A Tasty Night Out

    Over this past weekend, Nate's parents were kind enough to watch the girls so we could have a date night. The plan had been to have dinner at Outback (because we received a giftcard for Christmas) and then catch the new Sherlock Holmes movie. I know by now that things never happen as planned...and often times it's because there is something better we didn't think of.

    We arrived at our local Outback Steakhouse at 5:30 Saturday evening. There was already a large crowd gathered outside in front of the restaurant and the hostess waiting at the door informed us that it was at least an hour wait --probably longer-- before just the two of us could be seated. Well, if we wanted to catch a movie after dinner, we didn't really have time to wait around for a table. So we got back in the car and drove half-heartedly towards some random chinese place. Then Nate got a funny idea.

    Why not try the little Japanese restaurant that we ate at on our first date? Which happens to be his favorite restaurant and which happens to ALWAYS be closed for reasons unknown whenever we have tried eating there occasionally since our first date. So we had been trying to eat there for roughly six years and it had always been closed--hence the 'funny' idea Nate had.

    If the place was open, we could eat and still catch the movie at a decent time at the theater nearby. I pull in to the parking lot aaaannnndddd it was open! Yay! It's a miracle! haha j/k. The name of this elusive eating experience-- Kashin. The first time Nate took me here, I was less-than-enthusiastic about the food. This time could not have been more different.

    It is a very quiet little restaurant nestled inside a usually busy shopping center. And on New Year's Eve while everyone was crowding the major chain restaurants, we were one of four couples in this softly lit place. After placing our orders, the waitress (dressed in Japanese clothes) brought out miso soup and a little salad with sesame ginger dressing. I also ordered a glass of lightly sweet plum wine for Nate and I to try.

    The soup was a warm and delicious way to start out the meal. My favorite part were the silken tofu cubes in it. In my opinion, there could have been more of them. :)

My last tofu cube. :(

    The salad, that I ate very un-gracefully with chopsticks, contrasted well with a cool and crisp finish. The dressing had a subtle flavor to it that didn't overwhelm the palate. In short, it was yummy. :)

    After a short wait, our dinners arrived. Oh my! I ordered the Assorted Tempura. I was excited because Nate loves their tempura and there are items in this dish that I have never tried before...so why not give it a go?

    The Assorted Tempura is crispy fried shrimp, scallop, crab, fish, chicken, and vegetables with tempura sauce and served with a side of white rice. The first thing I tried was the scallop because I've never had scallops before. But now I can't wait to have scallops again. :) It was so smooth and buttery. I was sad there was only one on my plate--but it was an assorted plate. The veggies on the plate were no disappointment either with sweet potato, zucchini, onions & shredded carrot, and a green bell pepper. There was a mushroom too, but only a bite of that was taken so as not to upturn my stomach.

    It was such a fabulous meal in a romantic setting in some of the best company. :) I'm really looking forward to a return trip.

    I was so caught up in remembering the food that I forgot about the movie after! Nate and I went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. It was a great movie! I think I am really becoming quite a fan of Robert Downey Jr.

    We had a great time together and even stayed awake to ring in the New Year. :) I'm looking forward to our next date night...hopefully it won't be months before we can do it again. Life can be a lil crazy. :)