Looking back... i've visited Sobaya 3 times in the past 3 years. No more!
The first and second times were rather pleasant. Both were for lunch and I had ordered the Noodle lunch specials.
Last week however, I had a little food crawl with Aramis and we hit up Sobaya right after Lan.
It was an impromtu dudes outing and what a mistake it was to throw Sobaya into the mix.
Our first stop, as we all know, Lan is consistently solid. Chef Akiyama always delivers great food.
At Lan, Aramis and I were comped a House made Tofu with King Crab, Dashi Gelee and Uni Amuse Bouche to start, and later in between our flights of sushi and yakitori, a spectacular Pan Seared Duck Breast with Foie Gras topped with a Miso Scallion Garlic Sauce was presented for us.
This was a WTF moment. Perfect harmony with resonating umami from the miso sauce. (Work of a genius)
Too bad our next stop at Sobaya was no where as good.
Yes, when we go out to eat, we make it a point to hit up 2 to 3 places in one night.
To some, it may seem excessive, to us it's just normal.
So to put it mildly, Sobaya is now on my list of "Do Not Go" establishments.
Whether the Chef has changed, or if they are just trying to cut corners and cheap out on ingredients, this place has really bottomed out.
I ordered the following all in one shot. This was a tactical error on my part.
I will know to pace myself next time when I'm dining at a questionable place, and order 2 dishes first to give them a prelim screening :
- Anago Tempura (Horrible) - old fishy oil soaked the tempura
- Duck Meatballs (Terrible) - mushy sweet meatballs
- Smoked Duck (Terrible) - tasted old and discolored
- Ankimo (Below Average) - was the frozen ready to serve kind
The level of disappointment was monumental. We couldn't call it a night with this being the last food we ate, so we decided to stop at a Gray's papaya and wolfed down a recession special.
The last time I checked, it was $2.75 for 2 dogs and a drink. Apparently I missed the gradual increase to $3.50 at one point. But last week, it was $4.95 !! WTF!
Sounded more like an inflation F U to me.
Anywho, Gray's did the job and we went home happy.
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The duck and fois gras dish was like the perfect pasta. The miso scallion sauce was a condiment enhancing the flavor of the duck and fois gras without overpowering it. A complete wtf moment...
And soba-ya was the exact opposite. The anago tempura was so gross that I still tasted the oil the next day after rocking the toothbrush and listerine. You know food is bad, when we don't want to finish it...
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