PLAYING WITH FIRE YOU'RE THE GRILL MASTER AT GOCHI IN ENCINO.Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic NOT MUCH COOKING is done in the kitchen of the interesting new Gochi restaurant in Encino. That's because you do it yourself on one of those inset hibachi grills at your table or in a pot of near-boiling broth at Gochi's shabu-shabu bar. Gochi describes its main method of eating as Japanese charcoal dining. To those familiar with the Korean hware, the gas-fueled or charcoal-fueled brazier built into the dining table in Korean barbecue restaurants, this is a similar, do-it-yourself grilling concept that the Japanese call yakiniku. At Gochi you get it both ways. The waitress brings a saucepan filled with glowing red hot charcoals to your table where she places them carefully into the circular hollow part of the grill. She then fires up the gas jet as well. When your choice of meats, fish and/or vegetables are delivered, you have tongs tongs long-handled, about 3 feet, shaped like pincers with knobs on the ends of the grasping blades. Applied by standing behind the subject in a confined space and closing the jaws to grasp the animal's head just below the ears. to work with and you place the foods on the grill. In no time they're cooked and you remove them to your small bowl to dip in a light ``barbecue'' dipping sauce or a creamy sesame sauce. There's also regular soy sauce on the table. If you choose the shabu-shabu bar, you're doing practically the same thing, except the cooking process is effected by placing the uncooked food you've ordered into steaming hot broth. Around this same time last year I reviewed a Westside restaurant called Manpuku that specialized in yakiniku. Gochi is its first San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. equivalent. And it's a good one. Everything, by the way, appears shareable. If, as a twosome, you order, share and finish a refreshing sesame-sauced soba salad ($6.85), for example, as a starter, and a brimful brim·ful adj. Full to overflowing. brimful Adjective (foll. by of)completely filled with Adj. 1. bowl of spicy yookejang soup ($5.20) crammed cram v. crammed, cram·ming, crams v.tr. 1. To force, press, or squeeze into an insufficient space; stuff. 2. To fill too tightly. 3. a. To gorge with food. with egg, beef and vegetables, you may find yourself struggling to get through the main-course ingredients. But if you take your time and try something like the sampler sampler, sample piece of needlework or embroidery, of silk, cotton, or worsted, for the preservation of some pattern or as an example of the ability of a child or a beginner. In museums and private collections there are samplers dating from as early as 1643. ($9.50) offering of kalbi (short rib (Anat.) one of the false ribs. See also: Short ), harami (outside skirt steak skirt steak n. A boneless cut of beef from the lower part of the brisket. ) and prime rosu (rib eye steak The rib eye or ribeye, also known as the Scotch fillet (Australia) is a beef steak from the beef rib. When cut into steaks, the ribeye is one of the most popular, juiciest, and expensive steaks on the market. ), each available with one of three seasoning or sauce options, and a bowl of steamed rice ($1.70), you can enjoy yourself no end. One time we tried sliced and seasoned pork ($5.50). Another time we experimented with five pork kurobuta sausages ($5.50). And we splurged one evening with medium-thick slices of premium kobe rib eye steak ($24.50). All were delicious. And why not? We were the chefs. The bar here pours excellent sakes (try the cold sampler of three for $10.30 to find out which type you like best) and familiar Japanese beers along with a selection of soju, the sneaky Korean fermented sweet potato sweet potato, trailing perennial plant (Ipomoea batatas) of the family Convolvulaceae (morning glory family), native to the New World tropics. Cultivated from ancient times by the Aztecs for its edible tubers, it was introduced into Europe in the 16th cent. beverage. One evening at the shabu-shabu bar, a single order of tender, premium, rib eye rib eye n. A cut of meat taken from the outside of the rib. beef ($17.50) with accompanying vegetables and rice was satisfying enough for two to share. And once again, we did a fine cooking job. Even if Gochi gets the credit. Larry Lipson, (818) 713-3668 larry.lipson(at)dailynews.com GOCHI Food: Three and one half stars Service: Three and one half stars Wine: Three stars Where: 17970 Ventura Blvd., Encino. Hours: Open for dinner only from 5 p.m. to midnight nightly. Recommended items: Soba salad, spicy yookejang soup, sampler of beef yakiniku (kalbi, harami and prime rosu), pork pi-toro, pork kurobuta sausage, premium kobe rib eye, assorted kimchee. How much: Starters from $3 to $6.85, main items from $4.50 to $24.50, desserts $2.50 and $3.50. Beer and wine. AE, MC, V. Wine list: Reasonably priced small list of sparklers, whites and reds, actually a surprisingly worthy selection for this type of restaurant. Beverages of choice here are sakes, beers and sojus. Corkage cork·age n. A charge exacted at a restaurant for every bottle of liquor served that was not bought on the premises. corkage Noun a charge made at a restaurant for serving wine bought elsewhere : $5 per person. Reservations: Helpful. Call (818) 774-9621. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Owner Toru Saito, top, demonstrates the technique for cooking assorted meats, above, at Encino's Gochi, which specializes in cook-it-yourself Japanese charcoal dining. Evan Yee/Staff Photographer |
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