LEO's Eats with Robin Garr
BarCode1758's Skewer Combo
I slurped a mouthful of fat white udon noodles. Slurping noodles is entirely appropriate in Japanese culture, you know.
I savored the aromatic brown broth, took a deep breath and sighed, full of happy.
"Mmm. Umami."
Mary gave me a funny look. "I don’t think rap is your thing."
"No! 'Oo-mommy,' not 'Yo momma.' It's a Japanese word."
Well, to be honest, Mary knows what "umami" means, and perhaps you do, too. It has become a buzz word for foodies. But because it fits so well with the flavors at Barcode 1758, successor eatery to the late, lamented Maido in Clifton, it's worth a quick re-take.
First, class, let's recall that 90 percent of what we think is taste actually occurs in our nose. Our smellers may be weak and wimpy in comparison with the nasal nuances that our dog and cat friends can make out, but scent still beats heck out of our taste buds, which can detect only four distinct flavors: Sweet, sour, salty and bitter. ?
Hold on just a minute, yell the Japanese! Their tradition adds a fifth flavor, umami; and upon reflection - and tasting - Western science is starting to agree. Umami is as easy to perceive yet as full of nuance as a haiku, and it's as difficult to comprehend as a zen koan.
My best shot at defining this undefinable concept is "meaty." No, umami doesn't taste like meat. But when you build umami into a dish, it fills a meat-shaped space.
Barcode 1758's veggie udon noodles pack in the umami, full and rich, bathing those tender wheat noodles in a broth that's dark, brown and full-flavored. It's savory, yes, and "meaty" too, but it gets there with soy sauce plus browned vegetables, I'd guess, maybe a little tomato. These are the goodies of which umami is made, with browning perhaps the No. 1 trick to get that meaty thing going where no animal flesh has been.
It's a pleasure to see Barcode 1758 picking up steam in its attractive Clifton location, a buzzing block at the inner end of Frankfort Avenue, with Silver Dollar, North End Cafe, the recently renovated Hilltop Tavern and a possible coming upscale eatery in the historic Hilltop Theater all within a biscuit's throw.
Read the full review on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/we-sa ... rcode-1758
And in LEO Weekly:
http://leoweekly.com/dining/we-savor-umami-barcode1758
Barcode 1758
1758 Frankfort Ave.
290-9061
Facebook: http://goo.gl/obDfLA
Robin Garr's rating: 84 points
