Haven’t written earlier about hiko.A.mon in Westport Village because I’m really torn . . .
I enjoyed the restaurant, the staff is nice, they are really trying to do a good job. I LIKE the place. Unfortunately, it’s a new spot in an area not yet ready for their pricing levels . . . what else can you say when the fried food places with bad food and average tabs around $15 are jammed (ie: Macca), while hiko.A.mon is virtually empty (with an average tab likely closer to $45). Hopefully, as time goes by – and as Napa River moves a couple of doors down – different people will start going and they will be doing better.
Now, part of the reason for my hesitation is for me to order sushi I like to see lots of people around; I’m afraid to order much in an empty restaurant, as I never know how fresh anything is. Maybe I’m being overly cautious, but that’s me.
Anyways, went last night. There were three of us – none was exceptionally hungry, but we wanted to try a new place, and all liked Japanese food.
The menu is extensive, with a number of Saki’s, a decent sushi list (and some interesting sounding rolls), 18 hot appetizers (from edamame @ $4 to soft shell crab @ $9), several cold appetizers (including steamed monk fish liver @ $8!), salads (appetizer and main dish, $6-13), a limited number of vegetarian dishes, 7 beef & chicken dishes ($15-38), 9 seafood dishes ($16-28, + market for lobster), and a good range of noodle and rice dishes ($6-12).
We ordered one sushi, one appetizer, and two main dishes for the three of us. As I mentioned, we were not too hungry, and the quantity was perfect! The dishes were:
• Valentine roll: I know I’m going to get this wrong, but I think it was asparagus and crab inside, and on top were alternating rows of tuna and salmon and four split shrimp (I figured tuna & salmon were likely the most frequently ordered fish, so more likely to be sushi-fresh, and the rest were cooked). The plate was gorgeous, forming four lines rotating from a center with shredded veges and rice noodles. The sushi was decent; I’ve had better, but it was not bad – maybe a B? Maybe on a weekend when they are busy and have newer stuff it would become an A?
• Pirates of the Japanese Sea: this is listed as “deep fried calamari legs and octopus served with white sauce and wasabi cocktail sauce”. What we got was a large baby tempura octopus with a container of cocktail sauce with a layer of a wasabi sauce floating on it. I sliced the octopus up so we could share. The tempura frying was absolutely perfect! The octopus melted in our mouths, flavor was good, fried to perfection. No white sauce (we were enjoying what we had, and didn’t ask). The cocktail wasabi sauce looked awful (bowl of red sauce with this floating green scum on it), but tasted so good I was dunking the sushi in it! Not what we were expecting, but I’d order this again.
• Chicken Kushiyaki: They had beef & chicken, and we ordered chicken. Possibly a mistake. This was the least of all the dishes. There were two huge skewers, each with chicken, green pepper, and onion alternating over a bed of grilled veges (baby Brussels sprouts, zucchini, various mushrooms) and topped by crossed grilled asparagus spears. There was a wine reduction sauce decoratively painted on the plate. Unless you are a really big eater, there’s no way someone could have an appetizer and still finish this! And, it was only $15! (forgot to say: all food came with miso soup (extremely hot and very good) and salad (typical Japanese style salad, with delicious dressing)). The problem was this entrée was overcooked. The chicken was dry, and there was not enough sauce to moisten it. I even tried dunking it into the leftover cocktail sauce, but it was just dry. Veges were wonderful, however!
• Grilled silver cod saikyo miso: My wife wanted the Chilean sea bass with mango salsa and teriyaki cabernet sauce ($27), but I convinced her to get the cod ($25), as it was marinated with a sweet miso from Kyoto (many items on the menu carried the note that the preparation was typical of Kyoto cooking). I liked it, but she just prefers sea bass. The fish was cooked perfectly (they appear to have a feel for seafood, as the octopus and cod were wonderfully cooked), has some of the same veges and asparagus as sides, and the sauce was again decoratively painted on the plate. There were two covered bowls of white rice served with the two entrees (very hot rice, steaming as we opened the bowls). The portion was smaller than the chicken, but still a lot for the money, probably at least 10 oz of fish.
The biggest disappointment was the overcooked chicken. The other two at the table thought the overall meal adequate, giving it maybe a C+, not worthy of a separate or special trip, but not terrible either.
I’d be much more generous: they have only been open a very short time; there were not enough people there to lead to the ultimate in freshness (and it’s really NOT a sushi restaurant, tho there is a nice sushi bar area), the room is very attractive, and has several private dining rooms, and the seafood was so good that I’d only get that if I came back. I’d give it a B to B+, hoping that over time (or on a weekend) it would move into the A range.
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After dinner, we drove around the corner (from Westport Village down Lyndon) to Brusters for ice cream.
First, they were out of the special flavor of the month (admittedly, it was the 30th, but that’s why I came, and there were huge posters on the walls advertising it!), and out of chocolate peanut butter chunk (which my wife ordered). We ended up with three different flavors.
Quickie comparison to Graeters:
• Slightly smaller servings, tho also (I think) at a slightly lower cost
• Big chocolate chips/chunks spread throughout the scoop, rather than sometimes getting a huge amount of chocolate and sometimes not much
• Served at right temperature, not rock hard
• Definitely lower fat/less creamy than Graeters; this is a cheaper ice cream!
• Only seats were two small outdoor benches, each holding 2 ½ people (or mom/dad/kid). As we were three adults, and as one could not stand for extended periods, we ate in the car.
• While we were there, very few people came to the walk-up window to order (you order outside, and then just stand there). On the other hand, there was a constant line of 4-5 cars in the drive-thru.
Given that Graeters isn’t far away, and the Pie Kitchen is also not far, don’t think we’ll be coming back to Brusters (tho if I'm by myself I'll definitely give hiko.A.mon a second try).