suck it, Taro, you suck

Before I say some negative stuff about Taro, let me first say that I went to Malooufs (1433 Fulton Ave, get off at Arden and turn right on Fulton and you're there!) this week and it was excellent as usual. I got the kafta kabob sandwich for the first time and the meat was wonderfully spiced and a bit rare in the middle.

Now on to Taro, a meal that cost 4 times as much and was one zillionth as good. I didn't go in there with any axe to grind, I used to like the old Mikuni on Fair Oaks and I was hoping that this place had it together. It is so fucking tacky that the menu has ads in it. I think the one at the Mikuni downtown does, too, but this one has more. Taro's (the link is to his webdiary, he is such a nut!) picture is on the front and this is his pet restaurant in the sense that he has more creative dishes. We ordered a mix of traditional nigiri and more out there stuff and the quality was very consistent. Consistently poor, that is! My sister got a spicy asparagus dish for six bucks. It was FOUR SPEARS OF ASPARAGUS. Cutting them in half did not fool us into thinking there were more than four, but nice try, Taro. They were normal steamed asparagus, not especially good quality (I have blanched tender young asparagus and come up with much more tender, tastier, brighter-colored spears) with, surprise! some sort of spicy mayo sauce. I tried the hokkaido scallops for nine bucks, because I remembered mikuni has a special scallop dish that was great. This was four scallops topped with some mayo sauce, some black tobiko and some crispy fried bits. It was not very good and mostly tasted like, you guessed it, mayo. My sis got the flamin shrooms or some stupid name like that. They were fried balls filled with mayoey crab salad and mushrooms. They were OK, she liked them. Both kinds of nigiri I got were gross. I got the toro, which, as my sister remarked, looked like it had varicose veins. Please don't serve me a mangled looking cut of fish with visible red veins! It was nasty and fibrous and I couldn't eat the veiny part. The fresh salmon nigiri was also tough and fishy. I know fresh salmon is often fishy but this was in a bad way. The sake at the all you can eat place (Nobu) in Davis was better! It was my sister's bday so we got a dessert. Green tea tiramisu, her choice. Nasty fridge-tasting green tea creamy glop in a martini glass with a teeny bit of cake floating in the glop. I am never going to any branch of any Mikuni restaurant again, unless the original one is still good.