Imanas Tei

Sorry folks.  I guess it's time for me to finish up this post.  I have been quite busy lately, but it's no excuse.  Please accept my apologies.

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Here are the details of my latest visit to Imanas Tei.  I've been here off and on over the last couple of years and have yet to be disappointed.  Imanas Tei is located in the same spot that was occupied by Apple Motoring so many years ago.  If you don't know where it is, you might just pass right by it -- it's not easily seen from South King Street as it's set a good 50 yards back from the street.

Inside Imanas Tei, you'll find a sushi bar to the left of the entrance.  At the front of the main dining area you'll find screened off section with seating on the floor (tatami mats) at low tables.  I believe two parties of four can sit there.

The main dining area consists of a curved table in the middle of the room surrounded by several tables for four.  The light wood furnishings and dim lighting make for a relaxed atmosphere.

Since I was in the mood for some chanko nabe, I decided to invite a couple of friends.  Luckily, when we arrived at 9:30 pm, there was only a five minute wait for a table.  After placing our order for the chanko nabe (US$18.50 per order, minimum two orders) we sat back and waited.

About five minutes later, our waitress returned with a hot plate, a huge pot, a pitcher of dashi (broth) and a huge platter of ingredients for the chanko nabe.  She started by pouring the dashi into the pot.  After the dashi started to bubble, she slowing started preparing "meatballs" by scraping some a ground pork mixture from a bamboo tube into the hot dashi.  The meatballs were made with ground pork, ginger and green onions among other things.

After she had finished with the meatballs, she expertly placed all the remaining ingredients into the pot.  How she fit it all in there is beyond me.  The ingredients included salmon, king crab, clams, scallops and shrimp; won bok (Chinese cabbage), watercress, green onions, gobo (burdock root) and mushrooms; long rice, tofu, aburage (fried tofu) and sliced mochi; sliced beef and pieces of chicken.  I hope I didn't forget anything.

As the aroma of the simmering food started to rise from the pot, we got anxious, even though we knew we had to wait.

Finally, after 15 minutes, everything was cooked perfectly and it was time to eat!

The dashi was lightly flavored with bonito and shoyu.  It had a slightly sweet, savory flavor that combined wonderfully with the all additions to the pot, soaking up the flavors of the meat and seafood.  This hearty "stew" was at once warming and comforting, with the freshness of the ingredients playing a big part in my overall satisfaction with this.

After we had finished eating everything that was in the pot, our waitress came back and asked if we wanted to finish off the dashi with either rice or udon.  We chose to have this made into zosui (rice porridge).  First, she skimmed the broth to make sure we had eaten everything.  Then she added a little more dashi and a large bowl of rice to the pot and started stirring things around.

Add a bowl of whisked eggs, stir a bit more and it's done.

Ladle the zosui into individual bowls, top with some kizami nori and eat!

Zosui is a Japanese-style rice porridge, with the rice being similar in texture to jook (Chinese rice soup), and with a flavor that is reminiscent of risotto.  The rice soaked up all of the flavorful dashi that was in the pot making this a tasty end to a wonderfully filling meal.  This was so good, that I ended up eating two bowls!

Since the three of us split two portions of chanko nabe for dinner, we each had a bowl of green tea ice cream (US$2.50) for dessert.

Cool, sweet and refreshing, this was a tasty end to a great meal.

Imanas Tei
2626 South King Street
Telephone:  808.941.2626

Comments

[Kathy]

Imanas is one of my parent's favorite restaurants, but I never went before. Add this to my list of winter "must go's." That must have been an excellent dinner! I like how they don't waste the broth at the end - it is like having another meal.

[J]

hi reid, that zosui looks so nourishing and delicious; like the grains of rice have sopped up all the sweet goodness of the broth...i love anything remotely congee-like...

[OsloFoodie]

Everything looks so appetising, Reid. The rice porridge looks like something I would love for breakfast. Luckily I always have green tea ice-cream in the freezer nowadays, so I know how good that is.

[milgwimper]

Oh the nabe looks excellent! ;9

[Kirk]

Gosh Reid - So you finished all of this, right? And you say I eat alot!!!!

[milgwimper]

Reid,

Just to comment on the second picture. It looks like the blurred man is doing a crossed legged dance to the table, or did he jump up as you were taking the photgraph? Anyways it is an interesting photograph. :) Not to mention the food looks great but I am stuck here waiting. ;P

[milgwimper]

oops I meant ot also say I love the recent comment section! YAY! Thanks for reinstating the recent comments! :) *Does the happy dance* WEEEE!

[Jo]

YAHOO! RECENT COMMENTS RETURNS! ::happily joins Millsworth in her happy dance::

That is an awesome looking meal. Reminds me of the incredible Korean style sukiyaki Mill's Mom made us a while back. Oh man was that delicious. I know I disappointed her because I didn't eat very much (I can't really) but I could have stuck a straw in the pot and sucked down every last dreg of broth.

[Reid]

Hi Kathy,

Please do visit Imanas Tei when you are here. The food is great and the prices are reasonable. I visited another time after this and sat at the sushi bar. The omakase was a bit expensive, but worth every delicious bite! =)

Zosui is a traditional way to end a nabe dish such as chanko nabe. That way, you don't waste any of that delicious flavor.

Hi J,

Zosui is indeed delicious, warming and comforting. I love to eat it on rainy days. It makes everything seem so much better.

Hi Oslo Foodie,

Nice to hear from you again! Everything was indeed wonderfully delicious. The zosui was the best part for me.

BTW...I always have green tea ice cream on hand too! =)

Hi Kirk,

Erm, it was three of us sharing two portions! LOL! =P

But yeah, sometimes I can eat a lot. Just watch and see what happens when Farrell's opens up. I might just get sick from all the sugar. LOL!

Hi Milgwimper,

OK. I'm as done as I'm going to be! =) That man was actually starting to sit down when I took the photo. That little alcove has a couple of low tables and you have to sit on the floor. =)

BTW..the nabe was excellent and I'm glad you're happy!

Hi Jo,

Chanko nabe is traditionally a dish eaten by sumo wrestlers (so don't confuse me with one now!). Basically, you take dashi (or broth) usually consisting of a bonito-base or a konbu (kelp) base. You can add shoyu, miso or salt to season, then throw whatever you have into the pot.

This is usually finished with rice or noodles. I like to finish with rice (zosui) so that I can eat all of the delicious dashi that remains.

BTW...glad you're happy about the recent comments being back! =)

[clare eats]

That sounds exactly like what I need right now.... :)

Maybe on the weekend...

[milgwimper]

Hmmm...Maybe after thanksgiving I will have to experiement. Hmmmm...

[James]

Reid, I might have to take a visit here on a cool night for the Chanko Nabe! It looks wonderful. The place looks beautiful too! And now that I know how the zosui works, I'll seem like I know what I'm doing there. :P

[BT in SF]

Hey Reid,

Wow, your photos look great! We love Imanas, and try to get out there every time we get back to Hawaii. In fact even Sam of Sushi Sam's (a very popular spot here in San Mateo, CA) says it's his favorite place to go to eat in Honolulu. I'll have to try the chanko nabe next time... we usually eat (and drink) Izakaya style when we eat there. Yum!

[babe_kl]

so much food!!! zosui looked so delicious!

[keiko]

Reid, you know you're torturing me with all these sinful pictures... (I was screaming when I saw the Zosui shot) I really miss Nabe, especially at this time of year.

[Colette]

Gosh, that looks wonderful, Reid! It looks especially good given the weather we've been having over the past couple of days. Rain, rain, go away . . .

I had to laugh when you gave the directions as where Apple Motoring *used to be*. Have you ever noticed that local people tend to give directions according to where places *used to be? You know, you go down King until you get to where the police station used to be, then you turn right ovah dea . . . =)

[Reid]

Hi Clare,

I do hope that you are feeling better. We've missed having you around. Please enjoy the weekend and I do hope that you have a chance to eat some chanko nabe...or zosui! =)

Hi Milgwimper,

If you do, I want to hear about it OK? =)

Hi James,

If you do decide to visit Imanas Tei, you should visit after 9:00 pm. They close at 11:00 and if you go any earlier than 9:00 pm, especially on the weekends, I can guarantee there will be a wait. Lots of Japanese nationals find their way here for some reason.

Hope you get to try it sometime.

Hi BT in SF,

Long time no hear! I'm glad to hear that Imanas Tei is a favorite of yours. It's one of my favorites (that I don't get to visit often enough) as well. I normally sit at the sushi bar, but this time, I was really craving chanko nabe and it was really good.

Thanks for the compliment on the photos.

Hi babe_kl,

Long time no hear as well! Yes, there was a lot of food there. It was actually enough to split amongst the three of us. The zosui is usually the best part. Mmmm!

Hi Keiko,

I'm sorry. =(

I know how much you must miss Japanese food living in the UK, but there are wonderful things to eat there as well, right? Then again, I guess nothing compares to these types of dishes. *sigh*

I'm sure that I would miss them too if I wasn't able to eat them often enough.

Hi Colette,

Yes, it actually would have been nice to eat some chanko nabe over the last couple of days, but I did manage some ramen (and some saimin too).

And yes, don't you find it funny that we give directions that way. But I can bet you almost anything that when I mentioned Apple Motoring, many people of my generation were thinking "yeah, I know where it is now!" =)

[Colette]

lol

I didn't mean to offend, but I'm local too and just as guilty of giving directions by where things used to be. =)

And for the record, I remember going to Apple Motoring with my Dad when it was in Puck's Alley, though I have no idea where it is now!

[renee]

hi reid! =)
i love imanas! my mom wanted to get the chanko nabe the last time she was there (she ended up not getting it because no one else wanted to eat nabemono). i'm directing her to your site so she can see what she missed =P we got a lot of small dishes... we always get the amaebi sushi (like all good sushi places, they also serve up the shrimp heads, dusted with flour and deep-fried, crunchy & salted) on the side. it was funny, there was a japanese couple that sat next to us along that curved table and when they saw the amaebi heads on our table, they pointed to it & in excited japanese had an amusing conversation trying to figure out where that was on the menu. it didn't help that they had a relatively new waiter who had to make several trips to the kitchen to figure out what they wanted... the garlic steak is ono too (and it comes with some salad - we forgot last time, so we ended up with extra salad - their dressing's good, though). the dynamite is okay - but a bit too rich for me (especially if you want to eat a lot of other types of things). i was a little disappointed with the soft shell crab roll - they serve it with a sweet, yakitori-like sauce & i'm so used to the spicy mayo from other places. other than that, though, it's hard to go wrong with practically anything on the menu... ooh, i guess i'm due for another trip there soon...

[Reid]

Hi Colette,

You didn't offend me. =) I was just agreeing with you...that's all! =)

Hi Renee,

Nice to hear from you again!

I love Imanas Tei and like you, I enjoy the sushi there. Since you recommended it, I think I'll have to get the garlic steak next time. Please make sure you allow your mother the opportunity to indulge in the chanko nabe. It's so delicious!