kappa good

Forget Gary Danko, forget Michael Mina. Neither of those restaurants have impressed me or my foodie friends. To date, the only "high end" restaurant that I would recommend unequivocally was Myth... but Myth was never special occasion high end, and now its changed owners.

And then we met Kappa.

Certainly, Kappa doesn't seem like a schmancy place: it's upstairs from the Japantown Denny's, with an unmarked door, and seating for no more than 10. But the food, the service... its heavenly. Plus, one of the things that I was not impressed by Gary Danko was that the food they served was so generic. It was damn good, for sure, but I can get good foie gras just about anywhere these days.

Kappa is like no other restaurant - Japanese or otherwise - that I've been to. John and I went last Tuesday for his 30th birthday, and it was a wonderful experience. We ordered the omakase so we didn't have to think about what to order, and what paired well with what. We were the only two customers in the place until the last 30 mins, so Rumiko (the owner) fussed about us. Everything was superbly presented. All we had to do was to order a sake, and enjoy the food.

The omakase consisted of 8 courses of small plates - think tappas Japanese style. This included two appetizers, one sashimi platter, one soup, two desserts, and two mains. Even though each taste was just a morsel, by the end of the night, even Mr. Hollow Leg John was stuffed. Besides, the flavors were so rich and different that we were able to savor each bite.

It will be hard to top something like Kappa. But that's ok, that's why we have special occasions only occasionally.