Bill Watt’s Blog

For dinner this week we tried Kaygetsu in Menlo Park. To say that there wasn’t much that appealed to my tastes “as displayed on the menu” is an understatement. The reason for the quotes is that if you know me you’ll enjoy the back story.

The person picking this week was really kind and came to me with the restaurant and a concern that we check the menu and make sure I’d be ok. They were going to try the fixed price, 7 course meal (see below) that was 98% seafood so that wouldn’t really work for me. We checked and sure enough there was one beef dish I would eat.

When we actually sat down to order we noticed the beef dish was only served med rare which is also not good for me. We asked the server to cook it well and were told that the chef wouldn’t consider it because people who had ordered it that way before later complained that the dish was ruined. I begged and told him there was no way I would complain so they relented. I think the fact my friends were having a 7 course meal and I would have sat there for 3 hours with nothing finally swayed them. Later we ordered a 2nd round of it just so I could keep up with them.

(Side note: I should have told them the story about the incredible seafood starter served at our wedding where Alice and I both don’t eat seafood. That’s a sign Alice cares more about other people than I do… I would have served beef and pork with maybe a chicken option and told people to suck it up. But that’s just me. )

The exact dish I got was this:

Roast beef, kaygetsu style roast rib eye of kobe style beef with salad, served with tamari soy sauce (Apparently kaygetsu style means med rare)

The dessert I got was awesome too:

Mochi ice cream mango mochi ice ceam

Here is the menu the guys got:

Winter Kaiseki Course Menu (Last Updated on 12/11/06)

Course 1: Saki zuke (starter)

dried mullet roe with daikon radish
salmon roe with grated yamaimo potato
flounder, marinated in kelp,
mountain caviar, dashi gelatin
stuffed shiitake mushroom
gingko nuts in pine skewer
rice cracker coated shrimp, deep fried
snap peas in sesame/tofu sauce

Course 2: Takiawase (slow cooked dish)

daikon radish with white miso sauce
wheat gluten, tied kelp, plum shaped carrot
koimo potato, snow peas, yuzu citrus

Course 3: Tsukuri(sashimi)

daily assortment

Course 4: Mushimono(steamed dish)

king crab, tofu, leek, chrysanthemum greens
enoki and shimeji mushrooms
served with ponzu sauce

Course 5: Yaki mono(grilled dish)

kinki fish, dried and grilled, topped with caviar
pickled vegetables
rice cake wrapped with seaweed

Course 6: Gohan mono (rice dish)

rice, cooked with
chicken, age tofu, carrot and lotus root
red miso soup with asari clams

Course 7: House-made original dessert

black sesame, thickened with kudzu gelatin
fresh fruits