SHOYA VS MISO

Shoya Izakaya is all the rage right now. A lot of my chef and foodie friends are crazy about it.
Stacey and I finally made it there last night. I can use one word for our visit.
Disappointed.
The way everyone has been raving I was looking for one of the best meals ever. Really, that's been the reaction of everyone. Well, no one has said it's the best meal they ever had, but everyone loves it. And these are food people, chefs mostly. Just goes to show ya. I don't know what it goes to show ya, but it goes to show ya.

We ate pork belly. It was on a skewer. That should be fine. Pork belly is so good just cook it and eat it right? Well this was lacking. Must have been the quality of the belly.

One buddy bragged about the fried chicken skin. Hell yes, best part of the chicken. It came on a salad. It didn't suck, but didn't blow me away either.

We had an assorted sausage plate. Again just didn't blow me away. Maybe it cause I been eating the awesome sausage Muss has been preparing at Local 3. Or maybe it's the wonderful meats Kevin makes at Spotted Trotter. Nothing special at Shoya.

We had Wasabi Shumai. A pork dumpling Dim Sum style that had been steamed in wasabi leaves. This was good, I thought real good. Stacey thought it was just ok.

Tako Wasabi. Raw octopus in a wasabi oil. This was ok, but a little went a long way and we didn't finish this plate.And besides that have you ever tried to eat raw octopus with chop sticks?
Could someone give me a spoon, please

Flounder Karaage. A small fried whole flounder. It was good. It seemed fresh. If the rest of the meal was a little better I might have enjoyed this plate more.

Scallop Butter Yaki? I can't even remember this dish.

So we tried and just didn't get what all the fuss is about. And it's not anywhere near our home.

Much closer to home is Miso Izakaya. Now this place rocks. We been eating here for about a year or so and I been telling people good things. We went the night after we ate at Shoya and could really tell the difference between the two. And Miso is a beautiful room. Shoys is nice, but someone put some thought in designing Miso.

We ate a duck bun and a pork belly bun. A Bao. These things are about the size of a Jamaican Meat Patty, but the are soft, really soft. A Bao is a steamed bun. the Japanese version are the softest and the lightest. Lot's of cultures enjoy the Bao in different fashions. The Chinese Bao
is something at Dim Sum. It has a heavier texture than other visions. Searching on the net I see there are many different versions. To me the Japanese version is a sandwich. Plain and simple. Miso's version is so, so good.

Avocado Tempura. Holy shit. It's just what it say's. Creamy crunch. Avocado, tempura fried. That's it. Dipping sauce is something soy and light like. This is a dish I will try to match up with something else on the menu. It will be even better with a seared tuna or something.

Shrimp Shumai. Again very Dim Sum, and very good. Made just like a pot sticker , but steamed in bamboo instead of pan fried in a skillet. These were nice and fresh tasting.

Hand Rolled Unagi. My favorite sushi. Grilled fresh water eel. We had a hand roll. It was perfect. A seaweed cone stuffed with rice and grilled unagi. Ya gota eat the hand rolled fast.

Grilled Ika. I love grilled octopus. Ecco here in Atlanta does it with crushed olives and olive oil. Very good. I must say I have never had octopus's tentacles as long as these. But that's the good part, the thin, seared by the grill parts. They need to be perfectly grilled and these were.

Our last request was for Karubi. Short ribs. This was our least favorite at Miso. They were actually like usual at other restaurants, which is not usual for Miso.

We are in love with Miso and just about to get in the car and head that way.