Kiraku

General Notes

Kiraku is a lovely Japanese izakaya just outside Berkeley's Southside. It is one of the best restaurants in the SF bay area. The food speaks for itself. The food incorporates simple and gentle flavors, allowing the ingredients to shine; the best of Japanese cuisine. It's mostly small plates too, which allows you to try a lot of different dishes. Apparently, the beer / sake is an essential part of the experience too (though we didn't order any). Would absolutely recommend giving it a try. Keep in mind that it's very popular, would definitely recommend getting a reservation.

Positives

> The servers provide you with a warm towel when you first sit down -- lovely!
> They have a "Daily Menu" that changes over time as well as a fixed menu; this allows you to try something new on the menu each time. Although the menu is quite large and it's unlikely that you'd ever get close to trying everything on their regular menu.
> Minor point -- their ceramics are lovely! And there's a lot of variety amongst their ceramics too.

Negatives

> The waitlist can get quite long -- definitely try to snag a reservation if you can.
> The overall atmosphere is pretty loud / crowded, it's definitely more of a casual environment.

Dishes Tasted

• ★★★★ Roasted Tea Blanc-manger -- Sort of like a panna cotta. Perfect conclusion to the meal, fairly strong green tea flavor without being too sweet.
• ★★★☆ Oyako Don -- simmered chicken, onion, and egg over rice. Cooked excellently, the pickles are a little weird
• ★★★★ Mini Kaisen Donburi -- salmon, ikura, sea urchin, negitoro over rice. Simple and delicious, I like that the rice is warm!
• ★★★☆ Tender Beef Tongue Skewer -- w/ yuzu miso sauce. Super tender, grilled well, decent flavor. I'm surprised that it doesn't really taste much like tongue.
• ★★★★ Corn Tempura -- with green tea sea salt. Incredibly delicious -- super well fried and the uneven texture of the corn gives it so much crispiness. Will definitely be trying to make this myself sometime.
• ★★★★ Roasted Duck Kiraku style -- incredible! duck breast, roasted, cut into thin small / thin pieces, served with some kind of sauce. The flavor / cook on this is perfect.
• ★★☆☆ Edamame -- nothing particularly noteworthy but pretty good
• ★★★★ Ankimo Mousse w/ Sweet Potato Chips -- pretty similar to the cauliflower panna cotta with uni dish, which I guess was a seasonal dish. Amazing flavor!
• ★★★☆ Sashimi Sampler (5pc) -- Seasonal sashimi -- varies depending on chef's choice. Overall, pretty solid. The otoro in particular was incredible.
• ★★★★ Yuzu Chicken Udon -- Noodles are chewy and perfectly cooked. Chicken is tender and has a lovely grilled flavor. But the true standout is the broth. It felt like too much yuzu at first, but over time it became just the right amount. Refreshing and intensely flavorful (which has been uncommon for udon). The Napa cabbage with the broth is SO good.
• ★★★☆ Lamb Negima Skewer -- The lamb is SO TENDER, I don't think I've ever had grilled lamb like this before. Lovely flavor (could use a touch more seasoning). Be careful -- the yellow dollop is actually wasabi.
• ★★★★ Bluefin Tuna Otoro (Spain) w/ Truffle Paste -- Pretty expensive at $9 per piece, but it was definitely worth it. This was an experience in of itself. Perfect amount of truffle and wasabi to complement the tuna and rice, and of course the tuna itself was absolutely amazing.
• ★★★☆ Agedashi Tofu -- I like that the dashi is thicker, which helps it cling to the tofu better, and that there's a bit less of it. It's very well fried, and maintains a good amount of the crispiness.
• ★★☆☆ Pork Belly Skewer -- A little tough (not quite as tender as I'd hope), but great flavor and the fermented paste pairs well with it.
• ★★★☆ Salmon, Mushroom, Lemon Rice Cream Croquette -- Well fried, nice flavor. Somewhat similar to a mix of arancini and a Spanish croquetta.
• ★★★★ Cauliflower Panna Cotta w/ Uni & Sweet Potato Chips -- dashi jelly sauce. One of the best dishes I've ever had. So creamy, and the flavor is absolutely amazing -- the cauliflower, cream, uni, and dashi go together so well. My only minor gripe was that the sweet potato chips were slightly dry as opposed to crispy, but that's a very minor point. Overall, amazing dish.
• ★★★☆ Black Cod -- So tender, almost buttery-like, with a lovely subtle flavor of miso.