Street.  For lunch I stopped at this place called Wow Bao. 

Wow Bao at the Renaissance Hotel, Chicago

It looks to be a chain of restaurants specializing in modernized select Asian dishes, namely bao, which is a steamed bun normally filled with a savory or sweet filling (probably one of the first “fast” foods!)

Wow Bao at the Renaissance Hotel, Chicago

You can either go in and order or advance order from one of the two kiosk in front of the restaurant.  Wow Bao offers three kinds of potstickers, soups, bowls, salads, drinks (hot/cold).

Wow Bao at the Renaissance Hotel, Chicago

There were various flavors of stuffings available for the bao buns – BBQ pork, Thai chicken curry, terriyaki chicken, et al.

Ordering bao buns from Wow Bao

After some time perusing the choices and experiencing some navigational difficulties (on my part), I ordered five potstickers, a cup of Thai herbal soup, a Thai chicken curry bao bun, and a glass of hibiscus lemonade.

L to R (clockwise) Hibiscus lemonade, Thai herbal soup, Thai chicken curry bao, chicken potstickers from Wow Bao

All that was for about $9.00, which I felt gipped by.  Having grown up on large (albeit it was mostly dough) bao buns from a now defunct Chinatown restaurant, I found Wow Bao’s buns not to be too, well, wow.  The potstickers weren’t too bad (although small), the soup (it was actually flavored broth) good but really hot, and the lemonade tasty.  The Thai chicken curry bao was good, just small.  Overall the food was good (enough) and the service fast (using the kiosk).

Friday evening Bro and I went out to eat.  We went to Cocoro on Wells Street (my brother eats out a lot and has friends all over).  Many of us Japanese food afficionados are rather particular about the places we eat at.  Due to limitations in Chambana I had to make an exception (see Yellowfin).

Grilled squid and buttered scallops at Cocoro

We started off with grilled squid and buttered scallops.  They were good, althouth I couldn’t really tell due to my taste buds.  Bro had two pieces of inigiri sushi.

Fatty salmon and unidentified fish inigiri from Cocoro Japanese Restaurant

For the main course Bro had their spicy ramen.

Spicy ramen from Cocoro Japanese Restaurant

As for me I had their Chirashi:

Chirashi from Cocoro Japanese Restaurant

It was a work of art – a rose made out of tuna, a fresh shrimp with its head on.

Green tea ice cream

To finish it all off I ordered green tea ice cream.  It was good, the green tea flavor strong and true.  Overall the experience at Cocoro was good.  I wish I could have enjoyed it more, but darn taste buds…

Yellowfin Japanese Restaurant

As someone who discriminately loves food, I am somewhat picky when it comes to quality and authencity.  And that is none truer than with Japanese cuisine.  Having lived in Japan for two and a half years, I was able to eat the real thing (although now I wished I’d done a more thorough culinary tour of the country).  To have utterly authentic Japanese food that is truly tasty is hard but not impossible.  (I’ll write my thoughts on Japanese cuisine later, I promise!)

In Champaign-Urbana there are several Japanese restaurants, about 5-10 more than a decade ago (I plan to write an article on all the Japanese restaurants in town, but that will be for a later date).  I’ve been to several and the one that I think is the best in terms of how often I return is Yellowfin.

Located right next door to Lee’s Oriental Grocery near Kirby and Neil, Yellowfin is actually owned and run by Koreans.  Those who know about the history of these two countries will certainly appreciate the irony.  Nevertheless the food at Yellowfin is still good.

The people at Yellowfin like to give out special little appetizers and desserts whenever they’re available.  It can be squid salad, cucumber rolls, or raw oysters.  This time it was pumpkin soup.  Light and delicate, it wasn’t too bad (I wasn’t too critical about it as I normally would when the sushi chef asked me about it, since I don’t think it was going to be added to the regular menu).

Pumpkin soup at Yellowfin Japanese Restaurant

 We ordered the Tempura Appetizer, which had shrimp, calimari, pumpkin, asparagus, and bellpepper.  Normally light and not greasy, the tempura this time was on the slightly greasy side.  The dipping sauce was okay.

Tempura appetizer from Yellowfin Japanese Restaurant

 #1 Dining Partner had the usual, their spicy ramen.  Yes, the noodle may look instant, but at least the overall affect was tasty and spicy.  There’s mushroom, shrimp, and veggies.

Spicy ramen from Yellowfin Japanese Restaurant

As for me I had the usual chirashi (aka “scattered rice” in Japanese), calimari tempura roll and salmon skin handroll. 

Chirashi from Yellowfin Japanese Restaurant

 Cost-wise, a chirashi is normally a good deal.  If you break it down into servings of inigiri sushi (think “fingers”) then the cost could be a bit more.  Yellowfin’s chirashi usually has salmon, tuna, egg, shrimp, a few other available fish, and kampo.  The seasoned rice is sprinkled with a sesame/seaweed sprinkle for added flavor.

Salmon skin handroll and calamari tempura roll from Yellowfin Japanese Restaurant

 Personally I’m not a big fan of salmon skin because of the taste and the tendency for it to be somewhat chewy at times.  The roll itself wasn’t bad, just not my favorite.  The calamari tempura roll was okay too.

Overall Yellowfin Japanese Restaurant has been consistent with my palate and my stomach.  I do wish the sushi rice in most place be more flavorful (meaning up the vinegar, sugar, and salt a bit more) and you wouldn’t need soy sauce.  But for those who don’t want to hike to Chicago, or better yet Japan, this place is good enough.

**** 1/2 out of *****

Road Trip: Chicago

During the Saturday of Homecoming Weekend (Go Illini!) my #1 Dining Partner and I drove up to Chicago for a quick daytrip.  After purchasing a case of frozen, partially cooked spicy fish cakes from Bangkok Plaza (the price per package went up by about a buck) we stopped for lunch at our favorite Vietnamese place, Hai Yen.

Not much to report this time, other than that I tried Bo La Lot and Bo Lui for the first time.  Both were really tasty, of course MN1DP didn’t care for either dishes.

Bo Lui (upper left) & Bo La Lot (bottom right)

And what would our lunch be if we didn’t have the gratuitous bowl of pho 🙂

An order of pho with extra beef and beefballs

 Afterwards we drove across town to Mitsuwa to shop for some Japanese grocery items.  I’ll have to do a separate article on what delights you can purchase there.  Couldn’t this time because we ate or drunk most of it.  Gomen desai.

For dinner I’d planned to go to Bonefish Grill, but it was packed and we didn’t have the time to wait an hour for a table.  Oh, well, next time.  Instead we settled for Todai (*Big Groan*).  If there was ever an ethnic cuisine (besides Chinese) that was not meant to be served buffet style, it’s Japanese.

Yeah, it’s great and all that Todai serves all-you-can-eat “Japanese” food, but for the price they charge (especially on the weekends) don’t plan to eat there frequently.  With lunch still parked in our stomachs, we were really hungry (but had to eat something since we wouldn’t get home until late).

Todai at Woodfield Mall

MN1DP had a couple of servings of tempura udon and a few other stuff, while I had two plates worth of sushi and sashimi.  There were plenty of food to choose from, but none of them seem worth the while of gorging.

Todai at Woodfield Mall

 There were many families there, eating lots of crab legs and sushi.  This was my second time eating at a Todai and believe you me, I will probably never set foot in this place again.

Sticker shock!

Travels with UrbanaFare: Seattle 2011

Towards the end of June I decided to finally take a much needed personal vacation to Seattle.  Why Seattle?  Having been involuntarily stuck in the Midwest, I’d wanted to go somewhere far away, to a place that was exotic enough for this Midwesterner.

I chose Seattle, specifically the Pike Public Market as my focal point.   One restaurant I went to was based on the hotel’s recommendation, another was considered one of the best in its genre, and another because it just happened to be there.

First off I made a reservation for The Tamarind Tree right before I left for Seattle.  Located towards the back of a strip mall in Chinatown, it can be easily missed if you don’t know where it is.  It started out as a small hole-in-the-wall type Vietnamese restaurant before its current incarnation as a smart and hip eatery.

Normally I hate smart and hip if it wasn’t good and tasty.  Luckily The Tamarind Tree met with my strict criteria.  The place consists of a good-sized indoor facility offset by a patio-style outdoor dining area.  I chose outside, not knowing how it really looked.

Outside the tables were covered by an awning that proved too small and inept at keeping the infamous Seattle rain at bay.  Several patrons had to be moved while the owner/manager and his staff scrambled to adjust seating arrangements.

But once seated I placed my order.  Having checked out the menu on line, I knew what I wanted.  Friday night saw me ordering the Bánh cuốn dặc biệt ~ Special steamed roll, Gỏi xoài ~ Green mango salad,

Phở tái/chín nạm/bò viên ~ Rare/cooked beef  and meatball pho, and Gỏi cuốn ~ Spring rolls with steamed shrimp.

For dessert I had the four scoop ice cream sampler – durian, coffee, pandan leaf, and chili pepper.  Under no circumstances do you order chili pepper with any other flavor unless you’re prepared to die a fiery death.

A few days later saw me eating there again (happened to be in the area, but had a long, hard trek to get there).  This time I had Nem nướng Sài Gòn ~ Saigon meatballs satay, Gỏi đu đủ ~ Green papaya salad, and another bowl of the same pho.

The first time everything was delicious!  Of note were the Bánh cuốn dặc biệt ~ Special steamed roll (which is not found too often in American Vietnamese menus), Gỏi xoài ~ Green mango salad, and the pho.  The pho’s broth was so good that I didn’t mind the missing herb plate and squirt bottles of Hoisin and chili sauces.

On Sunday the only thing that stood out was the Nem nướng Sài Gòn ~ Saigon meatballs satay, everything else was a little lackluster, including my beloved pho.  But after looking at their menu again I’ll definitely go to The Tamarind Tree the next time I’m in Seattle!

Tamarind soda embellished with salted peanuts

L: Saigon Meatball Satay, T: Tamarind Soda, R: Papaya Salad

Pho with raw/cooked beef and meatball, not so great the second time around

Toasted coconut, durian, pandan, and coffee ice cream

I will be writing a little bit more tomorrow, along with a revision of this article, so stay tuned!

Welcome to UrbanaFare!

This blog is dedicated to exploring food and other edibles (plus liquids) found in, around, and outside of, Champaign-Urbana.  Those who know me know that I am very picky when it comes to food, especially dining out.  With the economy in a tailspin, it’s hard to eat out as often as we would like, let alone get good food.  In Champaign-Urbana alone, three restaurants have closed their doors within the past several months.  I don’t like to write reviews that are all sweetness and light.  I like to get into my food (although not literally) and see if what I eat is worth the money I’m paying with.  If something sucks, I’ll let you know, and why.

We won’t be exploring just food, but also product discoveries, some book reviews, and maybe, just maybe, some cooking show reviews.  There might be some hard hitting articles from time to time that I invite readers to respond to, especially if you’re not from around here and would like to input what’s going on in the food scene where you live.