Zipangu
Zipangu is by far one of the most interesting places I dine at, but it also left me with a lot of mix feelings about the overall experience there. Upon walking in, the décor gave off a vibe that made us feel like we were at a fancy lounge instead of a Japanese restaurant. The sushi bar was in the corner of the restaurant and seems to be smaller than their drink bar. But behind the sushi bar was a familiar face of a sushi chef from Kitayama. We had a pleasure of dining with him before, a few months ago, while he was still at Kitayama. Since then, he informed us that he left his old post seeking growth but pointed out that the majority of the patrons at Zipangu only orders maki, or cut rolls, that is offended handle by his assistants in the back.
Our sushi chef was quite eager when we started to order nigiri. While the Toro and Amberjack that they had was good, we were disappointed to find out that they were out of Uni and only had enough sweet shrimp for one order. One of the shortcoming of specialized in cut rolls, is that they don’t stock up on other items that aren’t commonly ordered. So to compensate, we ordered a few tapas items and a few items off their robata grill menu. The chef was even nice enough to bring out a few off menu items such as his special baked crab cake and it was delicious. The baked crab cake was the best thing we had all night. If we known about it sooner, we would just skipped all of the other fillers and gone straight for the crab cake. It was just that good. To end the night, he suggested the Green Tea Panna Cotta, which was the perfect follow up to the crab cake.
The overall experience was a positive one. Although, it did feel a bit strange to be only ones sitting at the sushi bar while everyone else flocked to the tables and lounge chairs. The tapas and grilled items were passing at best, but a bit overpriced. However, anything the sushi chef brought out was great, especially the baked crab cake. Zipangu definitely has a lot of potential, but just hasn’t realized it yet. It might be worthwhile to revisit them in six months.
LwehttaM 
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