March 25, 2007

Dinner at Kinokawa. A Japanese restaurant in Long Beach that has been there since the early 60's or late 50's. I remember going there in the early 60"s when I was first married. The place has gotten a little worn down but hey, we're all old and getting worn down. This was a dinner put together by a friend who has a "Wine & Dine" group . Every month there is a dinner at a small ethnic restaurant. Among the criteria is "small or no corkage" for the places he picks out, along with good food at reasonable prices. There were 18 people attending. Since we all brought bottles of wine, it is a miss mash of what is poured. I found that all the wines I tasted were good. Some didn't necessarily go with the food but that is not that important in this type of venue. Its always a "crap shoot" to what wines are brought but there is always enough to drink. It's always a lot of fun and "that's what it is all about".

Since he will put out the wine list on his next announcement I did not keep track of anything other than what I brought. I don't think its too important to know the entire list. This was his dinner and I won't tread on his territory. But I did bring a 2002 Windward Pinot and a bottle of Sake. I got into Sake after attending a seminar on it last year at Wine Country. The pinot was nice but not great. I'm finding for myself, that Windward is a little light and I'm really not to sure of the holding of this wine. I do not think it would have lasted another year. Since I'm starting to drink some really good pinot's , I will probably not buy anymore Windward.

I did make an other observation - 18 people and only 3 of us used chop sticks. The rest went with the "wimpy fork".

The menu for the evening is as follows - all good but personally for me I would have liked a little traditional sushi and less salads. But then the price jumps up so you can't have it your own way. It's a shared experience along with sharing the bill at the end.

Bean Sprout Salad
Cucumber Salad
Gyoza - filled with pork and vegetables
Jeff & Marta Sushi - tuna & avocado on top of spicy tuna roll
Vegetable Sushi - Asparagus, avocado, cucumber, gogo roots, radish sprouts & kanpyo
Chicken Yakitori
Salmon Sushi
Tempura - shrimp & vegetable
Tuna Sashimi
Beef Teriyaki
Salmon Teriyaki

The dishes I enjoyed the most were the bean sprout salad and the salmon teriyaki.

I've had better Gyoza and since I eat at a sushi restaurant near where I work a couple of times a week, I get really great sushi and sashimi. The tempura was nice but I think that the coating could have been a little lighter.

Overall the food was good, the wines were good and the company at the table were great. A good time was had by all.