Run, don't walk to Koto Buki! It's in the North Hills, on Old Babcock Blvd, up a few miles from Passavant Hospital, one or two intersections before Wildwood Road. It's a new Japanese restaurant that has been open for all of 9 days, and we've been there twice so far. You might not want to go there on a weekend, though, because the owner warns that they get very busy and the service hasn't yet been perfected. They still have a help wanted sign up, which usually flags service problems. We were pleasantly surprised, though, at the numerous visits to our table throughout the meal. The very pleasant owner stopped by several times, as did our waitress, and even other waitresses! I recommend you follow the owner's advice to hold back until a weekday, because they are truly learning as they go along. The waitress said that last weekend, there were only 4 waitresses for all 20 tables. We can imagine that an inexperienced crew probably had some coordination problems. Even on a slow weekday evening, we got our miso soup, shrimp tempura, and sushi all within the space of about 5 minutes. At least they served the salad well in advance of the rest! The cooking, however, has been perfected! Some menu items are among the best anywhere, and a few others are just very, very good. Nothing was less than wonderful, but I'm biased towards Japanese food. Although the servers are still in training, they were extremely friendly and patient while my kids tried to figure out what to order. One thing that our waitress should have done is REQUIRE us to order a few DON'T MISS things: ginger tea, salad, shrimp tempura, and flavored ice creams. I'll cover each item we ordered in turn. First of all, they should REQUIRE everyone to order their ginger tea. I'm not a big tea drinker, and I devour this stuff. It's available hot or cold, and is very lemony/gingery. Truly outstanding! My neighbors were chuckling yesterday about my zeal while I was describing it. I have never had anything like it. Then the salad arrived. The ginger/lemon dressing was OUTSTANDING! The miso soup was fairly typical: not unusual. What can you do with miso soup? Also, the chicken teriyaki my kids ordered was in that same category as well (perhaps if they put a bit more sauce on it, I'd be more interested in it too). We had a negi-maki appetizer, slices of prime rib wrapped around green onion and covered with some great sauce. Again, we need more sauce! This one was very good. The sushi was very nice, as nice as anywhere I've had it. The quantities of Octopus and Tamago seemed a bit small, but the California Roll was a typical size. They are extremely generous with their wasabe, and give you a couple of lemon slices on the side too. Nice touch. The shrimp tempura was incredible. I used to think that shrimp tempura was exactly the same anywhere, but I couldn't eat Kiku's several years ago without grimacing. Also, the fast food Japanese place in Ross Park mall had so much mushy batter on their tempura that I couldn't eat more than a few bites. I haven't gone back to either place. Well, Koto Buki's shrimp tempura was great. Perfectly wrapped in a nice, light batter and served with a perfect tempura sauce! The 4 shrimps were nice, huge, and very tasty. Truly outstanding! Lots of vegetables, but it would be nice to have more of them because they are so good. And the nabeyaki udon (shrimp tempura in a noodle soup with egg) was great. It is not on the dinner menu; only on the lunch menu ($6.95) but also available for dinner ($9.95). I think I'll go back to the shrimp tempura, though, because I really like the tempura sauce. And...drum roll...the dessert. They have four flavored ice creams, and the four of us ordered one of each flavor so we could pass them around and taste them all. The four flavors are ginger, green tea, red bean, and plum wine. All but the green tea were devoured very quickly. Truly outstanding! The green tea ice cream was good but had a green-tea aftertaste that wasn't nearly in the same league as the other three. The menu also has a tempura ice cream that we didn't try, but it sure sounds good. Maybe next time... So what's the weakness of this place? There are a few. Japanese food is not cheap, and Koto Buki is no exception to this rule. The quantities are such that you spend more than you do in a Chinese restaurant without having any left to take home. They don't have a children's menu, so it's expensive for a family. And the servers are still pleasantly learning away. For a sample of prices, tempura is $11.95, ginger tea is $1.50, sushi pieces are extra, and ice cream is $1.95. Take a family of four out, and spend something like $50-60. But what a way to go! The worst thing about the relatively small portions (relative to Chinese food) is that it tastes so incredible that you don't want to stop eating! I'll have to admit that I was very full at the end, although it was a sad moment when the plate was empty. I'm worried that the relatively small portions might not please the typical home town people, who are accustomed to OK/good food in huge portions. My preference is clearly for great food in more modest portions, but it does put a crimp in the old wallet if you want to go there quite often (like we will) with three other family members who are equally as passionate as you are. My 5-year old was actually nearly in tears when I hesitated to say "yes, we can go!" She didn't want to try it a few days ago, but after our first try on Monday night, now she's hooked on the chicken teryaki, shrimp tempura, and yes, the red bean ice cream! (she calls it the "purple ice cream") I've waited 10 years for a Japanese restaurant in the North Hills, and this one was well worth it! Bravo! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dennis F. Galletta Associate Prof. of Business Admin. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 15260 phone: 412-648-1699 fax: 412-648-1693 Internet: [email removed] AT&T Mail: !galletta Uniform Resource Locator: http://www.pitt.edu/~galletta ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pittsburgh, PA
Koto Buki: North Hills Japanese food!
In article , Dennis Galletta Someone wrote: > I recommend you follow the owner's advice to hold back until a > weekday, because they are truly learning as they go along. The > waitress said that last weekend, there were only 4 waitresses for > all 20 tables. We can imagine that an inexperienced crew probably > had some coordination problems. Even on a slow weekday evening, we > got our miso soup, shrimp tempura, and sushi all within the space > of about 5 minutes. At least they served the salad well in advance > of the rest! The owner told me that they did not put any advertisement anywhere yet because they are afraid that too many people would rush in and that they don't have enough manpower to provide a good service. > > The cooking, however, has been perfected! Some menu items are among > the best anywhere, and a few others are just very, very good. Nothing > was less than wonderful, but I'm biased towards Japanese food. The chef was recruited from New York city. I spoke with the chef the other day, and he said that he has worked cooking Japanese dishes for twenty years. But he is in fact Korean. I was so impressed by the quality of the dishes. A wonderful place to visit! A very charming interior design, as well. JK 'Francis' Suh, Ph.D. Assist. Prof. Orthopaedic Surgery Univ. of Pitts
Sally and I went there last night. The Sushi was good (I think it compares very favorably with Kiku, though I think I'm going to have to go back to be sure ;^), and Sally really enjoyed her tempura. The salads were very good, and Sally liked the miso soup better that Kiku's, while I like it just a little stronger. My next goal is to find 3 friends (or two with really healthy appetites) to try out the sushi boat (a table near us got it last night, and it's magnificent, but a little much for one or two people...) Overall, we really enjoyed ourselves, and we'll definitely go back. However, since it's in the North Hills, I expect to get pretty crowded on the weekends. John ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Kochmar | Estimated amount of glucose used by an adult human [email removed] | brain each day, expressed in M&Ms: 250 SEI Computing Facilities | -Harper's Index, October 1989
Someone wrote: > Please repost the address. It sounds wonderful, but I didn't save the > original post & the last couple of postings haven't said where in the > North Hills it is. The address is: 9801 Old Babcock Blvd., Allison Park, PA Phone: 412-369-7885 To get there from Oakland: 1. First, get to McKnight Road. Two options: Cross the 40th street bridge into Millvale, follow the blue belt to McKnight Road. or Go down 5th avenue and take the left lane until you are forced to turn left (both left lanes are turn left only). Then cross Forbes and move into the right lane. Turn right at the first opportunity (you have 3 chances if you count the 1st chance which is an alleyway) and turn right onto the Blvd of the Allies. Follow the Blvd until you get to the split, then follow the sign to the Crosstown expressway (DON'T take the split to the Liberty Bridge!). You want to take 579 north. Take the McKnight Road exit. 2. Then, go north on McKnight until you pass North Hills village (on your left), Ross Park Mall (on your right), and Northway Mall (on your left). After the Northway Mall, you should be on alert and in the right lane. When you are next to the last store in the Northway Mall (Borders Book Store), you should see in front of you two final traffic lights. At the first one, Babcock Blvd is a left turn (DON'T take that one!), and at the second one, Babcock Blvd is a right turn (THAT's the one!). Take a right at that second light, and you'll be on Babcock Blvd. You'll then see signs for Koto Buki every once in a while. Take this road north for a ways (about 2 miles), you'll pass Passavant hospital, and a convenience store, and then be on alert for a Koto Buki sign that points to the left, on a road called "Old Babcock Blvd." Old Babcock is a short street (1 block long), and the restaurant will be very obvious on the left. Enjoy! And, by the way, since my review, the portions have gotten larger! That's the power of the Internet! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dennis F. Galletta Associate Prof. of Business Admin. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 15260 phone: 412-648-1699 fax: 412-648-1693 Internet: [email removed] AT&T Mail: !galletta Uniform Resource Locator: http://www.pitt.edu/~galletta ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sushi at Koto Buki was the freshest I have tasted in a long time. While I must admit, it has been a while since I last had sushi due to my graduate-student-for-too-long budget, it was better than anything I expected. It compared well with what I had in New York, LA, and Seoul (I was treated to sushi in the Tokyo fish market once but that was over 10 years ago, so I can't remember). The tempura was good, but on the heavy side. It seemed like it had been fried in real butter but I am not sure. My wife thought the nabeyaki(sp?) udon was delicious. My friend's 4th grader daughter liked her tonkatsu. The lunch was pricey : $55.00 for sushi/sashimi, veggie and shrimp tempura, side of soft-shelled crab, nabeyaki udon, and tonkatsu shared by 3 big eaters(myself and two buddies), one small eater(my wife), and a 4th grader. But it was worth it. -Han