Boulder Creek’s Edo Sushi offers some nice Japanese dishes
I can pass on potatoes except when it comes to a Japanese Koroke, a snack that takes tater tots to a gourmet level of texture and comfort. Pronounced ko’-row-kay, which when spoken quickly, resembles the French food croquettes for which they are named.
At Boulder Creek’s Edo Sushi, three plump, deep-fried oval disks of carrot-flecked mashed potato ($4.95) arrived piping hot with salty-sweet katsu sauce. Their coating of fine panko breadcrumbs was perfectly crisped.
The brightly painted yellow building sits just past the stop sign in downtown Boulder Creek. A remodel added a long sushi bar and there is a separate dining room which overlooks Boulder Creek. Evergreen saplings just outside of the windows and soft strains of instrumental Japanese music create an idyllic atmosphere.
Black rectangular valances with white bamboo silhouettes adorn the windows while round, pastel paper lampshades hover overhead. Both the wooden and heavy welded metal chairs with lashed bamboo backings were cushioned with pillows. Plenty of high chairs were stacked and waiting.
I had 11 pages of menu to pore over, including two pages of beverages. Numerous Japanese beer labels, including Fine Free nonalcoholic, as well as American, European and Chinese are available. The wine list includes plum wine, three Beringer selections, hot sake, sparkling sake, and four cold sakes. I enjoyed a tall tumbler of hot green tea ($1.50).
Most items on the lunch menu, which is served until 3 p.m., include miso soup and salad. Combination Bento Boxes ($7.95 to $11.95) and Donburi Rice bowls ($8.50 to $14.95) join stir-fried rice or noodle dishes ($6.50 to $12.95). The noodle soup bowls ($8.95 to $12.95) reminded me of a lunch hour on my last trip to Japan, where, as one of two blonde American businesswomen who peered cautiously about a neighborhood noodle house noted, slurping noises were apropos.
The dinner menu is similar to that for lunch, but with a larger selection. It also lists some dim sum ($4.95) including red bean paste buns, steamed pork buns and shrimp dumplings. A typed list of new items ($4.95 to $9.95) featured Chinese-style dishes and, surprisingly enough, garlic fries ($3.95).
I ordered a couple of appetizers and a sushi roll. A cup of Ahi Poke Salad ($12.95) with beautiful cubes of firm red tuna sprinkled with sesame seeds was served over ice, keeping it nice and cold. Its bed of marinade, however, was sour and salty. I really missed the sesame oil that is a traditional element of this dish. I dressed it instead with togarashi seven-spice pepper and sriracha chili sauce.
Chunks of grilled dark meat chicken on three Yakitori skewers ($4.95) were delicious; tender, juicy and glazed in a slightly sweet, syrupy style of teriyaki.
Many of the special rolls contained unagi (eel) which Seafood Watch considers a highly unsustainable seafood choice. The Spicy Tuna Roll ($7.50) was delicious and served with tuna and crunch in a spicy sauce. A sheet of glistening rice grains dotted with sesame seeds and drizzled with mildly spiced mayo were wrapped around pieces of tuna and crunchy nuggets of fried tempura batter.
Edo Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar, 13271 Highway 9, Boulder creek, 338-2099. Beer and wine. Open daily at 11:30 a.m., closing at 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and at 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Visit edosushionline.com. Photos by Karen Petersen.
