Gastronomical Exploration: Good ol' Kyoto Restaurant



It's good to go explore and try out new things, but there's something comforting about going back to a restaurant that you know is good.

Kyoto is our favorite Japanese restaurant in Salt Lake City.  The quality is good, the pricing is reasonable...and the staff is very friendly.

My mom and I (but not dad) love the sushi bar.  We are friends with the sushi chef there.  He always welcomes us, is quite generous with the portions, and gives us some freebies, like new menu items for us to sample.

Last time we were there, he gave each of us a gigantic yellowtail tataki handroll.  He gave that to us after we were finished with our meal, and well, who can turn that down??  Of course, after finishing that, we thought we were gonna explode.

This time, the freebie was a seaweed & crab salad.

 It had seaweed (i.e. wakame), bean sprouts, chunks of crab, with sweet & spicy sesame dressing.  It was delicious, and a great appetizer.
Now for the sushi...

 Good ol' Rainbow Roll for mom.  As I've mentioned, the chef is very generous with the portions, and topped the roll with thicker-than-your-average-sashimi slices of fish.  He didn't skimp on the roll filling either.
As for me, I got my favorites...

Ikura (i.e. salmon roe) and Amaebi (sweet shrimp) nigiri.  I think the best part of the amaebi nigiri is the head.  The chef deep-fries the heads to a crispy delight, crunchy on the outside, filled with the succulent, buttery shrimp innards.

We left quite full and happy.  The food is excellent at Kyoto, but it's the personal, close relationship we have with the people there that elevates the overall experience to ultimate satisfaction, and keeps us coming back.