A Food Aficionado – Shiki

By Anna Ing

All Photos By Anna Ing

When Shiki (aka Four Seasons in Japanese) located at 9 Babcock Street, Brookline [617-738-0200] opened up a few years ago, it filled a much needed void. While in the highly competitive Brookline area, riddled with Japanese places, they still deliver delicious food and different Japanese food from the mainstream Japanese sushi houses. This is one of the few places around I always hear Japanese spoken amongst the patrons. This is a sure sign of a winner! After discovering Shiki as a great homey izakaya style establishment (Japanese pub food) that had an extensive sake (Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice) selection coupled with delicious food and their amazing, beautiful kaiseki (multicourse or haute cuisine)lunches (one of their trademarks!), I was ecstatic. Are you a sake lover? Then you should try their sake sampler flight too! This was not another ho-hum Japanese place with only the usual menu choices.

A burnt orange colored sign is outside of this garden level restaurant space (about 8 steps down). The lower level is welcoming with few chairs and tables with soothing autumn colors and simple décor. Shiki is closed on Mondays, while they are open for lunch and dinner from Tuesdays to Sundays.

Over time some menu standards are now occasional specials or their will have some special meals too. Their extensive menus has some favorites as such tempura, tonkatsu, udon, sushi and even the much maligned but also beloved fermented natto beans (stinky smelling and gooey texture) is not for everyone even to some Japanese. One can eat a variety of delicious dishes and explore or just stick to the basics. Plus their bountiful menu choices range from a few dollars up until the teens, so depending on what one eats, it doesn’t have to be a break the bank experience.

Off the special tapas menu, we got the Ankimo (monkfish liver) which is amazing and if you are a foie gras fan, here is the ocean’s equivalent! Nestled in a silvery bowl with a bright broth with pickled seaweed, radish, and topped with scallions accentuates the smooth silky texture and taste of the sea without the guilt. Next came the Beef Tongue, sliced thinly and cooked to perfection with simple seasoning garnished with a lemon wedge. Each bit was heavenly and not overly greasy but the taste and chewiness that tongue was enjoyable. Note that both these dishes are not always available.

It was a cold night, so the Chawanmushi we ordered totally hit the spot. A Japanese steamed egg custard dish served with a delicate broth studded with many surprises of mushrooms, chicken, fish cake and seafood really satisfied with its lightness, warmth and freshness. Next came the artful Scallop Tartar, it consists of chopped raw scallops mixed with mayo and shiso (Japanese Perilla herb) then encased by smoked salmon in a log shape. The mayo mix and the scallop’s sweetness were a good balanced by the slight saltiness from the smoked salmon.

You never can go wrong with Black Cod Miso, which is my favorite ever since I first ate it in LA many moons ago. This oily, flaky fish black cod (aka sable fish) is cooked after being marinated in the house miso marinade. Cooked to perfection, the tastes all balance out to accentuate the soy miso marinade but the richness of this fish pairs nicely with some rice. Then next was the Sea Eel Millefeuille that had layers of sea eel and nagaimo (Japanese yam) topped by a poached egg in a light broth. The texture of this dish might not be for everyone, but the flavors with the soft marinated eel, crunchy yam, runny egg with the broth makes for a pleasant and interesting texture and taste combination.

We ended our meal simply with ice cream-one scoop of green tea and one scoop of red bean. Both flavors were delicious and not overpowered by sugar while maintaining a great balance of green tea and red bean flavor respectively. The other two dessert choices the green tea milk cake and the sweet potato apple cake were sold out for the night. Maybe another night, but the next time you want to try some different Japanese food in a cozy atmosphere, go check out Shiki!

This post is also available in: Chinese

Link: http://sampan.org/2012/01/a-food-aficionado-shiki/

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