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Issue date: August 25, 2000
Co-owner and head chef Shin Kaneoya prepares sushi for lunch-time patrons at Akane Japanese Restaurant in Los Altos.
@vcredit:Matthew Walker
Pleasures of an unhurried meal at Akane Japanese Restaurant
Pleasures of an unhurried meal at Akane Japanese Restaurant
(August 25, 2000)
By Jim Harrington
Is there a culinary joy greater than eating good sushi and sashimi in an attractive tatami room? Sometimes I doubt it.
Akane Japanese Restaurant in downtown Los Altos does have a small sushi bar and a nice-looking main dining room with tables and chairs. Eat in one of those two spots if you must, but I recommend slipping off your shoes and slipping into one of the two sunken tables in the private tatami room. It may just be my imagination but I swear that ebi, tempura and teriyaki tastes better in your socks.
The service is attentive without being pushy, with friendly waitresses clad in attractive kimonos. Dinner at Akane is an unrushed affair.
Start with a large hot sake ($4.80) or a cool Sapporo beer ($5.50 large, $3.20 small) or both (sake bomber). There's also a nice plum wine for $3.50.
The appetizer list offers 17 selections, but don't knock yourself out here, as there will be plenty of food in later courses. A couple of simple choices are the edamame ($3.50), boiled soybean; and agedashi tofu ($4.80), deep-fried bean curd in a light broth. Both options are tasty, yet light enough not to slow you down the rest of the meal.
If you do want something a bit more substantial, try the soft-shell crab ($6), a deep-fried quartered crustacean served with a delightful ponzu sauce, or the aspara-beef roll ($6), a tempting mix of asparagus and thinly sliced, broiled New York steak.
Dinners come with rice and a choice of soup or salad. There's the regular assortment of tempuras and teriyakis, as well as some specialty items such as the una jyu ($13), broiled eel served over rice; and saba shioyaki ($12), broiled mackerel with salt.
Akane does a great job with tonkatsu, one of my favorite Japanese dishes. The pork cutlet is thin, lightly battered, and deep-fried to golden splendor. The meat can be somewhat tough, but is a perfect platform for the dark, rich tonkatsu sauce you pour on top. The sauce is very strong, so go easy on it or you could overwhelm the meat.
Make sure to take advantage of the sushi and sashimi menus. The sushi chefs roll expert creations such as the spider roll ($8.50), deep-fried soft-shell crab with a spicy sauce; and dragon roll ($9.50), which contains shrimp tempura, eel and avocado. The thick slices of sashimi carry little fishy scent and are so tender they melt in the mouth.
The nigiri sushi ($12) features an assortment of fish and is an excellent way to get a sampling of the goods.
Try one of the intriguing sashimi dishes, such as the hirame usuzukuri ($8.50), thinly sliced halibut served with ponzu sauce; maguro sashimi ($12), an excellent tuna; or tombo tataki ($13), thinly sliced white tuna topped with onion, kaiware, ginger, garlic and ponzu sauce.
Just make sure to try these delicacies sitting in the tatami room.
Akane Japanese Restaurant, 250 Third St., Los Altos; (650) 941-8150. Hours: Mondays through Fridays, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., 5-9:30 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 5-9:30 p.m. Credit cards are accepted.
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