Kyoto Teriyaki Is A Hit
Posted
Fri, 05/16/03
A few months ago I mentioned the Japanese restaurant Kyoto Teriyaki, which is located near our house in Spokane. At the time, they were brand new with very little business. Wilbert and I dreaded they would be forced to close their doors. Food at Kyoto Teriyaki is excellent and inexpensive, but they simply weren't busy enough to stay open for long.
Much to my surprise, local television news mentioned Kyoto Teriyaki on their broadcast Tuesday. Wilbert and I went by the restaurant to get a take-our order today. The place was packed! A bit of advertising apparently went a long way. We also discovered the local newspaper had written an article about the eatery. I have listed some key notes from the Spokesman Review article below (written by Leslie Kelly, published today):
Kyoto Puts on the Heat at a Cool Price
By Leslie Kelly, Spokesman Review staff writer
Kyoto Teriyaki doesn't have much in the way of curb appeal. The former home of a Korean restaurant on an industrial stretch of Garland, the one-story white house with the red trim is fronted by a small patch of pansies. But step inside and the bright dining room is perfectly pleasant. The windows are covered with delicate paper shades. Round lanterns hang from the ceiling. A half-dozen booths snugly fit the space.
During a recent lunch, most of the seats were taken. What sets Kyoto apart from the increasing number of teriyaki spots in Spokane is the astonishingly low prices. It's a family-run business, with Eun Park cooking in the tiny kitchen all day long, six days a week. Her daughters Heeyoung and Soyoung wait tables in the evenings. A friend helps out at lunch.
That hands-on approach allows Kyoto to keep lunch under $5. The most expensive dinner is $7.95. An eight-piece order of pot stickers is $2.95. An ample side of veggie tempura is $3.95. With such great prices, it almost seems like a bonus that the food is so deliciously good, so fresh-tasting and well-seasoned. Chicken, beef, pork, salmon or shrimp are grilled and served simply with the sticky signature sauce that's made from scratch. Meals are served with steamed rice and stir-fried chopped cabbage, shredded carrots and bits of broccoli. The veggies are cooked just long enough to change their character, but not so long that they're limp.
The yakisoba noodles are kind of like Japanese spaghetti. Wheat noodles are tossed in the wok with vegetables and either chicken, beef, pork, shrimp or tofu. The tempura plate is a collection of prawns, sweet potatoes, green beans, broccoli and eggplant dipped in a light batter and deep-fried until crispy.
Portions are platter size, especially the dozen combination dinners. Get it to go and a meal is almost too big to be contained in those foam boxes (decorated with a smiley face and "Have a Nice Day"). There's not even enough room for the rice, which is packed into a separate container. Combos include these pairings: teriyaki chicken with beef, pork, spicy pork, gyoza (pork-stuffed pot stickers) or short ribs. Or mix and match tempura vegetables with those meat options.
When Wilbert and I went into Kyoto Teriyaki today, the place was teeming with people. It gladdened us to see the restaurant becoming a great success. Before we know it, Kyoto Teriyaki will probably move to a larger building in another part of town. As it is, they are only a few blocks away at present.
However, if they do move, you can bet we'll take the car ride to get there.
Tags: Japan;
Restaurants
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