The Happening

An eclectic menu lets you be adventurous

EGGS AND THINGS: Gaku Sushi Izakaya’s Omatsuri Natto features ikura and a quail egg in addition to natto and uni.

Shortly after Gaku Sushi Izakaya opened more than a year ago, a foodie friend of mine raved about the cozy and friendly King Street restaurant.

“And what’s so special about it?” I asked.

“It’s got good sushi,” he said. “It’s a nice place. Just really great. You’ll see.”

A little unconvinced, I never got around to visiting Gaku, and I had thought that I had missed my chance to write about it months ago. But when three different friends in the course of a single week enthusiastically encouraged me to give the restaurant a try (along with extensive menu suggestions), I figured better late than never.

I figured right. After visiting Gaku on a busy Friday night, I have a better idea of what my friend was trying tell me last year. Yes, the place has one of the most varied yet affordable menus I’ve seen at a mid-priced Japanese restaurant, and the sushi is good. But there is something else. A certain warmth and ease about the place that was filled with regular patrons on the night we visited. Another friend characterized Gaku as a “Japanese Cheers,” which is probably a better description than anything I can come up with.

Upon my friend’s suggestion, I immediately went for the Omatsuri Natto ($12.50), which featured a seemingly unholy combination of natto, uni, ikura, quail egg, diced ahi and a few other gushy ingredients.

With all the fragrant ingredients I was expecting the natto to be a gooey flavor fest, but I was surprised by the dish’s blandness. It was as if the uni, ikura and ahi somehow cancelled each other out and all that was left was a plethora of textures. I found myself trying to identify the different items by maneuvering them around my teeth and tongue, which isn’t what eating is about. The Monkfish Liver in Ponzu Sauce ($7.50) seemed pleasant enough but it was overpowered by tangy ponzu sauce. The Deep Fried Fish Bones ($3.50) (sans head) were very crispy and lightly salted, and yummy. Like spindly fish chips, savory and crunchy, they reminded me of the dried aku that I used to eat as a kid, only not as fishy.

My wife was a little more conservative than me, choosing Soft-shell Crab Karaage with Ponzu Sauce, Grilled Matsutake Mushroom ($25) and variety of sushi including Hamachi Belly ($4.50), Ama Ebi ($8.00) and Salmon ($4.00). My son had his usual Udon ($6.50), which he thoroughly enjoyed. He followed that up with a bowl of Vanilla Ice Cream ($3.00).

We were all happy.

I think part of the appeal of Gaku is that its eclectic menu enables diners to be as curious or incurious as they want to be without feeling extravagant or boring. We didn’t consider the Lobster Sashimi ($40) or the Garlic Rib-eye Steak in Ponzu Sauce ($13) and didn’t even look at the oden selections, which take up an entire page. Having so many options is a little intimidating at first but then it’s a little liberating.

I’ve already picked out what I’m going to have next time.

I’ve got to make up for a lot of lost time.

GAKU SUSHI IZAKAYA
1329 S. KING ST.
DAILY, 5 TO 10 P.M.
589-1329

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