Mmm, the food. Well, it was super good!
Also, just to get my crassness out of the way - it is not cheap!!! But I will probably crave it a couple of times a year, so I can just plan for that. What bums me out is that I always drove by this place and totally, fully, gungho dismissed it because ONE time I walked by at night, it looked very deserted (totally thought the place was going to close shortly thereafter!) and the menu looked weird. I remember walking over there to check it out, willing to give it a shot ... and I've eaten at EVERY other restaurant in that complex on that corner. Mmm, Sweetee Thai! And even the sushi place, and the revolving door of joints that have occupied the western corner - I think it's Dragon King Chinese food there now. Also, I knew a PERFECTLY nice exchange student name Hiro when I was in college, but I have to admit I found him VERY unnattractive, and the bad associations with the name of the place, etc., etc., etc., .... I know, I am crazy.
So, fat lot I knew, passing up Cafe Hiro. Actually, what I really passed up was throwing lots of money at them over the years!!! Then again, maybe my tastes have changed since way back then as well. I was on a huge California Fish Grill kick for a few years ... I will definitely say that place is the ONE joint that made me love. to. eat. fish. Love, love, love love love. Amazing, amazing grilled salmon with garlic butter on rice, and a cute teeny little raisin and almond-sliver coleslaw that they forget to put in my to-go bag half the time. I also like the calamari (strips of the steak, I think), and the scallops are decent too. But those last two are the frozen breaded kind. The clam chowder is excellent as well. But the salmon. Go for the salmon. I think it used to be $5.95 or $6.95, when they just started, and now it's $8.95, which is okay. I was fully expecting it to be $12.95 last month, considering how they were raising prices every other month for a while. Their $1 Taco Tuesdays (only fish tacos) are CRAZY - get there early, or be prepared to WAIT!!!! They used to have breaded fried shrimp taco deals, and those were my absolute favorite. I don't think they have that on special on Tuesdays anymore. But I really was NOT into fish AT ALL before I tried that place ... so thank you, thank you!!!
Bye bye, Fish Grill!OK then. So I checked out the raaaaaaaaaaaaave reviews for Cafe Hiro from yelp.com, and we hit it for Mother's Day: Dad, Mom, me, both sisters, and middle sister's fiance. Whee.
We made sure to stop by and make reservations for the evening on our way home from church, and yes, they did take reservations for 6 people ... but only for 7:30pm. It was a bit later than we wanted, considering work and such the next day, but we went ahead and took it.
I will say, the decor is beautiful, and cute, and they have a little river rock feature right up next to the window by our table. The wait was so. Freaking. Long. But we came in during the big dinner rush, so I think they were just swamped. Coming in later, the wait was certainly not as long for the table next to us. I swiped one of their seat cushions before they came because sitting on the hard wooden bench was not cutting it for me.
We ordered sooooooo much food - I love to do that when I first hit a place, to get sort of a feel for things.
Appetizers:
Calamari Friti: fried calamari covered with Parmesan cheese and parsley.
* Super, duper, yummy yummy - the cheese gave it a nice saltiness to the fried crunch and tender calammmmmmaaaaaari.
Crispy Fried Tofu: four pieces of tofu, deep-fried with onions in a spicy apple-ginger sauce.
* These were just okay. I think the tofu was nice and soft, but not as crispy as I like it. Dirty Chinese restaurants have better, super-soft, milky and crispy fried tofu with the most amazing sweet/savory sauce. I think this had some scallions and grated daikon on it as well.
Crispy Salmon Spring Roll: salmon spring rolls with sliced onions and a plum sauce.
* The server said there were two pieces only, which I didn't think would be a problem with that many appetizers for 6 people. However, TWO PIECES means ONE roll, cut in half - albeit served beautifully. They tasted okay. Nothing mind-blowing. Never had a salmon egg roll/chimichanga before. A picture of this can be found here.
Creamy Crab Cake: creamy crab cake breaded and deep-fried to a golden brown with a tomato sauce.
* This was probably the most disappointing thing, actually. I have to admit it. The portions are smaaaaaall. Not what I am used to, or what I prefer!! The crab cakes were little square-soap shaped, and the outside breading was nice, but the inside mostly had the consistency of mashed potato. I didn't taste much crab at all. Never had anything like this before, and probably won't order it again.
Before the entrees, we got the soup and the salad - mine didn't come with either, but we shared. They had the daily soup, a pumpkin soup, which was pretty nice - it had the texture of a pureed potato soup, and I think it was a pale pale orange - I like it okay, but I'm not a huge root-soup fan.
The salads were VERY nice! On the menu, they have the Mesclun Salad: mixed greens with a sesame-miso dressing. The salads are NOT very big, but the dressing is awesome. Nice and sweet and tart and I love miso. Not TOO dissimilar to the lovely, lovely, LOVELY dressing at Sango Sushi, just down the street. Interesting that it doesn't get rave reviews on yelp.com. But it's cheap!
Entrees:
These were fuuuuuuun!!
Front row, left to right: (Chicken? I forget what he ordered) Curry, Pork Cutlet (like Tonkatsu), Pasta CarbonaraBack row, left to right: Roasted Chilean Seabass with Asparagus, Roasted Chilean Seabass with Mushroom Risotto, Uni Spaghetti
Curry: I didn't try the curry, so I have no idea how it was. It seemed okay, though? I will say, the best curry I remember having was indeed at Curry House (the one in Cypress). The curry is brown, sometimes even a dark brown, like beef gravy, not yellow, or orange, or tan, or what have you - I guess it is a Japanese, not an Indian curry. Mm, Curry House.
"Kurobuta" Pork Loin Cutlet: Tender "Kurobuta or Black pig" Pork Loin Breaded and Fried to a Golden Brown w/ Demi-Glace Sauce or Citrus "Ponzu" Sauce, and Sauteed Vegetables
Okay, I admit this one was a little strange. My dad tells me that this is a special delicacy, this black pig business - because it has a solid chunk of lard rind on it. I'm sorry, but I can't eat that! I eat unhealthy enough as it is! I don't remember being wowed by it or anything, but I think the breaded crust was nice.
Carbonara: Spaghetti with Crispy Bacon in a Cream Sauce **Add Chicken and/or Spinach and/or Mushrooms
My sis had the spinach, since she loathes and detests mushrooms. No idea why! It was really, really, really rich. White sauce, that's all I remember. I think she was asking what was in it - eggs in the sauce, maybe?? And I like my bacon crispy, not carbonara. It's not something I would usually order if I'm eating out, I guess. Because I have a sick love affair with marsala, rather.
Roasted Chilean Sea Bass with Asparagus: Roasted Chilean Sea Bass with Asparagus, Tomato and Garlic-Lemon Soy Sauce.
My sis ordered this off the specials menu, but I think they have it regularly. It was sooooooo good. What a great piece of fish, I can't tell what it is, anyway. Some people say they think it's not Chilean seabass. I had great Chilean seabass at Kabuki, too, though. It was very very good, boiled asparagus, from what I could tell.
Roasted Chilean Sea Bass with Mushroom "Risotto": I have no idea why "Risotto" is in "quotes". It was yummy, as well. Great, great fish! Portions small. :( Very teeny weeny. I don't remember the risotto that well, but gee, I loved the fish. Here's a pic!!
Sea Urchin/ "Uni Spaghetti ": Sea urchin spaghetti with toasted seaweed.I'd seriously never heard of this, but it got rave reviews on yelp, so I finally ordered it since it was the ONE thing I was DETERMINED to try, which nobody else seemed interested in having. I love the uni. But maybe it wasn't totally fresh? Bah, what do I know, I think it was the first time I'd ever had uni. I heard about it before - never had it on sushi/nigiri. My former mentor teacher my first year of teaching, she was from Lebanon - she told me she remembered going down to the port and finding sea urchins, breaking them on the rocks and sucking them out RAW. Um, sounds fun, I guess.
But back to the pasta. It did have a briny, fishy, sea-smell. But I kind of love that. Great sauce, great pasta al dente, I freaking HATE and loathe wasabi, so I picked the smidgin of that off, and the toasted nori seaweed is a fun touch. It reminds me of the gruel/rice porridge/congee for breakfast, with the jars of roasted sesame or dried shredded fish or pork sprinkles. And the sesame seeds. Hooray!
Desserts:
Panna Cotta - A soft and creamy pudding with fresh seasonal fuits.
Walnut Creme Brulee (they have it spelled Creme Crulee on the site :P)
I like the creme brulee okay - I admit to not being much of a discriminating critic of creme brulees. I haven't met one I didn't like, including the septuplets at the Wynn Buffet a few years back! It wasn't too nutty, which was good.
THE PANNA COTTA WAS MINDBLOWING. I love cream. Hate milk. Non-fat milk, sick. It's like drinking white water. Better now than before, when the first non-fat thing came out, but STILL. I'd much rather have my cereal with half and half, and I once lined up 30 creamers at the little campus cafe in college, and I downed them like shots. Never again.
The panna cotta, which was often mentioned in the yelp reviews, was seriously amazing. I will try making some my dang self, I think, since it's basically sugar, cream, and gelatin. Right??? Gah. I love the consistency, like a thick, slightly chunkified yogurt, it was very smooth and silky and creamy and sweet, and the fruit was great. One of my favorite desserts of all time now, and I think it is super easy to make. Hooray!!!
And to add: I dragged my parents back here to Cafe Hiro about two weeks after Mother's Day, because I was craving that awesome, amazing, weird uni spaghetti.
We ordered the calamari rings again (still very good, but slightly too salty this time), I got the Roasted Chilean Seabass with Mushroom Risotto AND Uni Spaghetti (numm!!), I made my dad get the Osso Bucco because THAT got great reviews as well, and my mom got the BBQ Beef Salad.
We ate everything. Seabass STILL great and awesome, but I am still disappointed by their portion sizes. I would like to try the uni risotto sometime, maybe with the grilled scallops!!! My dad liked his Osso Bucco okay, and I thought it was okay. Reminds me a lot of pot roast, basically, but the meat was good, the sauce was nice and dark.
He got it with the rice.The surprise of the night, which I will DEFINITELY order again (only $7.50, I think!!) was the BBQ salad! Wow, that salad is amazing. So good. The meat was so good and tender and amazing. I think it was medium well. It was definitely red in the middle, and I'm sorry, but I like my meat bacteria-free FUR SHUR. If all meat tasted like THAT, though ... bring on the redness!! Great salad, with a great dressing, again. We did get the soup and salad with our entrees, and this time the "pumpkin"/squash soup was greenish. Tasted about the same. Maybe slightly bland and watery??? But seriously, it was all of about a half-inch of soup in a platter and not very much. DON'T COME HERE IF YOU WANT HEAPS OF FOOD!
I wanted to get a dessert, but didn't feel like justifying the cost. And I already had the two entrees. I liked the uni spaghetti again, maybe it was a bit salty this time too ... but I had my fix and won't need one for a long time, I think.
Next time - scallops and that amazing BBQ beef salad!! :)
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