Japanese dinner at Pacific East

Who doesn't like free food?....

My roommate Siddhartha has a Japanese guest from Japan in his lab for some project related work. They were planning to go to a Japanese restaurant and (since it was not very close to our apartment, they needed a car,) Siddhartha asked me if I could join them. I accepted the invitation gleefully. There is nothing more fascinating in this world than to get free food at a nice place.

so we chose Pacific East. It had some good reviews online and was placed at a very neat location. Pacific East has a neat ambiance, a mostly blue space, nicely offsetting the red wood tables and chairs. The place has a vast menu, listing dozens of sushi options plus just about any vegetable ever grown in Japan as well as many tempura, yakatori, udon, don buri, and teriyaki. Service was exceedingly polite and efficient. It was my first outing at a Japanese restaurant, and I must say that I was not disappointed.

I found Ritsuko (Siddhartha's guest) a very well mannered, confident and a charming lady. I must say that she has been a wonderful ambassador for her country and her company. It was nice meeting her.

Anyways, so Ritsuko was there to guide us for ordering food. Pacific East has huge list of items on their menu.. and for a first timer, its indeed a huge task to understand whats going on. It took me a long time to figure out what is good and what is not. Finally ordered Miso Soup (Soy bean soup with been curd, seaweed and scallion) and Tako Yaki (Octopus balls) for appetisers, Oyako Don (chicken with egg on rice) and chicken Katsu (similar to breaded chicken strips) as main course. Ritsoku had Hiya- Yako (cold bean curd with flakes and scallion) and shrimp Tempura. Sidharth had Oyako Don, and Tempuras.

Food was good. Tried to have it with those sticks, but could not. So requested for fork and knife and enjoyed this new delicacy. Now onwards, Octopus will be one more addition to my list. They actually taste pretty good... similar to shrimp. I really enjoyed the Tako Yaki. Rest of the food was good.

They also served some Japanese wine at the end.... it was really good and mellow. Liked it.

All in all, had a good Tuesday evening.