Food & Drink Magazine
Every now and then I receive e-mail from Living Social or Groupon for something I actually would want to take advantage of. Most of the time the deals are random things that don't really pique my interest, so I delete them without taking a second glance. But recently, I came across one that made me stop and look — a Groupon deal for 50% off at a delicious sushi restaurant, Yakitori Sake House. Since Kristy and I were planning on going out the following evening, I called her immediately to see if she wanted to go. We have gone there before and loved it, so it made sense for us to take advantage of this deal.
Yakitori Sake House is in Royal Palm Place in Boca. They have a great menu with tons of sushi options and lots of other Japanese entrees, as well. One of the best things on their menu, though, is not food but one of their many sakes. I do not like the taste of sake, but this is completely different. It's sweet and refreshing, just like that of a crisp apple. If you go here, you MUST try this drink. I had it the very first time I went to Yakitori and fell in love. They have two different fruity sake drinks, this one and one with Lychee flavoring. I tried both, but the Fuji Apple was much, much better. Lychee has a very interesting taste... not bad, but I wouldn't put it on my list of favorite flavors. I was really looking forward to having the apple sake again; in fact, Kristy and I couldn't stop talking about it. But they were out — that's how popular it is! After fretting over the fact that we couldn't indulge in our favorite drink, we ordered a bottle of good red wine instead and were happy.
We each got an appetizer and sushi roll, and of course dessert. Kristy got the lobster and shrimp won ton and I had the cucumber seafood salad, filled with shredded cucumber, tiger shrimp, kani and masago in a soy dressing. This salad was great; the dressing is definitely what made it. The colors were beautiful and the flavors very light and summery. It was a pretty decent size and could definitely be ordered as an appetizer for two. Kristy helped herself to some; she can't resist anything with cucumber in it.
For dinner, I got the Pink Lady Roll: salmon, avocado, seaweed salad and asparagus wrapped in soy paper. I was eyeing this roll last time I was there, but didn't get it, so I didn't even have to mull over my decision when ordering. What struck me as interesting is that it’s wrapped in soy paper and has seaweed salad in the actual roll, which I've never had before. Seaweed salad is one of my absolute favorite dishes to get at sushi restaurants, so seeing that it was included in this roll pretty much made up my mind for me. Kristy got the Red Mango Roll: shrimp tempura, cream cheese, and cucumber topped with Alaskan King crab and mango. This was a pretty decadent looking roll, especially the pieces with the tail. It was good, but I'm not the biggest fan of sushi with cream cheese in it because of how chewy it is. We got a side of eel sauce for dipping instead of soy. Kristy introduced me to this idea last time and it has certainly stuck. Eel sauce is much, much better tasting than simple soy sauce. It's thicker and has a lot more depth and flavor to it and really livens up any piece of sushi, no matter what the ingredients.
For dessert, I had green tea ice cream and Kristy had the mochi ice cream, which are little balls of ice cream with a chewy outer texture that comes in various flavors like green tea, strawberry and mango. It's an interesting dessert, definitely something you have to learn to love.
Despite not having a glass of Fuji Apple Sake, we still enjoyed everything about the meal. Next time, however, they better have my drink!