Innovation is not a small animal. It takes a creative mind, along with skilled hands, to be innovative in an ever-progressing culinary world. Shokudo is a place that I consider to be innovative. Not because of what it is, per se, but more because of what it's not.
The restaurant is not the average Japanese fusion joint that sprinkles wasabi powder on a filet of Mahi and calls it a day. It's not gummed up by ill-fitting sauces or ingredients. It isn't Eurasian, but rather embraces it's Japanese-ness while allowing modern American and European influences to uplift it to something new.
Take the Mochi Cheese Gratin, for instance. Christ, I remember when I first tried this dish. I was incredulous. Cheese, on mochi, with nori, in a soy broth. What the hell? Does that honestly sound like a good combination to you?
Well, it tastes that way, that's for sure. Take a French idea (the baked gratin), add an Italian cheese (mozzarella), along with the prerequisite Japanese stuff (mochi, soy broth, nori), and what do you get? A dish that's damn delicious but is still unapologetically Japanese. It is. You're not going to see mochi used like this in many other places.
In effect, the restaurant is more about taking Japanese food from it's earthy, simplistic fare and injecting it with a newfound passion without abandoning those roots. It's innovative not for creating something particularly new but for taking a style of cuisine and sticking it into a different environment. When's the last time you've eaten agedashi tofu in a hip restaurant where they sell Calpis vodka martinis? Combine that with the sharing-friendly presentations and you've got yourself a damn enjoyable lunch or dinner joint to hit with friends or family.
After all, if you're paying someone to make you food, it might as well be worth the time and money.
It is at Shokudo. The aforementioned agedashi tofu is good, even if it is one of the most traditional items on the menu. Fresh made tofu, quickly dunked in hot fat, forms a sometimes-chewy, sometimes-crisp outer layer. Throw that in a soy sauce-base broth (Maybe the same kind in the gratin? Either way, it goes good with both items...) with some savory katsuobushi shavings and green onions and you've got yourself a refreshing, light appetizer that starts the meal off well.
The lobster dynamite is an other dish to try. The idea of a "dynamite" (pretty much anything drenched in mayo and baked) dish is something that is quickly becoming a trend in the US as well as Japan (Disagree? Look at okonomiyaki, glazed in Japanese mayo, and tell me that you disagre). It's studded with little pieces of lobster, along with a melange of vegetables, including broccoli, carrots, and zucchini. Unfortunately, the time I had it, the broccoli was undercooked (it crunched unhappily undertooth) while the zucchini was overdone (it squished unhappily undertooth). It's still a taste to try, though, especially when the veg is spot-on. Get extra garlic toast. It's crunchy and buttery - a perfect utensil for scooping up the sauce.
Unagi rice? Always a favorite. It comes steaming and toasting in a stone bowl, which is mixed up by the server. A trick? Let that sucker sit for a while and smell those rice kernels caramelize. The taste and texture of the near-burnt stuff is delightful and brings a whole new dimension to the dish. Don't forget to pour some vinegar on it (which arrives in a scalding little tea pot).
The pork was the low point of the meal. It was severely overcooked; most likely a careless error in the kitchen (I'm guessing the pork was cooked right, but sat on the pass for some time, cooking even more on the hot iron platter). The somewhat-stringy, dry meat was a shame to behold, especially because pork is an easy protein to cook. The onions were tasty, however - glazed in a ginger-soy sauce, it was a nice bed for the crappy pork chops. But you don't get kurobuta pork for the the bed of onions.
Honey Toast! A loaf of white bread, insides cubed, drizzled with honey and toasted, served a la mode. It's good. It's also a monster. Everyone enjoys it, usually. But really? In the end, it's still just bread with honey. As Mr. Kaya said, it's a ridiculous ripoff. Maybe people can't go through the trouble of toasting bread with honey, because this stuff goes like hotcakes (or, more literally, like a popular dessert). I think it's a bit silly. You be the judge.
Even with some off moments, Shokudo is a well-rounded restaurant. I always enjoy eating there because it's fun to eat there. There are an increasing number of skull-numbingly boring theme restaurants around Ala Moana (Especially Macaroni Grill. Sorry readers, but the food is lame there. What part of Italy tastes like that, anyway?, yet Shokudo stands alone. Innovation, I'm learning, is not always making something new. It's about doing what others aren't.
P.S. If you're over 21, I've heard raves about the house-special cocktails.
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