Address: 3-15-17 Shinjuku (in the Isetan Kaikan building 8th floor)
Website: www.kushinobo.com
Type of Meal: Lunch
When you
think of fried Japanese food, tempura is likely the first thing that comes to
mind. During my visit to Japan, my husband and I happened to stumble across
Kushinobo and was introduced to kushikatsu or kushiage - in essence deep fried
skewers. Originating from Osaka, a variety of ingredients is breaded in panko,
skewered and then deep fried for bit-sized morsels of goodness.
Numerous
sauces are available including ketchup, mustard, kushiage sauce (a sweet Worcestershire
blend), salt, lemon juice, sesame sauce and ponzu (a citrusy soy sauce). All
the condiments sit on the table so you’re able to add as little or much as you
want. Luckily for us, the waitress at Kushinobo came by and pointed to each
space on the dish to tell us what sauce goes where. The finished product is
below and can be copied as a cheat sheet.
We settled on
their lunch special (¥1,575) offering eight skewers with an appetizer (in this
case a small dish of very fishy sardines that I couldn’t stomach), a pot of raw
veggies and a choice of grains:
- Steamed rice and miso;
- Hot tea over rice with salted sea kelp and pickles; and
- Rice and raw egg and pickles.
Wanting to
try something different but not desiring raw egg, I went with the hot tea over
rice. Dishes of salted sea kelp, puffed grains and sesame seeds were brought
over to allow me to top the rice. A small kettle of tea accompanied it and when
mixed with the condiments turned it into a hot savoury soup. With a few scoops
of pickled vegetables (inside jars on the table) the rice mixture was quite
hearty and delicious. In fact, I wouldn’t have mind having a larger bowl of
rice and tea with some grilled chicken.
Our first set
of skewers consisted of a shiitake mushroom topped with tartar sauce
(unexpectedly delicious as I wouldn’t think mushroom and tartar combines well),
pumpkin (decent but nothing exciting) and cubes of pork with scallions in
between (the scallions allowed the pork to retain its juiciness but the meat
was rather bland).
The seafood
skewers were more up my alley. My favourite of the meal was the squid wrapped
around a basil leaf which was tender and had just a bit of freshness to it.
Beside it the fish paste smeared on green pepper was also a nice combination.
It wouldn’t be
a meal without a fried shrimp which was fresh and decent but not nearly as sweet
as all the other shrimp I had up to this point in Japan.
To end, a
kabob of chicken cubes with celery (I liked it) and a root jelly with a sweet
bean paste. The second picture is the inside of the jelly; I have no idea
what exactly it is but remembered it also being in the hearty bowl of kenchin
udon from Kamakura Gozan Bekkan. If someone knows what this is called please
email me or post in the comments below. Really it doesn’t taste like much but a
thick gelatin and hint of taro?
In general,
kushiage seems less oily then tempura but is a bit harder on account of the
panko coating. The plethora of sauces is nice as it offers a lot of choice but
does tend to overpower the ingredients themselves. Thus, I found the ones that have
a herb accompanying it were more appetizing. However, kushiage does lend itself
to snack on with some drinks. So, perhaps it wasn’t the best choice for lunch
but accompanying a beer or cocktail would be perfect.
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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
