Location: Kapahulu
Foodgasmic dish: Sakizuke, Grilled beef tongue
Thanks to a dinner at Wada last week, I had to rearrange my entire Top 10 Restaurant list; this is definitely one of the best restaurants I've been to recently. Wada just opened up a few months ago and is hidden behind the Papa John's on Kapahulu. Intimate and refined, this bright, white-walled and light wood-paneled restaurant only has about 9 tables. More restaurants should be like this. Service is excellent (as a result of the manager keeping a blatantly close eye on the abundant wait staff), and the dishes are some of the most interesting I've ever had.
 |
| the $55 "Wada" tasting menu is worth it! |
We got there around 6:30, which is the perfect time to come because it was completely packed an hour later. Mizuki and I started off with a couple of drinks - yuzu and something called Sweet Dreams. No idea what they are (I do know that the Sweet Dreams had some honey in it), but they were delicious.We decided to order the 6-course "wada" tasting menu for $55.
1st course: Sakizuki, which came with mushrooms, shrimp, and some other things that I couldn't recognize but only enjoy. Everything came in beautiful ceramic dishes that complemented the equally exquisite food.
 |
| Sakizuke |
2nd course: Zensai (raw beef and sea urchin). Yes, that's right, raw beef. And, look, America, I'm still alive and well. A piece of nori, a thin slice of raw beef, cucumber slices, and a bit of uni, dipped in soy sauce... absolutely delicious!
 |
| Zensai (raw beef and sea urchin) |
3rd course: Age Mono (baby scallops and seasonal vegetables). Mizuki assured me, "Sure it's fried, but they're vegetables, so it's healthy." I agree.
 |
| Age mono |
4th course: Tsukuri (3 varieties of sashimi). I almost felt bad about destroying this impeccably laid-out creation of raw seafood. There were a few sashimi with which I was unfamiliar, and all were melt-in-your-mouth perfect.
 |
| Tsukuri |
5th course: Kuroge Wahugyu Beef Tongue & Harami (diaphragm). That's the oddest way of spelling wagyu beef. Our waiter brought out a stone ishikaya grill and started the fire on our table. We were each given 8 paper-thin slices of raw beef tongue. Best beef tongue I've had (and I even cooked it myself!). Our waiter instructed us to cook the first side for 5 seconds and the second side for 3 seconds. Of course, these instructions were too complicated for me, so I think I ended up grilling mine for about 6 seconds on each side. Whatever, they still tasted amazing.
6th course: Shime - we were given a choice of "Wada" Shiso Gohan (rice flavored with sesame and shiso leaves) or Hiyashi Tan Tongue Men (noodles). We ordered both and shared. Our waiter took over our grill and cooked us a bunch of tender beef, bean sprouts, and onions to go with our rice and noodles.
Dessert: Kanmi (milk pudding). It's basically creme brulee without the hard crust, which sounds really depressing but it was so rich that I could care less that it was more of a flan than anything else. The kanmi was served with a side of fruit, which I so generously slid over to Matt.
 |
| Milk pudding and tea |
The only insignificant flaw I can think of is that this place requires valet. I happen to love valet, but in this case, the valet actually came in during our meal and handed everyone their keys (and demanded $3) because he was taking off for the night. After such impeccable service from the actual restaurant, the [lack of] service from the valet company caught everyone off guard.
