A new Japanese restaurant (with a limited Thai menu) just opened the other day in the small town of historic Florence, CO.
As soon as we walked in we were greeted with a cute little Japanese smile and offered a seat. Waters were brought and we were given time to look over the menu.
For some reason neither my husband nor I have tried Japanese fare before, excepting the occasional sushi roll or teriyaki from a mall food court. A sin, I know. So, here we are glancing over the well-designed menu and we decided on Hibachi Chicken for the entrée and crab rangoons as an appetizer (for something familiar).
As we waited for our food we now had leisure time to look over the place. With its choice of booths, tables, or bar seating it was actually simple, even quaint. Exposed ceiling painted black, exposed brick walls with semi-gloss, modern plaster near the front, modern bar near the back. Just a wonderful, not overdone, mix of modern and old.
Our food arrived and O My! We were both extremely happy with the little salad and the special made for this restaurant crab rangoons (which happened to come on a bed of shredded lettuce, surprisingly tasty with the rangoons). My husband was not at all fond of the onion soup – he thought it fishy. Yet, just a difference in taste buds for I thought it was delightful.
Enter scene: Hibachi Chicken! (Asian theme music please.) Chicken in a super sauce, perfect fried rice, sautéed veggies in some other wonderfulness, and two dipping sauces (we assumed for the chicken, though my husband did pour some over his rice). Everything was beyond words, unless those words are synonymous with tasty, fabulous, yum, etc.
To add to all of this, our little waitress did this cute hand over wrist thing whenever she set something on our table.
Okay, so, I only have two possible downers to our overall terrific experience. 1) The price was a leetle steep for the amount of food. We did share, which we often do at restaurants and usually come away full. This time, though, the portion was just small enough that we left slightly hungry. 2) If there was a dessert menu we weren’t made aware of it, and my husband is a dessert guy.
So, other than those minor negatives (which to some probably wouldn’t matter at all), our experience was very satisfactory. We have plans to go back soon!
(Apology for lack of pictures.)
emileahlou 