Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Sake Social at Uchiko

I recently realized that Uchi and Uchiko both offer happy hour or "Sake Social" prices on select dishes everyday from 5 PM to 6:30PM!  I was psyched and Chinese New Year + the Friday Austin snow day put me in a celebratory mood.  We tried everything on the Sake Social menu at Uchiko plus a few dishes from their everyday and today's menu. 

Everything on the Sake Social menu is $3, $5, or $6.  And the lovely waitress informed us that they were offering a quail dish that wasn't on the menu for $8 during the Sake Social hour.  I had a blast eating everything!  I can't wait to check out the Uchi, The Cookbook launch party March 1st!

Gekkeikan - Warm Sake

Kakiage - crispy tempura fried sweet potato fritter, chili sauce

Uchi Salad - baby romaine, edamame jalapeño dressing

Nasu Nigiri - grilled japanese eggplant, sumiso, goma shio

Crunchy Spicy Tuna Hand Roll - big eye tuna, avocado, cucumber, aioli

The Yokai Berry was my favorite dish on the Sake Social menu.  It was tart, sweet, fresh, crispy, and crunchy, a spectrum of flavors in one dish.

Yokai Berry - atlantic salmon, dinosaur kale, asian pear, blueberry, yuzu

P-38 Hand Roll - japanese yellowtail, avocado, yuzu kosho, grilled negi

Avofry - yama gobo, pickled red pepper, soy paper, lemon miso

Koviche - fresh diver scallop, tomatillo, kalamata, black lime

Bacon Sen - grilled kurobuta pork belly, green onion, fish caramel

Ham & Eggs - katsu pork belly, yolk custard, espelette

Grilled Quail stuffed with rice served with pickled strawberries

Grilled Quail stuffed with rice served with pickled strawberries

Last time I came here, I wanted to try the Gyutan Toro, but Uchiko ran out of it that evening.  I made sure to order it this time.  The waiter suggested that we flip the nigiri over so that the beef tongue touches our tongues.  Sounds weird, eh?  But it's a fabulous idea because our taste buds got a kick out of absorbing the the fish caramel!
Gyutan Toro grilled beef tongue toro, fish caramel

We agreed unanimously that the Ao Saba was the best savory dish of the evening.  The grilled mackerel was incredibly juicy.  I savored every bite and used the last few chunks of the mackerel to wipe up all the berry juice.

Ao Saba - norwegian mackerel, bluefoot mushroom, onion, juniper, huckleberry

Ao Saba - norwegian mackerel, bluefoot mushroom, onion, juniper, huckleberry

The Skin and Bones was fun to eat but had a clean taste.  It was a nice lead into dessert!

Skin and Bones - coriander cured salmon, candied pomelo, salmon skin crackling, cured meyer lemon

I almost passed on dessert, but I was too curious about carrot soup for dessert to really end my meal with Skin and Bones.  This turned out to be the best surprise I've experienced at Uchi or Uchiko.  The carrot soup arrived, encased in a chocolate shell.  When we cracked the shell open, the soup flowed out onto a bed of dehydrated carrot cake pieces.  Genius and delicious!  My favorite Uchi/Uchiko dessert!  Please make this an "Everyday Menu" dessert!

Carrot soup, cream cheese cremeux, black walnut, shiso

Carrot soup, cream cheese cremeux, black walnut, shiso

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