Last night was my handsome boyfriend's 25th birthday (sadly, I guess the term "adorable" no longer applies, him being a real man now), so to treat him, I made a reservation at Gyu-Kaku, a Japanese BBQ dining establishment located in Beverly Hills on La Cienega. After pushing our reservation back a half-hour (the demands of a weekly TV series never end!), we finally arrived just in time for the 9:30 PM happy hour, which includes half-priced menu items, $5 soju cocktails, and, the kicker, 99cent draft beers. To be completely forthright, I freely admit I had 3 soju mojitos throughout the evening, but I don't think that impaired my palette. Really, I don't!
We began the meal with one refreshing mojito each - and I must say, they were sweet and sugary and just about perfect. For our appetizer, we chose the Hawaiian ahi tuna - which I had tried in Hawaii the week before! I couldn't wait to share the delicacy with him - I'd stained his ear for a week about how fucking amazing it is. But sadly, I guess the Hawaiians do it better. This poke was laced with enough wasabi to singe our nose hairs. Strike one for me - the tuna also lacked a true freshness, and the only flavor remotely distinguishable was that of the wasabi. Oh, and I'm referring to the SECOND round of poke, after we'd returned the first one complaining of the wasabi dominance.
We soldiered on, though. For our main meal, we procured the advice of our helpful waiter (the wait staff was extremely responsive and accommodating throughout the evening). He suggested we try the garlic shrimp, the nakaochi kalbi short-rib, the miso harami skirt steak, and the spicy Chilean sea bass. We coupled the meats with asparagus, grilled corn on the cob, and a grilled rice ball.
All of the food arrived at the table at approximately the same time, so it was up to us to decide what to cook and when! Our kindly waiter turned up the heat on our grill and left us to dive in - the only problem was, the grill was a little TOO hot. Our first round of meat was pretty much scorched, though we still gnawed away - with gusto. Must have been the mojitos talking. Once we got the hang of it, though, we were pretty good at manning our grill. The shrimp was just garlicky enough, though the texture was a little rough for my liking - it felt at times like I was ripping flesh off a bone. The short-rib and skirt steak were perfect, though. Particularly, the skirt steak marinade was both sweet and smoky, and my date had to stop me from ordering more. The short-rib was sliced into cubes, and as such were a little tougher to cook all the way through. By far the best, the sea bass my favorite dish. Delivered to us in a tin foil pouch, all we had to do was throw the pouch on the grill and let the fish soften. When it was done cooking (only 3 or 4 minutes later), it was the softest, flakiest sea bass I've had in a while. It literally melted in our mouths.
The side dishes were pretty great, too - the corn was fresh and juicy (I squirted my date more than a couple times) and came with its own bowl of melted butter. The asparagus could have been fresher, but cooked inside a pouch with butter and garlic, it still hit the spot. And the rice ball was, surprising to me, actually delicious when toasted on the grill. I normally hate rice - it's dry, it makes me gag, and I find it tasteless. But it came with a nice soy glaze to paste the rice with, and it was just crispy enough for my delicate taste buds.
Being the neurotic 'mo that I am, I'm not usually a dessert person. And by the end of the meal I was pretty full (not to mention well on my way to drunk), but in honor of my good date's birthday, I thought dessert was in order. Naturally, we ordered the s'mores - where else can you make your own s'mores?! Lord knows we aren't camping on our weekends. I need my princess sleep! The waitress who delivered the disassembled treats warned us not to put anything directly on the grill - but I NEED CRISPY CRACKERS! Call us risk. takers. And I think I did a bit better than my date, who charred one of his graham crackers! He swears it added to the campfire effect, but I think he was too proud to admit I was, well, better. At any rate, the s'mores topped off an overall delicious meal. The mix of crispy cracker with soft marshmallow and melted hershey's chocolate was messy and gooey - and exactly what we wanted. 
If you haven't been to Gyu-Kaku on La Cienega, check it out. Sure, we hit some rough spots (I'm gonna give the poke one more try, sana wasabi, and see how it goes), but overall it was a fun, delicious meal. It's great for a romantic date AND group meals. And next time you have an awkward dinner date or obligatory meal on your hands, suggest this place - with all the grilling and prodding and poking going on, you'll have plenty to carry you through even the most boring meal!
Gyu-Kaku: http://www.gyu-kaku.com/
163 N. La Cienega (south of San Vicente), Beverly Hills, CA 90211
