N/soto, a worthy sister to Michelin-starred Japanese kaiseki n/naka
The next time I have something special to celebrate, there’s no doubt that I would want to do so at n/naka, Chef Niki Nakayama’s Michelin-starred modern kaiseki restaurant. It was there that I had one of the best meals of my life—a rapturous journey through hyper-seasonal ingredients, with chef-grown vegetables complementing the freshest raw fish, richly flavored beef, creamy tofu, and Asian-style noodles served on handmade ceramic plates, slabs of volcanic rock, or in rough-hewn bowls. The beauty of the presentation was half the appeal.
REFRESHING COLD TOFU SALAD with mandarin oranges, greens, and radish slivers.
During the pandemic n/naka pivoted to serving jewel-like bento box takeout, but soon Chef Nakayama and her wife, the restaurant co-owner and sous chef Carol Iida-Nakayama, decided they should always offer a modestly priced but equally delicious option. N/soto was born. “Soto” means outside, and the team not only stepped outside of the confines imposed by COVID-19, but created dishes outside of the orderly kaiseki experience they had been perfecting since 2011. Now n/soto is a well-established izakaya restaurant, serving a beautiful array of à la carte Japanese bites, from salmon sushi to tuna belly with caviar, as well as an eight-course tasting menu for a more structured meal.
SWEET SOY CHILI WINGS with seasoned cucumbers.
The calm, attractive dining room was the perfect environment for sipping drinks while contemplating the menu. My sister loved her mango mocktail and I nursed a food-friendly chilled glass of grenache. We decided to order à la carte and selected our recommended six to eight shareable dishes from the array of categorized menu sections that included starters, skewers, raw dishes, and rolls. We started with a cold tofu salad, which was infinitely more delectable than it sounds. House-made tofu centered a large shallow bowl of mixed greens, sliced mandarin oranges, and red radish rounds. A scattering of daikon radish slivers and a light citrus dressing completed the dish, which was refreshing with surprising complexity. This might be my new favorite salad, with its citrus punch, vegetable crunch, and the sweet milkiness of the tofu.
Sweet soy chili wings presented five plump, crispy wingettes, coated in a gochujang chili sauce dotted with sesame seeds. They were neatly stacked alongside a seasoned cucumber salad—a cooling counterpoint to the mildly spicy sauce. There are eight grilled skewer dishes, including sweet potato, chicken meatball, and blue prawn. We couldn’t resist the Australian wagyu—and the two pieces of meat were tender and deeply beefy, for a nice little dip beyond the preponderance of fish and vegetables on the menu.
The hand rolls we ordered—steamed, shredded blue crab and minced raw tuna with scallions—were perfectly balanced crispy-seaweed-wrapped flavorful fillings. They satisfied our sushi cravings while leaving lots of room for experimenting with more cooked specialties, including miso black cod, a sweetened version of traditional salted miso fish, perfected by Nobu Matsuhisa at his namesake Beverly Hills restaurant in the 1980s. The popular dish has since found its way to Japanese restaurants around the globe. N/Soto’s version has two small pieces of cod, well-marinated in a miso, mirin, and sugar mixture for several days to achieve a beautifully silky texture and touch of sweetness.
N/SOTO’S MISO black cod.
Our last savory dishes were fried: tempura and agedashi mochi. The plate of seasonal tempura held giant shrimp, kabocha squash slices, and maitake mushrooms. This was my least favorite dish. The coating had the requisite crunch but needed more seasoning and the squash itself lacked the rich flavor that tempura cooking usually coaxes from each vegetable. On the other hand, agedashi mochi floats deep-fried rice cakes (the mochi) in a broth. It is more common to use fried tofu, which achieves a crackly exterior with a meltingly soft center from the frying. The mochi also yielded to the technique, but was chewier, typical of any mochi preparation. Shrimp and wood ear mushrooms were incorporated into the fried ball, adding welcome texture and taste.
We were happy to see ice cream on the dessert menu; a cool and creamy scoop of black sesame ice cream completed our meal wonderfully.
N/soto; 4566 W. Washington Blvd.; 323-879-9455; n-soto.com.
Category: Entertainment
