Japanese KitKat (Red Sweet Potato, Shinshu Apple and Kyushu Strawberry)

My friend at work JCOS gave me some of their specialty KitKats that they got when traveling around Japan last September. Thanks JCOS! The below is my review of these special KitKats that are unique to Japan.

Red Sweet Potato.  It's purple!

Red Sweet Potato

Very nice packaging.  This is a special Okinawa/Kyushu version, which is interesting in the sense that I didn't realize that Okinawa/Kyushu were known for their sweet potato.  While the label says red, the KitKat is actually a light purple color.  Will that affect the taste of the KitKat?  Let's take a bite:

The initial bite has that doughy, starchy sweet potato taste.  There is a slight, savory aroma of steamed sweet potato that accompanies each bite.  It starts off well but after a few bites, the aftertaste is definitely white chocolate with only a hint of sweet potato. What's interesting is that while all subsequent bites taste like white chocolate, that initial bite was definitely sweet potato. I had something salty before eating the KitKat so if I cleanse my palate, I was curious if I would get get that same sweet potato taste. I do the following:

• drink a sports drink
• drink water
• eat a couple of potato chips

I then take another bit of the KitKat.  Yes, yes ... sweet potato again!  At this moment, I decide that I need green tea.  Eating Japanese KitKat felt like I was eating wagashi (traditional Japanese sweets) and the whole experience needed a cup of tea to go with it.  I found some packets of oolong tea and made myself a hot cup.  I unfortunately spilled some tea over my hand but was determined to continue with my taste review.  The tea hit the spot but it did not get rid of the overpowering white chocolate taste.  I decided that to counterbalance the white chocolate aftertaste, I needed more potato chips.  I ate a handful.  Man, potato chips taste good.

Pros:  nice packaging, purple, initial bite does indeed taste like biting into a steamed sweet potato from a street vendor

Cons:  lingering white chocolate aftertaste, drinking oolong team doesn't help (next time, I'm going to try green tea)

Verdict:  better than I had expected.  But the dominating white chocolate taste makes this more white chocolate than sweet potato

Shinshu Apple.  It looked like a regular KitKat but with magical apple power!

Shinshu Apple KitKat

Opening up the Shinshu Apple KitKat packaging, you're greeted with a very robust apple smell but tempered with the smell of KitKat chocolate.  Will this taste better than the white chocolate/sweet potato hybrid?  I take a bite (and yes, I have my cup of hot green tea with me).

A very rich, chocolate taste with a hint of green apple, very different from the Sweet Potato KitKats. I have to say that I like the combination:  the sweetness of apple and the smoothness of milk chocolate go hand in hand; no white chocolate aftertaste.  This one is definitely habit forming but not as habit forming as a can of Pringles.  

Pros:  Nice packaging.  Great mix of apple and chocolate.

Cons:  there were only two wafers

Verdict:  sweet, fragrant, a perfect harmony of sweet apples and milk smooth chocolate for a delicious combination

Strawberry KitKat.  It was pink and delicious.

Strawberry KitKat

This is the special Kyushu edition ... that's where my parents are from.  Kyushu Strawberry comes in a creamy pink color with a faint smell of artificial strawberries.  Just having finished Shinshu Apple, I drink more tea to make sure the lingering apple taste does not affect my judgement of the Strawberry KitKat.  How does it taste?  Let's find out:

The first bite reminds me of strawberry ice cream in a cake cone.  Yup, it's the taste of ice cream, strawberries and crispy cake cone, all rolled up into one.  Very delicious.  No white chocolate aftertaste but no chocolate taste either; it's like pure artificial strawberry goodness

Pros:  strawberries, cream and KitKat wafer goodness

Cons:  strawberries and nothing else  

Verdict:  savory strawberry flavor with KitKat crunch.  There isn't anything unnecessary about these KitKats.  It's pure strawberry + KitKat goodness put together.  I like it

Overall:

Strawberry was fine but it was just strawberry.  Score:  5/10

Apple combines chocolate and apple together and works splendidly.  Score 6.5/10

Red Sweet Potato tried too hard and copied too much of white chocolates flair.  Score: 4/10

Winner of this round:  Apple

Kukai Ramen & Izakaya

Up until now, you had to go out of state or out of country to get good ramen.  Yes, there are a number of restaurants in the Seattle area that serve ramen but none of them were considered as "good".  Boom Noodle (which was in Bellevue Square but no longer) was pretty much all style and no taste with their ramen selection.  I read about Kukai opening up late last year to positive reviews and had to try it out to see if this was the best ramen in town.  I'm happy to say that it indeed lives up to that statement.

"... had to try it out to see if this was the best ramen in town"

My friends and I arrived at Kukai at around 1:30pm, missing the lunch crowd.  I heard that at noon, the wait can be pretty long so we were lucky that we were seated within 5 minutes.  The restaurant is long and narrow, with tables and chairs aligned on one side of the restaurant and an open kitchen on the other side. Walking inside, we were greeted with a warm "Irasshaimase" and once seated, we were greeted to a generous selection of appetizers and ramen.  From shio (salt) to shoyu (soy sauce based) to tonkotsu (pork broth), Kukai has the full set of ramen choices, including chicken ramen, spicy and shio yuzu (salt with citrus fruit) ramen.  I was tempted to get the shoyu ramen but saw that they had tsukemen (ramen noodles (either hot or cold) served on a plate with dipping sauce) and had to try it out.  Didn't try any of the appetizers so I'll have to come back to try them out.

My friends had the shoyu ramen.  The presentation of the ramen was ok; the topping were few and scattered around the top.  I was half expecting some bean sprouts and a dash of sesame seed oil but overall, it was serviceable.  I didn't get a taste of it but something to try out next time.

Shoyu Ramen:  soy sauce based broth with spinach, seaweed, bamboo shoots and chashu (pork)

 Tsukemen (noodles with dipping sauce):  wider noodles with spinach, shredded seaweed, bamboo shoots, and chashu (pork).  Delicious.

The tsukemen, on the other hand, was sheer perfection.  The noodles mixed with the shoyu based dipping sauce was super tasty.  The wider noodle lends itself well since there is more surface area to pick up the flavorful broth.  You get a good mix of slurping and chewing that made the eating experiene a pleasure.  The dipping sauce itself was slightly sweet with some tanginess, and mixed with scallions and a little chili powder, it was a welcome variation to the standard issue ramen.  The chashu pork was tender and almost melted in my mouth and elevated an already delicious dish to super yummy goodness.  I really liked it a lot.

Kukai is, without a doubt, the best ramen in town.  It certainly rivals Santoka Ramen in Vancouver, BC and a lot of the other ramen shops in the Los Angeles area.  It's certainly closer so I highly recommend going.

Kukai Ramen & Izakaya
14845 Main St
Bellevue 98007
425-243-7527
http://kukai-ramen.com/index.html

Daniel's Broiler

My wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary and my birthday in August.  It was a belated celebration and were fortunate enough to get away from the kids (who were at a sleepover) to enjoy an evening out at Daniel's Broiler.

"What can I say?  14 ounces of beefy goodness"

Situated on the 21st floor of the Bank of America building in downtown Bellevue, it commands an impressive view of Bellevue, Lake Washington and downtown Seattle with the Olympic Mountains in the background.  We arrived a little bit before 6pm and while the restaurant was bustling with folks, we were seated immediately and greeted by our server.  He asked us if we celebrating anything special and after telling him about our belated anniversary and birthday, he congratulated us, which was very nice of him.  He made some fabulous wine and appetizer recommendations and left us to look over the menu.  My wife ordered a glass wine, based on the waiter's recommendation and ordered the Spicy Barbecue Prawns.

Meaty shrimp.  Tangy sauce.  Great way to start a meal.  Oh!, and there was bread!

I was half expecting the shrimp to be on a skewer drenched in thick brown barbecue sauce so I was surprised to see the appetizer look more like Shrimp in Chili Sauce, something similar to what we had at Guu With Garlic.  It had the right amount of barbecue tanginess without being overly sweet and hearty meatiness with each morsel of shrimp that made a great starter dish.  I would have liked to have seen more shrimp.

My wife ordered the Lobster Club Salad, which had a generous serving of lobster meat mixed in with dressing and garnished with avocado and egg on top of mixed greens and tomatoes.  The dressing was a wonderful combination of thousand island, red wine vinegar, soy sauce and lemon juice.  It looked great but alas, I didn't get to try it out since my dish had arrived at the same time. 

Lobster Club Salad ... lobster meat, avocado, egg, mixed greens, and little bacon bits ... yum.

I ordered the rib eye, medium rare with a side of garlic mashed potatoes.  What can I say?  14 ounces of beefy goodness, cooked to tender perfection with loads of flavor.  The garlic mashed potato was very tasty.

It's a steak.  Of course it was good.

We ate slowly, savoring every bite and enjoying the lovely ambiance of the restaurant.  Once we were done with our meal, our waiter brought out the dessert menu.  We spent a good amount of time, pouring over each of the dessert entries and almost came to a decision (I was going to get the cheesecake) when our waiter came over with dessert, compliments of the restaurant.  He again congratulated us on our anniversary, my birthday, our getting away from the kids and brought the following:

Mmmm ... dessert and candles.

This was a pleasant surprise:  his and hers dessert with mini chocolate cake, fruits and a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a candle.  Our waiter said it was on the house, which was a very nice gesture on the part of the restaurant.  We were tempted to still order dessert (I want my cheesecake, dammit) but we were full so this little sampler set was the perfect size and the perfect way to top a wonderful evening.  Highly recommended, whether you're celebrating something or not.

Daniel's Broiler - Bellevue

10500 N.E. 8th, 21st Floor

Bellevue, WA 98004

425.462.4662

http://www.schwartzbros.com/daniels-broiler/daniels-bellevue/

Hawksworth

My brother was attending a conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and since it was just a short drive up from Seattle, I thought I would visit and hang out with him for a couple of days.  We both love Vancouver; there is something extremely cosmopolitan about the city without being too tourist-y.  I will admit, however, that there is one glaring problem with Vancouver:  there are just too many good restaurants to choose from.  Both my brother and I scanned through a countless number of Yelp and TripAdvisor reviews of restaurants in the Vancouver area, covering the whole gamut of culinary goodness:  French, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Northwest seafood.  You name it, there's a good restaurant for it.

So, upcoming arriving in Vancouver and meeting up with my brother, we must have spent at least a good 20 minutes on trying to decide on where to eat.  When we couldn't decide on a restaurant, I blurted out "Hawksworth", based on a strong recommendation from one of my co-workers (thanks JCOS!).  So, we looked at the reviews on Yelp and yup, they were mostly positive.  We then looked at the website and wow!  Those pictures on their site looks scrumptious.  So, it was decided right then and there:  we were off to Hawksworth.

Located in the Rosewood Hotel off of Georgia St. in the middle of bustling downtown Vancouver, you walk into the darkened entry and are greeted by a couple of elegantly dressed receptionists.  Very classy.  We were led through a comfy looking lounge into the main dining area, where our table was situated next to a wall.  It was about 5:30pm so it wasn't crowded.  A French gentlemen, who mentioned that he was from the south of France but whose name for the life of me I cannot remember, was our waiter and he reminded me much of Bronson Pinchot (Balki from Perfect Strangers (or better yet, Serge from Beverly Hills Cop)).  I half expected him to ask me if I wanted an espresso with a little lemon twist.

We opened up the menu.  There were so many enticing entree choices.  My original choice was getting the caramelized alberta striploin with shishito peppers but my brother saw the For Sharing menu item and decided that we should both get it.  What is the For Sharing menu item?  30 oz heritage angus bone in ribeye with potato gnocchi, summer vegetables, crispy marrow with a red wine jus and butter hollandaise sauce.  All for the low down price of $125CAD.  So, it was decided right then and there:  For Sharing, medium rare.  Pro:  red meat!  Somewhat of a con:  30 minute wait for it to be cooked to perfection.

My brother wanted an appetizer and ordered the English Pea Soup, which had lobster and prosciutto with a black pepper creme fraichi.  I passed on an appetizer because I wanted to save room for dessert.  After a few minutes, my brother's soup arrived ... in style and made me realize that I should have gotten an appetizer as well.  Missed opportunity!

English Pea Soup

The soup bowl contained lobster bits and prosciutto while the pea soup came in its own container.  The waiter (who still hadn't asked me if I wanted an espresso with a little lemon twist) then poured the hot pea soup into the soup bowl, mixing with the lobster bits, creating a very hot and fresh take on soup presentation.  I took a sip and it was divine.  Very creamy and flavorful.

After a 30 minute wait, the ribeye arrived ... also in grand fashion.

30 oz Heritage Angus Bone In Rib Eye with Crispy Bone Marrow ... pure awesome

Mmmm ... potato gnocchi with summer vegetable bourquetiere.

Two great tastes that tastes great together

Crispy Marrow.  Bite-size explosions of flavor 

The presentation itself was marvelous.  My initial reaction in seeing a large bone with a slab of meat attached to it as dinner was something to the effect of watching Fred Flintstone eating dinner.  It was barbaric and there was something of a caveman vibe to it.  But we were hungry so we dove in, caveman style.

The meat had the right amount of pink; not bloody but certainly not the toughness you would find in a medium cooked steak.  Biting into it was heaven:  tender but not chewy, flavorful without the need of any sauce.  The outside of the steak was slightly seasoned which complimented the earthy taste of raw beef.  Add that to the summer vegetables and the potato gnocchi and you have yourself a splendid meal.  There were two sauces that accompanied the steak:  the Chimichurri red wine jus and the butter hollandaise.  The red wine jus had a slightly sweet taste of sweetened soy sauce but without the salty aftertaste.  The butter hollandaise was very creamy with a slight tang of yogurt which was a nice contrast with the red wine jus.  I preferred the red wine jus but in all honesty, I ate most of the rib eye without any sauce at all.  Overall, the ribeye was a winner.

I should mention about two things:  the potato gnocchi and the crispy marrow.  At first glance, the puffy/crispy bits of marrow on the ribeye looks like simple garnishments but it's part of the meal.  I took a bite into one, half expecting to bite into something like an onion ring.  Instead, to my surprise, it was very tasty:  crisp like an onion ring but packed full of rich flavor.  For the gnocchi, I wasn't sure if these were baked or pan fried but there was a slight fried texture to the potato gnocchi that gave it a slightly tarter-tot meets pasta taste.  Both added so much to the main dish and vegetables.

It took my brother and I some time to go through the meal but we weren't in a hurry and we somehow managed to eat the whole thing.  Here's the proof:

Yabba dabba done

How do you top of a meal as grand as a 30oz angus rib eye?  With extravagent dessert, of course.  I was full but there is always room for dessert (thanks to my second stomach dedicated to desserts, sweets and the occasional appetizer as dessert).  My brother got the passionfruit, coconut and white chocolate while I went for the chèvre cheesecake.

Passionfruit, Coconut and White Chocolate

Not your ordinary cheesecake:  chèvre cheesecake with green apple sorbet and walnuts

I didn't get to try the passionfruit, coconut, white chocolate triple threat that my brother had but it looked very inviting.  Presentation, for both desserts, were great.  When I think cheesecake, I typically think of the thick New York style cheesecakes with the graham cracker crust.  This cheesecake was much different but just as delicious:  the cheesecake itself, which was shaped like a tube, was very light and fluffy, almost like whipped cream.  Next to it was a walnut cookie with a dollop of green apple sorbet.  I think they should rename the dessert as Green Apple Sorbet with chèvre cheesecake because the spotlight was definitely the sorbet:  lightly sweet with a tangy green apple taste that went well with the crispy texture of the walnut cookie.  The yuzu marinated apple cubes and the caramelized walnuts raised the dessert to the new level of dessert deliciousness.  However, the kicker was the brown butter sauce droplets.  They dot the the dessert plate and one taste simply blasts you with so much rich, cinnamon-y flavor.  Highly recommended.

In fact, if you're going to be treating yourself to a fine meal with excellent service, I highly recommend going to Hawksworth.  From beginning to end, each portion of the meal was delicious.  Upon leaving, we were presented with one last bit of dessert:  fruit jelly candy and marshmallows.  

Delicious to the end, a great dining experience at Hawkworth

Hawksworth Restaurant

801 West Georgia Street

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

604-673-7000 extension 1

Located in the Rosewood Hotel Georgia, corner of Howe & Georgia