Ranzan (Redwood City, CA) – A Decent Kaiseki Restaurant in the Bay (Special Tempura-Focused Menu)
Ranzan (Redwood City, CA) – A Decent Kaiseki Restaurant in the Bay (Special Tempura-Focused Menu)
by NoodleThings
2 Comments
NoodleThings
Ranzan’s a spot that goes under the radar but serves some decent quality kaiseki food. I think it does a reasonable job trying to provide all the craft elements of a traditional experience as well as the best ingredient quality the team can offer at their price points but has tailored much of the flavours to be better suited for the local palate. I believe they’ve struck a good balance and for folks looking for kaiseki without traveling all the way to Saratoga or Napa at more reasonable price points, Ranzan is a pretty good answer. This was a special tempura-focused menu that isn’t currently on their menu but is offered for up to 4 people given you reach out ahead of time, courses were:
1. Goma tofu w soy based sauce 2. Mushroom in dashi, nagaimo w ikura and and kabocha “matsukaze” style 3. Matsutake and hamo dobinmushi w kabosu 4. Caledonian blue shrimp tempura 5. Maitake n shimeji tempura in nori shoyu looking sauce 6. Kamasu wrapped in shisho tempura 7. Aka amadai tempura 8. Renkon stuffed w mentaiko
There was a palate cleanser here, red shisho sorbet that was pretty good
9. Sanma katsu 10. Matsutake tempura 11. Fig agedashi 12. Uni wrapped in yuba 13. Anago tempura 14. Onion and shrimp tendon 15. Walnut tofu
Overall I believe they haven’t really done this in a while so it was a fun experience getting to try his first stab at something like this. Hitoshi mentioned potentially adding it to the menu later on so he may improve as time goes on. For this menu I thought:
– the goma tofu, maitake / shimeji (sans sauce), kamasu (really really good) and aka amadai were pretty good.
– The blue shrimp, uni in yuba, anago and tendon were good (sorbet too)
– Matsutake weren’t super aromatic but not too bad – dobin tasted alright but aroma was eh, everything else wasn’t stuff I’d wanna try again or could use some more tinkering imo
If you like tempura, this is pretty much the best you’re going to be able to get in the Bay for the time being and I trust Hitoshi to improve as he does more of these menus. If you’re looking for a more classic kaiseki experience, I’ll upload their Kibune menu next week so as to not spam and provide another reference point given I don’t think there’s many reviews for Ranzan available online
Steph_Better_
Thanks for the writeup! I can’t find the price anywhere. Do you have the prices for this dinner and the regular one?
2 Comments
Ranzan’s a spot that goes under the radar but serves some decent quality kaiseki food. I think it does a reasonable job trying to provide all the craft elements of a traditional experience as well as the best ingredient quality the team can offer at their price points but has tailored much of the flavours to be better suited for the local palate. I believe they’ve struck a good balance and for folks looking for kaiseki without traveling all the way to Saratoga or Napa at more reasonable price points, Ranzan is a pretty good answer. This was a special tempura-focused menu that isn’t currently on their menu but is offered for up to 4 people given you reach out ahead of time, courses were:
1. Goma tofu w soy based sauce
2. Mushroom in dashi, nagaimo w ikura and and kabocha “matsukaze” style
3. Matsutake and hamo dobinmushi w kabosu
4. Caledonian blue shrimp tempura
5. Maitake n shimeji tempura in nori shoyu looking sauce
6. Kamasu wrapped in shisho tempura
7. Aka amadai tempura
8. Renkon stuffed w mentaiko
There was a palate cleanser here, red shisho sorbet that was pretty good
9. Sanma katsu
10. Matsutake tempura
11. Fig agedashi
12. Uni wrapped in yuba
13. Anago tempura
14. Onion and shrimp tendon
15. Walnut tofu
Overall I believe they haven’t really done this in a while so it was a fun experience getting to try his first stab at something like this. Hitoshi mentioned potentially adding it to the menu later on so he may improve as time goes on. For this menu I thought:
– the goma tofu, maitake / shimeji (sans sauce), kamasu (really really good) and aka amadai were pretty good.
– The blue shrimp, uni in yuba, anago and tendon were good (sorbet too)
– Matsutake weren’t super aromatic but not too bad – dobin tasted alright but aroma was eh, everything else wasn’t stuff I’d wanna try again or could use some more tinkering imo
If you like tempura, this is pretty much the best you’re going to be able to get in the Bay for the time being and I trust Hitoshi to improve as he does more of these menus. If you’re looking for a more classic kaiseki experience, I’ll upload their Kibune menu next week so as to not spam and provide another reference point given I don’t think there’s many reviews for Ranzan available online
Thanks for the writeup! I can’t find the price anywhere. Do you have the prices for this dinner and the regular one?