399105 Mon May 07 08:13:59 -0700 2007 9 18 Manhattan 0 2547901 I went to kyotofu late Sat night and definitely think that it's overrated and overpriced. It's a stylish conceptual space - and the conceptual menu aims too high as well. The savories weren't bad, but on the whole, bland. A lot of the savory stuff was really homestyle-ish, but mom's cooking was definitely better. Also, not sure if a western customer would really "get" some of the obsure tastes, like kinako and osekihan (red azuki beans and rice). The bill was $70 for a sm. carafe of sake with 4 savory sharing plates (otsumami daily special, tofu sukune meatballs, the artisanal tofu with two dipping sauces and the rice balls. Tofu was good but portion was tiny for the price (I recall having liked En brasserie's specialty homemade tofu much better) and the daily otsumami was just uninspired. (also one of the items on this otsumami platter was a helping of the meatballs we duplicated in our order - which the server did not bother to tell us). The rice balls were just so-so - and the rice a bit on the tough side. We also ordered one dessert sampler to share. The tofu tsukune meatballs and some of the sweets on the dessert tasting (esp. the mini chocolate cake and the vanilla and walnut parfait) were the only things i'd recommend, but i would not go back again and would not be quick to recommend it. Service was spotty - unusually so for a japanese place - we had to ask three times to get some water and refills had to be asked for afterwards. Mon May 07 08:13:59 -0700 2007 53427 kayonyc 1 2549458 I urge everyone to pay attention to the dessert recommendations buried in the OP's review! I've never eaten the savory bites at Kyotofu, but the desserts are very good (if expensive). Get the tofu cheesecake and the chocolate souffle cupcakes and some Dewazakura Oka sake to go along with them. Mon May 07 15:21:08 -0700 2007 2547901 40108 jakew8 1 2549698 Thank you for the review! I've heard from others that savory items here aren't so great, but I do have to say that the pictures I've seen of desserts from that restaurant are absolutely mouthwatering. Were the desserts, at least, worth the big $? Mon May 07 16:29:59 -0700 2007 2547901 64215 cimui 2 2550057 The two items I noted above, the mini chocolate cake and walnut vanilla parfait were quite tasty, but they were tiny. The cake was properly dense and complex enough and the parfait had a nice walnut flavor and creamy texture. However, I was underwhelmed by the sweet tofu, the smear of kinako paste (it's a derivative of soybean flour, i believe) and the rice pudding with berries. The flavors were just too subtle and portions wee bit small to fully enjoy. The cookies at the end (Black sesame and kinako flavored doughy discs) were cute and a nice touch but again, too subtle in flavoring. I suppose it's nice to walk away feeling like you've indulged without feeling too guilty about the caloric intake, but I like to walk away from a dessert experience feeling transported. At these prices (Dessert avg about 8-9 dollars and 15 for tasting), i almost expect a Daniel-like dessert experience, and amazing service, but it fell way short of expectation. Mon May 07 18:19:10 -0700 2007 2549698 53427 kayonyc 2 2550172 The sansho-pepper tofu cheese cake is worth $9 in my opinion. Mon May 07 19:05:11 -0700 2007 2549698 40108 jakew8 3 2556271 I think this place is not bad. Have been twice, once for desserts which I thought were just so so and once for Sunday brunch when they had a $11 savoury brunch menu which was really quite good especially for the money. Plus they have a good sake selection (including sakes from the Yuki No Bosha brewery in Akita which I'm a big fan of). I like the people behind this place too, chatty and friendly - on my recent visit, when the lady co-owner found out that I was a big sake fan and had done a sake course in Japan earlier in the year, she invited me to an in-house presentation that was being given by a representative of the Masumi brewery to their staff the following week. Unfortunately I couldn't attend but it was a nice touch all the same. I wish them well with their venture. Wed May 09 16:24:03 -0700 2007 2550172 28263 oonth 4 2687387 I find Kyotofu very disappointing. I've been twice, tried most of the desserts on the menu, and been completely underwhelmed every time. The space is cute enough, but the food, while presented nicely, is very bland. The black sesame custard is the one exception--it actually tastes like something and isn't aggressively bland. In addition, I found the service to be very rushed -- for ten-dollar desserts, I don't like being rushed out before the last bite is eaten. Is it me, or is the new dessert-house craze overrated? I'd take a piece of regular bakery cake over any of the supposedly thoughtful desserts at Kyotofu or Room4Dessert any day, and this is coming from someone who appreciates an inspired dessert at a nice restaurant. Sat Jun 23 12:16:07 -0700 2007 2556271 95301 achoo2 5 2687518 funny you mention the dessert house craze. i've been to both kyotofu and room4dessert. service was not good at Kyotofu but the sesame dessert was great. did you read this post in the NY Times about pastry chefs/restaurants called: Pastry Chefs, refusing to be sweet. Sat Jun 23 13:21:05 -0700 2007 2687387 55300 KeikoT 6 2688647 Can't disagree that Kyotofu doesn't deliver as a dessert bar but that savoury brunch I had was good and they do have a very decent sake list. Maybe they need to have a think about what exactly they're trying to accompllsh and what direction they should take moving forward, I would like to see this place succeed. Re dessert bars in general, it's become very zeitgeisty for sure. I thought that R4D was mediocre in all respects, the service I had the one time I was there was amateurish in the extreme. As for P:ONG, I went in with a friend one evening and 2 minutes later we walked out, the place (and the awkward, oafish manager) just held no attraction upon a cursory nose around. I have a sense that Espai Sucre in Barcelona may have been the inspiration for some of these places (www.espaisucre.com) but that place is operating on a much higher plane. Sun Jun 24 06:17:50 -0700 2007 2687518 28263 oonth 1 2928364 To revive an old thread, I finally tried Kyotofu last week. It's good (say, a 6.5 or 7 on a 1 to 10 scale), but not amazing. And I agree with kayonyc that it's sort of overpriced for what you're getting, though the value for lunch appears to be much better than for dinner. Food: My favorites were the tofu chicken tsukune meatballs and the tsukemono served with the lunch "omikase" (really just a set lunch) and the black sesame sweet tofu. I liked the home made tofu (I haven't had En Brasserie's so I don't have a basis of comparison against NYC restaurants--just my mother's ... and of course yours is great if you're reading, Mom!!). I like the portion size for lunch since I'm not a huge lunch eater, generally. (I fall asleep at work if I eat too much.) Service: I'm sure it makes a big difference that I went during lunch hours, but the service wasn't problematic at all for us. Space: The back room is TINY, but Tokyo chic -- i.e. modern and cutsey. Mon Sep 10 16:18:35 -0700 2007 2547901 64215 cimui