Kamitori Japanese Restaurant

Kamitori Japanese Restaurant
1044 Willamette St.
Eugene, OR 97401

I arrived about 6pm on a Thursday, so their "Happy Hour" was in effect. Let me first point out that if I ask for Green Tea, you should tell me if you intend to serve me some Green Tea/Wild Rice Tea blend. I can't stand the Wild Rice Tea, and now I know what that abomination was that I accidentally bought in Japan two years ago. This set the tone for the entire meal, so I may be a bit harsh.

To back up a bit, when I, with my three children (9-14) entered, we were greeted (much like with an actual restaurant in Japan) and seated. It took longer than I expected to receive waters and menus. My children ordered we ordered Teriyaki Chicken, Garlic Chicken, Garlic Salmon & Tonkatsu. These were sets, so we weren't allowed to swap the California Roles for something we liked and my youngest child (who likes crab) ended up with 12 California roll sections. I also ordered two sushi rolls for my youngest & I to eat as an appetizer. Our water seemed disaffected and put off in a hipster/metrosexual/effete kind of way, like we were bothering him in expecting food and stuff. I did speak with the other waiter a bit and he seemed to not hate his customers.

The sushi arrived first. It was good. The portions were a bit small (the rolls were of a smaller diameter than I am used to) but the ingredients were fine. The rice was nice and sticky but not hard (sushi rice should not crunch). I never get overly excited about rolled sushi, but my son prefers it since he sucks with chopsticks.

The food arrived. I was very surprised at a "authentic" Japanese restaurant not including rice with the meals. Actually appalled was more like it. I requested some rice to go with the meal.

The reports for the Teriyaki and Garlic Chicken put them as Good. Both children who tried the Garlic Chicken are raving about it. The Teriyaki Chicken was good, if not as spectacular as the Garlic Chicken. My Tonkatsu was dry. I was less than impressed -- bear in mind that I was in a bad mood because of the tea & the wait. However, the Garlic Salmon that I stole from my sons plate was very good. If the Garlic Tempura for the Salmon is the same as that for the Chicken, I can understand why my other two children liked it so much. The Garlic Salmon was light and flaky, as Salmon should be, and not the least bit over-cooked as was my Tonkatsu.

Other than the horrible tea, the Happy Hour Sets came with a drink. I had the house sake, which was passable, if not spectacular. House sake is much like any other house alcohol, and I find that I am often tired of drinking it by the time I am 2/3 of the way down the bottle. Kamitori bypassed this issue by providing a bottle of about half the size.