I had to go out of town for a brief business trip, to the nice warm city of Austin, TX. And as usual, before I went I took a look around to see if there were any restaurants that people recommended. At the top of the list was Kemuri-Tatsuya, a Michelin star restaurant focused on Japanese Izakaya mixed with Texas smokehouse. For those of you not familiar with Izakaya (I had never heard of that word), according to Wikipedia it is a casual place for after-work drinking similar to a pub that serves alcoholic drink and snacks. I looked at the menu and I was intrigued especially by their brisket ramen so I quickly made a reservation before I began my travels there.
One thing about me is I don’t like to eat too late. That’s a little ironic considering business dinners always seem to start at 6 or 7pm, which leaves me wincing since I like to eat early and go to bed early. So with this in mind, I made my reservation for 5:00pm and made sure to get there a few minutes early. The restaurant, doesn’t have any neighbors and is stand alone. When I arrived there was only one couple waiting outside, as the restaurant hadn’t opened yet. I sat outside and watched as a few workers entered the building ready for their shift. And like clockwork, once 5pm hit, they were taking customers.
When it was my turn to be helped, they looked up my reservation and took me inside. I had opted for the chef’s countertop, after my awesome experience at Etch. They took me to the chef’s countertop, where I was sitting high and right in front of the kitchen. They gave me a menu and a washcloth so I could clean my hands, and gave me some water. I took a few minutes to peruse the menu and found quite a few things to my liking. When the waiter returned I asked him for some recommendations. He said they were well known for their Honky Tonk Ramen and for appetizers his favorite was the Teriyaki Cornbread which was made with sesame butter, local honey, and stoneground cornmeal. I ended up ordering the Charred Edamame because I like edamame AND I felt like a needed a vegetable and not just a bunch of carbs. I also ordered the Honky Tonk Ramen but I was worried I would still be hungry so I added the Kara-age Chicken, fried chicken thighs with koji hot sauce.
Within 10 mins of ordering, my Charred Edamame were brought out to me. They looked delicious. Vivid green edamame, with nice streaks of black, from where it was charred, with little crystals of salt on top. I could taste the smokiness from the char and the salt made each bite pop. It was so delicious I had to force myself to slow down while eating, so I wouldn’t get full off just the edamame. As I was finishing my edamame, the waiter brought me both my ramen AND my kara-age.
The Ramen was beautiful, it had noodles in the bowl, with a piece of brisket and soft boiled egg, and a cup of pork tonkatsu broth. The waiter told me to eat it, dip the noodles in the broth and then eat. I grabbed a spoon and tried the broth itself, it had a nice beefy flavor, with a fatty mouth feel. This was a challenge to eat because it didn’t come with a knife and I didn’t want to eat a mouthful of brisket with my ramen. I did manage to get a little piece of meat and grabbed some noodles with a chopstick and dipped it into my cup of broth. It was extremely tasty, but a little messy. I did try the soft boiled egg, it was good, but not my favorite, because I prefer my eggs boiled hard with the middle set. After I got halfway through the ramen, I decided to fix my attention on my fried chicken.
The kara-age, was a beautiful crispy brown, with a drizzle of the hot sauce on top, and a little bowl of more hot sauce. It gave a nice crunch when I bit into it and had a tangy slight vinegar flavor from the hot sauce. I was plowing through the chicken, it was so good. This was even better than the hot chicken I had in Nashville, on a trip last year. I ate all the chicken before I revisited my ramen. I honestly regretted not having more chicken.
After my mains were devoured, the waiter asked if I would like desert, and I almost said no. He shared with me that the desert they offered was a banana pudding with matcha on top. I’m not a fan of matcha as I think it tastes like dirt but he insisted it was really good. So I relented and said sure why not. I mean I love a good Nilla wafer. By favorite dessert at family reunions was the banana pudding my aunt would always make. Whenever I heard Aunt Val made the banana pudding I would run to it. And honestly, this one was just as amazing. It came in a glass container, so you could see the beautiful layers. It had the Nilla wafers, a kokuto crunch (which is apparently black sugar combined with a crunchy ingredient), miso caramel, and the matcha dusting on top. This was probably one of the best banana puddings I had ever had. I couldn’t even taste the matcha. I told myself to only have like three bites…I ate the whole thing. I couldn’t help it. The banana flavor, with the wafers and the crunch was just too much to resist.
This meal was one of the best ones I have had in a long time. I really liked everything I had but if I were to go back I would like to try their cornbread, a skewer, and have two orders of the Kara-age chicken. The ramen was good, but the Kara-age had my heart and tummy. I need to try and recreate the Kara-age at home so my sister can try it. If you find yourself in Austin, TX, please check this place out. You won’t be disappointed. Happy Eating!
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