Daruma of Japan and Thailand

Back in December, I first visited Daruma of Japan, a little Sushi Bar and Japanese restaurant nearby where I live [it is near the intersection of Laskin Road and Birdneck, close by the 7-11 store]. Since then, I have been fairly haunting the place. Excellent food and very nice people.

Chef Hiro is very skilled at the sushi bar, and sometimes it is cool to watch the process - it is that fascinating. I know Kevin would really enjoy visiting. Hiro's a really pleasant fellow, and has a good sense of humour, too. The balance of the Japanese food on the menu is of good quality and tasty. I frequently have the seafood tempura, which has several shrimp, a crab stick and a fish patty, a scallop, and a soft-shell crab, along with daikon and rice.

On Saturdays [I think this is offered on Friday evenings, as well], choose the buffet - the waitress [Miss Yasi, who also has a good sense of humour and is about as cute as a person can possibly get] brings a tray around, sushi and sashimi, as well as California rolls and such. This is perhaps the highlight of the menu at Daruma of Japan. Ya gotta try it!! I always tease Yasi when she brings the tray around, as though the entire tray is for me. I generally settle for one of each.

Daruma of Thailand? Certainly. Hiro is from Tokyo, in case you wondered. His wife, Kathy, is from Thailand, and is genuinely one of the nicest people! She had made little Christmas cookie selections for customers [I mentioned that in my original posting], which I thought was very special. Now that she is spending more time at the restaurant, there is now a selection of Thai food available. It, too, is excellent! This menu is rather limited, as it would likely confuse people if too large, and perhaps result in excess wastage. I have ordered both Thai and Japanese food at the same time, with happy results. The menu proclaims Daruma an Asian Bistro now, and as far as ordering from each menu, it keeps both chefs happy :-)

Last night, I ordered Tom Kha Gai, which is a Thai chicken soup with galanga for added flavour; packed with chicken in a coconut milk broth, and is most savoury. Good, good stuff! The standard salad followed, and I deleted the standard miso shiru as being superfluous to my repast. Kirin Ichiban 22 and seafood tempura, an excellent combination! Finished up with hot sake and mochi style red bean ice cream, where the ice cream is rolled in sweetened rice flour and frozen approximately to carbide hardness. Wonderful!

I have also had the beef satay, skewers with peanut sauce [Kathy tells me that the chicken skewers sold out, but that I was the only one who ordered the beef!], which are welcome, and Penang Chicken, which is spicy [but only displays one bombshell on the menu as a gauge of spiciness! hahaha], rather a juicy blend of chicken and spices and coconut milk over rice. Some vegetables involved as well. My fave from the Thai menu.

Many languages present, English and Japanese and Thai, of course. Miss Anastasia is from Novosibirsk, so Russian is sometimes at hand as well. What a cordial person! Good waiter, and excellent conversationalist. Her English is excellent, especially so for having studied it in school and only having practised it live for eight months. So, I am teaching her some Spanish as well. Cool!

In summary, this is somewhere ya gotta go. Friendly, homey atmosphere with excellent food. I highly recommend it, and I highly enjoy visiting.