Miso Omakase at Nojo
Is it miso season? (Miso has a season?) Berkeley Bowl puts out about 10 different kinds of miso in their “international” aisle, and Nojo advertises a seasonal 5-course miso omakase menu on Black Board Eats. Usually the Black Board Eats emails go straight into the trash, which I kinda feel bad about because I signed up for their newsletter after all, but thank goodness I did read it that morning. That night I got the code, called my friend, and we went to Nojo.
We were seated at the counter, but not the one facing the chefs, that would have been nice, this was a small counter facing the wall near the door. The wall looks pretty cool but we felt kinda weird at first, what with the other customers crowding the tables and here the three of us facing a wall next to a middle-aged man. We felt outcast. But Nojo doesn’t take reservation for party under 6, only a phone call an hour before you arrive to put your name on the waiting list, guess I should have called more than an hour earlier, what was I thinking following the rules? But the servers, inked and all, are really nice, the water was clear and sweet, the sunflowers smelled good, and the middle-aged man left minutes after we sat down.
And the food.
Cucumber salad with shichimi and nori. Shichimi is a chili pepper mix with (supposedly) 6 other spices, but they sprinkled just enough to give the cold thing a kick, not spicy. There’s more shichimi on the counter for the duller tongues people who like spicy food.
Miso Omakase Course 1: a simple salad of Little Gem lettuce and cauliflower with shiromiso (white miso) dressing. The pickled red onion was the real little gem.
Miso Omakase Course 2: miso soup with oyster mushroom and butternut squash. Hearty. San Francisco gets cold at night, so this helps.
Fried eggplant with akamiso (red miso) and peanut sauce, topped with julienned leek. Eggplants have never been my favorite fruit and will never be even if I go vegan, but this miso eggplant was better than the grilled pork jowl and the garlic-barley miso butter chicken (Miso Omakase Course 3), both of which tip-toed on the salty side.
Tempura tree oyster mushroom, squash blossom and lemon, to be dipped in a zesty ponzu mayonnaise.
We didn’t expect a fried thing when we ordered the rice balls with tare and nori, but the surprise was welcome.
If I was skeptical about anything in the Miso Omakase menu, it was the shiromiso-glazed trout. But its sweet creamy sauce blew my doubt away, the rice ball was great for sweeping up every last drop.
Miso Omakase Course 5: buckwheat & beer crepe, a drizzle of ginger-muscovado syrup, blueberry compote on top and shiromiso ice cream. We thought muscovado was a cross between muscat the grape and avocado (weird, I know, but possible, right?), but we asked, it’s a brown sugar.
And of course, kurogoma (black sesame) ice cream with roasted strawberries on a bed of “peanut thunder crackers”, which is like peanut brittle and caramel popcorn intertwined, multiplied the goodness by 85.
You know how people can just tell that something’s good when they see it, for no reason at all? That’s how it was with Nojo for me. Every izakaya in the Bay has the same kind of yakitori on the stick, the same expensive price, the same raves on Yelp, and I don’t know why I wanted to go to Nojo, but now I’m recommending it to everyone I talk to. Was it the kikubari exuding from the friendly staff, inked and all and warmly smiling as they strode between tables? Was it the simple but flawless food? But I didn’t know any of that before I came.
Somewhere in me, I just knew. Miso is in.
Address: Nojo (which means “farm” in Japanese)
231 Franklin St.
San Francisco, CA
(415) 896-4587
Dinner for three: $99.82
I have been surfing on-line more than three hours these days, yet I by no means found any fascinating article like yours. It’s lovely price enough for me. In my view, if all web owners and bloggers made good content as you probably did, the net will be a lot more useful than ever before.
1This is the right blog for anyone who wants to find out about this topic. You realize so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually would want…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!
2There is noticeably a bundle to know about this. I assume you made certain nice points in features also.
3Oh my goodness! an amazing article dude. Thanks Nevertheless I’m experiencing challenge with ur rss . Don’t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody getting identical rss problem? Anyone who knows kindly respond. Thnkx
4I’ve been exploring for a bit for any high quality articles or blog posts on this sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this site. Reading this info So i am happy to convey that I’ve a very good uncanny feeling I discovered exactly what I needed. I most certainly will make certain to do not forget this web site and give it a glance regularly.
5I feel that is among the most important info for me. And i am happy reading your article. But wanna remark on few basic issues, The site taste is ideal, the articles is in point of fact nice :D. Just right job, cheers
6I’ve read a few good stuff here. Certainly value bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how so much effort you put to create such a wonderful informative website.
7I have learn some excellent stuff here. Certainly price bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how a lot attempt you place to make one of these magnificent informative web site.
8I believe this internet site holds very excellent composed articles articles.
9I am extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself? Either way keep up the excellent quality writing, it’s rare to see a great blog like this one today..
10I discovered your blog site on google and test a couple of of your early posts. Continue to maintain up the very good operate. I just further up your RSS feed to my MSN News Reader. Seeking ahead to studying more from you later on!…
11Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in reality was a enjoyment account it. Glance complicated to far added agreeable from you! By the way, how could we communicate?
12Please let me know if you’re looking for a article author for your blog. You have some really good articles and I believe I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d absolutely love to write some material for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please blast me an email if interested. Kudos!
13Hey, you used to write wonderful, but the last few posts have been kinda boringK I miss your super writings. Past several posts are just a little out of track! come on!
14Greetings! Very helpful advice on this article! It is the little changes that make the biggest changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!
15