Kobe Italian Ginger Salad
One of my friend's was having a surprise birthday party at Kobe Italian in Clearwater on a Monday night. Being that it was a Monday we didn't expect it to be very busy. The restaurant was a little hard to find because there is only one sign on the building and it's on a side that isn't very visible in the parking lot. When I walked it the first thing I noticed was I was in a very dark bar area. I was greeted right away and when I told them which party I was with they took me into the back where they had large U shaped tables with a grill table on two sides. In the restaurant area we had plenty of room for the 15 guests and aside from one table finishing up, we were the only ones there.
We were offered drinks as soon as half of our guests arrived, which I found to be a little odd. I thought it was standard to be given a water while we wait. Once we were completely seated two waitresses came through to take our appetizer and dinner order. I ordered a Crunchy Baked Salmon Roll which had baked salmon, smelt roe, asparagus, tempura crunch, avocado and mayo, and I also ordered Jaguar Roll which had Eel, cream cheese and avocado. With my meal I also received a side salad and soup. On Kobe Italian's menu they offered sushi, hibachi and a lot of tempura options. Most of the desserts on the menu sound like they would be brought in or frozen. They offered cheese cake, ice cream and mochi along with a few others. I couldn't find anything on the menu that would represent the Italian food that the restaurant name would lead you to believe.
We were offered drinks as soon as half of our guests arrived, which I found to be a little odd. I thought it was standard to be given a water while we wait. Once we were completely seated two waitresses came through to take our appetizer and dinner order. I ordered a Crunchy Baked Salmon Roll which had baked salmon, smelt roe, asparagus, tempura crunch, avocado and mayo, and I also ordered Jaguar Roll which had Eel, cream cheese and avocado. With my meal I also received a side salad and soup. On Kobe Italian's menu they offered sushi, hibachi and a lot of tempura options. Most of the desserts on the menu sound like they would be brought in or frozen. They offered cheese cake, ice cream and mochi along with a few others. I couldn't find anything on the menu that would represent the Italian food that the restaurant name would lead you to believe.
Kobe Italian Miso soup and Nigori
No one from our party had to wait long for their salad to come (for those that ordered it). The soup was right behind the salad and both were delicious. The ginger dressing had a hint of fish sauce flavor and it was light on the spicy ginger. It was pretty good, but different from other restaurants. Unique. The miso soup was hot and delicious.
Both of our waitresses were pleasant, but I couldn't help but get the feeling that one of them wasn't happy about having to deal with 15 people. The other seemed pleased as punch to have the business and she was very attentive. My friend sitting next to me no sooner did she put down her empty beer and make a sad face about it and the happier waitress brought another one immediately. That was nice!
Both of our waitresses were pleasant, but I couldn't help but get the feeling that one of them wasn't happy about having to deal with 15 people. The other seemed pleased as punch to have the business and she was very attentive. My friend sitting next to me no sooner did she put down her empty beer and make a sad face about it and the happier waitress brought another one immediately. That was nice!
When they started to bring in everyone's food we were disappointed when some people got their food and were already half way through before the rest of us got our food. When I got my sushi I noticed that they did a great job with plate presentation. Some plates had drawings on it using the sauces and some were just clean and crisp looking. I tried my first bite of the Crunchy Baked Salmon Roll and I tasted a lot of tempura. The flavors were overtaken by the strong salmon flavor and grease from the frier. The Jaguar Roll was really tasty and although the texture was mushy, the flavor was excellent. I shared my roll with my friend and she said the same thing I did about the Salmon Roll. I tried one of her spice tuna rolls and I had trouble keeping it down. It was extremely mushy and didn't taste like spicy tuna, but almost rancid. She kept eating her roll, so she must not have felt the same way I did about it. When I talked to other friend's about their meal they said it was okay, but nothing spectacular. Then again, I'm sure I'm the more opinionated one out of the group... hence the blog.
I knew our friend's had brought in our own cake, but I wanted to try the dessert on the menu for the sake of this review. I ordered the only dessert that sounded authentic to the restaurant. I ordered the green tea mochi which didn't taste much different from the boxed kind you can get at Trader Joe's. Sooo I ended up eating the cake that we brought instead.
After the food was taken away and we were waiting on our bills a few of us started to notice a horrible smell. A few people had started to get up and use the restroom which was in the back of the restaurant and when they came back they complained about the sewer smell. I had planned on using the ladies room but my friend told me that I should steer clear of it because the smell would have me running for the hills. I was surprised that we didn't smell it when we came in, but I remembered that another table was in the middle of their hibachi experience when we walked in. At the time the only thing we smelled was the food on the grill table. It's a shame that we had to leave so soon, but none of us could take that smell any longer.
Sorry to say, but Kobe Italian is not on my return list. I'm sure everyone has an off night and with 15 people I can see that it might be a difficult party, but we were the only one's there when we started to order. Make your own assumptions here, but in my opinion this Kobe Italian is a "No Doggy Bag For Me" restaurant. Thank god for good company with friends because we still enjoyed ourselves being in each others presence.
After the food was taken away and we were waiting on our bills a few of us started to notice a horrible smell. A few people had started to get up and use the restroom which was in the back of the restaurant and when they came back they complained about the sewer smell. I had planned on using the ladies room but my friend told me that I should steer clear of it because the smell would have me running for the hills. I was surprised that we didn't smell it when we came in, but I remembered that another table was in the middle of their hibachi experience when we walked in. At the time the only thing we smelled was the food on the grill table. It's a shame that we had to leave so soon, but none of us could take that smell any longer.
Sorry to say, but Kobe Italian is not on my return list. I'm sure everyone has an off night and with 15 people I can see that it might be a difficult party, but we were the only one's there when we started to order. Make your own assumptions here, but in my opinion this Kobe Italian is a "No Doggy Bag For Me" restaurant. Thank god for good company with friends because we still enjoyed ourselves being in each others presence.
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