Kodaiko (stoked)

First, let's get some business out of the way. Can we all agree that a cliche that should be eliminated from restaurant reviews is that something "did not disappoint"? I will vow to try as well.

Second, how Sac is it that a lot of good restaurants are closing but meanwhile Easy on I was packed last night? Pretty damned Sac. Not to mention that the Taco Bell Cantina was seemingly the busiest "restaurant" on K street last night. Let's hope that's novelty alone.

Thirdly, a sandwich spot called "Lo/Fi" has now opened in the former spot of June's. A small part of me was still hoping June's would reopen. You'll have to check it out for me. If it has June's hours then I can't get there since I work in Davis.

Ok, now, Kodaiko, after the jump

 This pickle plate was a giant among pickle plates. In the middle there is kimchee. Billy Ngo has a wonderful way with kimchee, and I was sorry to see it fall off the Fish Face menu, although I haven't been there in a while, so maybe it's back. Anyway, his kimchee is INTENSE and salty AF. But I love it. If you are a salt hater, you may not like. Then, in the foreground are pickled golden beets with (I believe) juniper berries. Either they were juniper berries or some flavor ball I am not familiar with that tasted similar. They packed a beautiful flavor wallop. The beets were intensely earthy, while skirting the "dirt" quality beets can have (I love beats so I don't care about that, but some people do -yes you can be 45 years old and suddenly start spelling "beets" with an "a" is that a sign of dementia?), and the strong piney taste of the juniper is a taste I also love. In other words, this pickle plate did not disappoint. At the back was pickled elephant garlic which smelled but did not taste of garlic and was pretty good but could not compare with the other ingredients.

Now, the ramen. I had had the ramen once before and I was not thrilled to find that you have to pay extra for an egg (acceptable) and chashu (not acceptable).  I'm over that now and wanted to give it another chance. Kodaiko serves an unusual base broth made from fish and pork. It may be characteristic of some regional ramen, but not of a region I've been too. This time I got spicy (see that spice lump on top?) and I got chicken, just for fun. I think it was advertised as "koji fermented"? It was a dry slice of breast, so that part of the experiment was not successful. And the whole sambal lump mixed in was a little too spicy for me. It def slowed me down from eating too fast but the bottom of the broth was too hot for me to finish.  My dining companion got his sambal on the side, which I will do next time if I go spicy. However, this is still a rave because the combo of the deep flavor of the broth and the sproingily noodles will be good enough to keep me coming back. This is a unique flavor that reflects the passion of the chef and I am here for it! The mushroom broth is also good so you can go totally veg and still have a great bowl of ramen. Last night the veggie add-in was parsnip and chicory and my friend said the parsnip was great. And also they have a pretty good beer list with a beer brewed for them by Urban Roots on draft. I no longer resent the add-in part, I just had to get used to it. If you add in an egg and pork chashu it's 3 or 4 bucks less than Ramen Shop in Berkeley, which seems about fair. I use that as the comparison because Ramen Shop is the best ramen I've had in the US so I don't resent paying 20 bucks for a bowl. But also it's the Bay Area so you expect higher prices.