Saturday, July 13, 2013.
Sushi Bars Need Japanese.
Hot, hot day, and dry for a change. Meanwhile, the web server has lost its mind, and my website is down. Again. Third time in ten days. The unspoken caution as we move everything into the cloud is that it doesn't always work. It's much less reliable than, say, the telephone.
Three hours on the radio at noon. The Marys had already departed for a day with friends from out of town. It looked like it was about to rain, but didn't. So I got out there and cut the grass, because who knows what tomorrow will be like? The grass and everything else is growing like crazy. Even the stunted cypress trees I planted about twenty years ago.
To dinner at Tchoupstix. That's a sort-of Japanese restaurant that looks more like a New Orleans seafood house, next door to Pardo's. It's actually been there a good deal longer than Pardo's, but for some reason I haven't tried it.
The place was busier than I expected, and everybody seemed to be happy--the dining room staff, in particular. They brought out the menu with a cup of clear soup, which could have been hotter. (If this is a trend--and I've seen numerous similar examples--it's not a good one.)
I ordered gyoza dumplings, an asparagus roll, a yellowtail nigiri sushi, and the Hornet Roll (one of the only special rolls here not made with that dreadful crabstick stuff). I wondered whether the name would soon change to the Pelican Roll, to keep up with the mascot of the local pro basketball team.
I asked for a few other things--fresh scallops, for example. But the sushi list was riddled with outages, and this was one of them. I asked for a small side salad, and was told that they only served big salads.
It took a long time for the food to arrive. I was in no hurry, but I knew the wait would engender the ever-more-vexing annoyance of all-at-once restaurant service. But then the gyoza came. I was distracted to see that they'd been deep-fried. Every other sushi place I know cooks them like Chinese pot stickers--first steamed, then stuck to the pot for a few seconds. Asian restaurants are on the forefront of the practice of frying everything they can. Not a good idea in this case.
But before that thought played itself out--only one dumpling gone--here came all the rest of the food. Well, at least it wasn't two or three hot dishes getting cold at the same time.
The yellowtail was good. The asparagus in the rolls was overcooked, but that wasn't a big problem. The Hornet Roll tasted all right, but it wasn't assembled by an especially deft hand.
Meanwhile, the young women who served the room were cheerful and always on their marks. A little too cheerful. This place needs a lot more Japanese culture. Not for its own sake, but to keep the food in line. It's the same force working here that keeps you from having good gumbo in Wichita Falls.
Tchoupstix. Covington: 69305 LA Hwy 21 . 985-892-0852.
