memoirs at geisha house

hype brought my friends and i to geisha house in the heart of hollywood last weekend.

actually, they planned it and i just tagged along. hah. m & e are on the constant lookout for what's hot and cool (irony) in hollywoodland at any given time. m called geisha house in advance to reserve a table for us.

all we knew was it was along hollywood boulevard between vine and highland. we found street parking a few blocks from vine, and figured we could use the walk. never mind if it was drizzling raining. walk, walk, walk. we were cursing each other under our short breaths because we could not find the freaking restaurant after walking blocks. finally, one block before highland we found the place! hallelujah.

geisha house is a modern japanese restaurant minus the traditional asian design. it's also a sushi bar and a sake lounge. it was packed with people. we were ushered to the second floor (yes, there is a second floor) past the bar and the lounge and tables filled with people having their sushi fix. we had a great view from the second floor as we were just above the bar and we could see what's happening down there.

A combination of five star sushi restaurant set in the atmosphere of a surreal high class brothel, the goal of GEISHA HOUSE is to make the client climax.

i wish i wrote that. it came from their website.

anyway, here's what we had --

Eel Tendon. Eel tempura and tamago served over rice

Dynamite (assorted seafood drizzled with a spicy cream sauce) / Fresh water eel (unagi) / The Hollywood (fresh crab tempura, avocado and cucumber)

Tuna Tataki Sashimi with ponzu

Rock Shrimp Tempura with Creamy spicy and ponzu sauces

Grilled Flat Iron Kobe Beef Steak 8 oz (Soy, garlic and sesame dipping sauce with freshly grated mountain wasabi)

the verdict? great food. the kobe beef was awesome. (typhoon's kobe beef tasted better, if my memory serves me right. it was yummier). my eel tendon was great. as for the sushi, they were fine. my dynamite tasted good. i was kidding my friends (since we finished off what we ordered) that it's either the food was so, so good or we were very, very hungry. we agreed it was a combination of both.

the damage? the 12 small slices of the kobe beef alone set us back $42. no typo there, kobe is expensive. that's $3.50 per slice, i can get a complete meal with two ulams at goodah or bahay kubo for that amount already. hah! plus the sushi (3 sets) cost between $10 to $12. edamame was $6! shrimp was $12, tuna sashimi was $14, eel was $14. we had desserts and we had drinks too. so it was a kinda expensive dinner.

with friends (and the right company and conversation), it was well worth it.