Lydia Orders the Bukkake

We've been hitting the Eater list of "The 38 Essential Restaurants in Seattle" hard because we're not sure what our dining situation will be once we are booking tables for three.

I do have a rough idea of what Ernie will look like though.

I was even more excited to eat at Kamonegi than I usually am for a new restaurant. The sign out front proudly proclaims that this is a tempura and soba joint, and soba is an under-appreciated Japanese noodle art form that you don't see much in the US. It's cousin ramen takes all the accolades. Anyway, Eater had this to say about the place:

"Star chef Mutsuko Soma makes soba from scratch at this petite Fremont destination, which was one of Eater’s Best New Restaurants in America in 2018. Soma serves traditional soba shop dishes like seiro soba (cold with dipping sauce) and super-crunchy tempura, but also more creative dishes like noodles topped with tri tips or oreo tempura. Make a full night of it by sampling some sake and snacks at next-door sibling bar Hannyatou."

The first thing you notice when walking in is how small of a space it is. It's very cozy.

Lydia sipped on an ume shiso soda. She's so fancy.

I ordered a tsukemono plate for the table: "housemade Japanese pickles; seasonal vegetables."

Lydia hilariously ordered off of the Bukkake menu.

"Shogatsu bukkake

shrimp tempura, avocado, cucumber, daikon oroshi, wasabi, fried mochi, tempura flakes"

Apparently it's called bukkake because it is "chilled broth poured over cold soba noodles and topped with various garnishes." Typically in my experience soba comes the way I ordered it, with just a nice pile of noodles with the sauce on the side. I had a fun time explaining to Lydia the other meanings of that word.

I ordered the "Ten zaru: chilled zaru broth, seasonal vegetable tempura, wasabi, scallion." I washed it all down with a carafe of Tozai Snow Maiden junmai nigori sake from Kyoto.

I narrowly avoided ordering the Oreo tempura and opted for the:

"Duck fat mochi cake and pecan ice cream

soft cake with apples, candied walnuts, a scoop of butter pecan ice cream with kokuto."

It was a great meal. You definitely have to book a reservation ahead of time here but I would definitely return.

Spinasse 3 for 2 Pasta

Tonight we dined at Spinasse, another of the restaurants on the current edition of Eater's elite "38 Essential Restaurants in Seattle" list.

"More than 10 years in, this romantic trattoria on Capitol Hill continues to entrance diners with food from Italy’s Piedmont region. The nest of delicate tajarin pasta with butter and sage sauce is a Seattle mainstay, but every dish from chef Stuart Lane is memorable. After a satisfying dinner at Spinasse, head to next-door sibling bar Artusi for a digestif and dessert, or stop by the bar another night for snacks like beef tongue with salsa tonnata (tuna sauce) and burrata with pomegranate seeds and toasted pistachios."

I believe there was some sort of pate amuse bouche. Pregnant people can't have pate. Sad.

Their menu was after my own heart. They listed out four antipasti and then had a fifth choice which was "all of the above". Hell yeah!

"Prosciutto di Parma

Pio Tosini 20 month-aged prosciutto with black currant vinegar marinated apples and toasted mustard seeds."

"Insalata di cavolo rapa

Sliced kohlrabi and watermelon radish salad marinated with anchovy vinaigrette, parmigiano and capers."

"Porchetta tonnata

Poached pork loin with salsa tonnata and caper berries."

"Insalata di radicchio

Chicory salad with barolo vinegar, pecorino and hazelnuts."

This was fun because I think we were trying to decide between three different pasta dishes but only ordered two. Out server brought the third one that we didn't order, and when I mentioned it we got it for free. Problem solved.

"Agnolotti del plin di coniglio

Braised rabbit agnolotti with double brodo and marjoram."

"Cavatelli

Cavatelli with roasted parsnips, pumpkin seeds, spinach, garlic-cream and pecorino."

"Tajarin con burro e salvia

Fine hand-cut egg yolk pasta with butter and sage."

There was some ice cream and a bowl of cherries. It worked.