What's good here?

Japan: Please don’t crumble on me now. I want to visit Japan one day and try some real, authentic Japanese food. I’m sending my love and best wishes that way. This is only the beginning: First an earthquake, then a tsunami, aftershocks, fires, and then another earthquake, followed by more aftershocks. Even when all these natural disasters end, many people will be left without family members, homes, warmth and food. I cannot imagine how scary it would be to try to outrun gigantic waves, while watching it swallow up your house.

We should do what we can to help people in Japan – Huffingtonpost posted an article on How to Help Japan: Earthquake Relief Options (click to see options). Please do help if you can- this could be us. $10 might not be much to us, but could really help out over there.

March 11, 2011: Widespread destruction in Japan from 8.9 earthquake and tsunami

Picture from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/11/how-to-help-japan-earthquake-relief_n_834484.html

Although, I may not be able to try authentic Japanese food right now, there is a decent Japanese restaurant near the University of Oregon’s campus that suits my Japanese food craving.

Overall Restaurant Rating – Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 – Miso (686 E 13th Ave, 97401) is definitely not some high-quality sushi place and it’s sushi selection is somewhat limited, but it is a good bang for the buck. The portion sizes are very generous. I can never finish my meals there, and always have leftovers.

What we ordered:

Miso's Teriyaki Bowl: Teriyaki chicken and rice - only $3.95

Teriyaki bowl – Rating: 4/5 – White rice and teriyaki chicken. The rice was very good and moist, and so was the chicken. There is a lot of food in that little bowl they serve! The best part is it’s only $3.95! So if you ever have $4 and you want some food that will fill you up, this is what you need to order.

Teriyaki beef combo: Teriyaki beef, two scoops of white rice and a salad.

Teriyaki beef combo – Rating: 4/5 – The beef is cooked well and drenched in teriyaki sauce. It comes with two scoops of rice and a fresh salad. I loved the salad; the lettuce was so crispy! I’m not sure what the dressing was though; it might have been some sort of sweeten vinegar. All of this was only $6.50.

Shrimp Tempura Roll (left), California Crunch Roll (right)

Shrimp Tempura Roll – Rating 3/5 – Tempura shrimp, imitation crab, cucumber and avocado – $5.95.  This was okay, nothing too special. They covered the sushi with teriyaki sauce, so if you don’t eat it right away, the roll will become less crunchy. I would actually ask them to hold the sauce because they have the sauce bottle available, so you can add some if you wanted later.

Crunch California Roll – Rating: 3/5 – Imitation crab, cucumber, avocado and tempura crunch bits – $3.50. It was the basic California roll, but there wasn’t really a crunch because they drenched the roll in teriyaki sauce so the crunch turned soggy.

Spicy Crunch Roll (Not pictured)– Rating: 2/5 – Spicy tuna, cucumber, and tempura crunch bits – $6.50. The roll had a good spice to it, but the raw tuna was a bit too rich.

Conclusions: Miso loves their teriyaki sauce and likes to drench everything they serve in it. So my advice is to tell them to hold the sauce, then you can add your own. If you like pickled ginger, they have self-serve pickled ginger as well. Like many places on camps, you order at the counter, grab your own utensils and bus your own table. They bring your food to you. One thing that should be improved about the restaurant is that you can’t customize your order. I would love it if I could switch my teriyaki chicken bowl with chicken Katsu instead, but they said no. I’m not sure why they would say no to a paying customer, but okay.

I couldn’t find a copy of Miso’s menu online, but there are other reviews of Miso’s dishes on Urbanspoon:

Happy eating my fellow foodies and keep praying for Japan!