Taiko

OK, so I got a little behind on the blog in my travels. I'm in San Francisco right now and have some dead time, so let's play catch up:

Taiko in Irvine with the stunning Mayu as my guest.

Taiko is apparently an Irvine institution. Would-be diners line up outside the small restaurant for hours for the chance to chow down on generous cuts of pristine fish. We got to the restaurant at 5:15 and there was already a line about 10 people deep, despite the fact that the restaurant didn't open until 5:30.

We sat with Suzuki-san, apparently the head chef, at the counter. I asked Suzuki-san to prepare whatever was best that day (omakase), but it quickly became clear that I was never going to eat if I let him choose. Slammed by the influx of diners, Suzuki-san quickly forgot about little 'ole me.

The meal was delicious. It wasn't the best sushi I've ever had, by any stretch of the imagination, but it was all very fresh and the cuts were exceedingly generous.

I think I managed to horrify one fellow diner, however. He was tucking into a dish made with mushrooms, onions and, as he described to the woman who asked him, "some part of the scallop -- I don't know what part." When I told him it was scallop sperm, he choked a little bit, turned red and stuttered away for a good thirty seconds before he regained his composure. Oh well, another lesson learned.