Because I was so impressed with Gochi the first time, we decided to celebrate our 4 year anniversary with dinner here. Gochi is situated in a small plaza on a quiet residential street right off a busier main street in Cupertino. I like to think of it as pretentious quality food in a unpretentious neighborhood.
Kanpai! ($7) Peach Cocktail and price unknown glass of Sapporo. Like the previous lychee sake cocktail, the peach cocktail was sweet and delicious but very light in alcohol content (or I just have a high tolerance - not true). I guess if you really want something strong here, you'd have to just order a bottle of sake.
($16.50) Hamachi Carpaccio again. I liked this dish even more the second time around.
($12.50) Tako carpaccio. I was hoping to introduce Phil to the madai carpaccio I had last time but sadly they ran out that night. We substituted with the tako (octopus) carpaccio. The sauce was actually sweet and herby which I feel does not go too well with tako. After awhile I did warm up to the dish. The best tako I've had was at Taro Sushi in Sacramento and it was served in thinner slices and accompanied by a thin slice of lemon. Plain and simple, that's all you need with tako.
($6.50) Ankimo. Monkfish liver. Still as good as last time. I miss it already!
Braised rock cod, portion for 2. This was still very good. Since this is a special order item, it is prepared per number of people you request. I have to admit that the portion for 2 is not as good as the portion for 6 I had before. Since the slices were thinner, you taste more teriyaki sauce than you do the butteriness of the fish. Still amazing though. Phil wasn't as enthused over this dish as I hoped he would be. Le sigh...
Chili Ebi. Battered shrimp with chili sauce. This was disappointing. I'm not sure if I read wrong but I imagined jumbo prawns with the shell sauteed in a salty/spicy and maybe a little sweet chili sauce. In this dish, the batter was a little soggy and the sauce was not very tasty.
($12.50) Unagi pizza. Phil, who has once eaten 22 plates of 2 pieces each of unagi sushi, loved this. I admit it is much better than the seafood pizza from my last visit. However, the whole pizza thing just isn't working for me somehow. All the toppings tend to just slide right off the thin crust.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
The magic has worn off towards Gochi. I admit the food from my initial visit still leaves a lasting impression on me but the food from this second visit, not so much. It could be the case that we really did order all the strongest items the first time and this time we got second rate items. OR now I come in with expectations and am being extra critical. OR both. In sum, Gochi still offers some of the best food I've ever eaten and everyone who loves Japanese food should try it.
That's too bad about the disappointing chili ebi - it looks so good in the photo!
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