Spicy Japanese fare a pleasant surprise on Foksal
As the weather grows warmer, one's appetite tends toward lighter and lighter cuisine. At the lite end of lite is Japanese food, and at the end of a recent hot holiday, Sister Bertrille and I decided to sample the sushi and other delicacies at Tsubame, a quiet spot on bustling ulica Foksal.
We arrived at 6 p.m., early for dinner and found an empty restaurant. The dining room is beautifully appointed in paper screens with blonde wood, bamboo, and other authentic touches reaching all the way up to the ceiling. A few private booths had traditional low-lying tables. The table settings had chopsticks and no cutlery. A Zen arrangement of Polish tulips graced a serving table and a rock garden surrounded one of the booths. The black lacquer furniture was somewhere between Far East and Eastern Bloc and the grey carpet was purely Polska. The overall atmosphere was somewhere between its competitors Tokio and Inaba for authenticity.
Our waitress came and offered warm, moist hand towels to start the meal a very pleasant traditional touch. Then she brought drinks. Although they offer Japanese beers by the bottle, they also have the good taste to serve Heveliusz on tap (zl. 9 for .4 liter). The good sister went with the Coke Light (zl. 6) and we both backed it with Vittel water (zl. 8). This gave us something to fidget with while contemplating the menu, and there was a lot to contemplate. To say their menu is confusing is a bit of an understatement. There was little indication to the size of the portions or if certain selections came with sides or a la carte. With Japanese food, it is usually safe to assume the portions will be small and expensive. Also the sets were not described thoroughly. Such listings of sushi sets such as ume (zl. 60), sakura (zl. 75) and matsu (zl. 90), left no indication as to what was included.
Starters ranged from zl. 25-zl. 30, and soups from zl. 15-zl. 25. Salads were all zl. 29. Rice dishes ranged from zl. 39-zl. 75, noodles from zl. 35-zl. 65, Tempura dishes went from zl. 36 for pork chops to zl. 95 for tempura moriawase, containing "two prawns, two pieces of fish and seven pieces of various vegetables." They serve roast dishes for zl. 30-zl. 65, boiled dishes for zl. 29-zl. 35, and had a special section of dishes for two prepared at your table for zl. 150-zl. 170. Sushi selections ranged from zl. 14-zl. 42 and desserts were zl. 12-zl. 19.
Sister Bertrille and I had to send our waitress away twice while we contemplated the meaning of all of this. We eventually settled on a mixed bag of tricks to test the range of kitchen. She ordered the tsubame set (zl. 105), a sampler of miso soup, tempura, sushi and several salads. I ordered the wakame-no nuta salad (zl. 29), gyutataki (zl. 30), a beef dish, and unaja (zl. 75), roast Japanese eel "Kabayki" style over rice. Then we sat back and wondered if I had ordered too much or too little. The next customers in the door were Japanese a good sign. And as more people arrived the hostess staggered the tables throughout the restaurant so that nobody was too crowded by another table. Strains of saccharin Japanese easy-listening music played at an unobtrusive volume. When the food arrived, it came all at once. Our table was covered with a dizzying array of dishes.
Sister Bertrille had tempura shrimp, fish, broccoli, sprouts, shredded carrots, and two kinds of mushrooms. The batter was light, needing little of the accompanying teriyaki sauce. She also had three small salads. One was a sweet mixture of pickled vegetables, very much to the Polish taste. A seaweed and cabbage mix was not to her liking but I found it simply traditional. She also received pink and green blocks of tofu floating in mystery sauce, which we both left alone. The sushi part of her combo contained individual tuna and salmon sashimi and three cucumber maki. The table had Kikkoman soy sauce, but we could not find wasabi, the green Japanese horseradish that spices up this combination. There was however a small bit of wasabi on top of the rice in the sashimi. At the end of a long holiday weekend, it was good to find the fish had been well kept and tasted quite fresh.
The sister's miso soup was served at a drinkable temperature and we were delighted to find they had included a bowl with my selections.
"I just can't get the hang of slurping my soup," she said. "Are you sure that it's good manners in Japan?"
"Yes, it shows respect for the chef," I said.
I am sorry to say that my eel was a little tired after its long journey from Japan. Dare I criticize an eel for being too fishy? But this usually light meat was a little on the strong side and the sweet barbecue sauce was not enough to overcome it. The gyutataki, however, was stunning. The cut of meat was as close as you can get here to the softer Japanese beefs. It was seared on the outside and raw on the inside. The meat rested on a bed of sprouts and shredded carrot. It came with a small pile of grated ginger and crushed garlic on the side, which rolled into the small slices made them quite spicy. The taste was not light and subtle as you would expect from Japanese food.
And as usual, Asian food left us with a sugar craving and enough room for dessert. We couldn't resist the green-tea ice cream a flavor I don't think they serve at Zielona Budka. For those who have never tried this flavor, it was wonderful.
A multi-course dinner for two with dessert came to zl. 307 ($73). At this price I won't be dining there nightly but I will be back for special occasions. The food was partially authentic but with the volume turned up on an usually subtle cuisine. In fact the whole meal, though very tasty, was more over the top than expected. The taste was delicious for those who like the unique combinations of ingredients. And those with taste buds impaired by too many nights of cigarettes and alcohol will have no trouble here. In fact, I would almost rate it as spicy and loud. Though it was not exceptionally traditional, it was quite delicious. The chef has done a wonderful job of adapting the Japanese palate to another culture. Sister Bertrille and I were delighted throughout the entire meal.
