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At Gourmet House, Japanese-style dining is a ritual, a mood, and a sensual delight
by Betty Sayers and Pam Soreide
In our long lives, we’ve had more than ample opportunity to sample the cuisines of various cultures. Thai, Indian, Greek, Cuban — all of them have interesting, unique tastes and traditions that make dining out just a bit more fun.
Of all those cuisines and cultures, one of, if not our very favorite is Japanese. A Japanese dining experience is a symphony for the senses. The atmosphere is cool and relaxing, the service quiet and decorous, the food arranged like tiny works of art. The tastes range from the cool, delicate sushi or sashimi to savory miso to blow-your-head-off wasabi mustard. Japanese cuisine is known for its emphasis on the quality of ingredients and presentation, and there’s a whole little ritual that takes you out of the everyday and puts you...someplace else.
All of this is precisely why we couldn’t wait to try Adam Chan’s Gourmet House Japanese Restaurant, newly opened in Kearney. Of course we know you are supposed to wait a few weeks to let a new restaurant iron out its issues with new staff and menus, but having Japanese food within reach in south central Nebraska was simply too much temptation. Besides, we know Adam. We have been to Adam’s Tempura Restaurant in North Platte as well as his Chinese restaurant in Holdrege, so we were confident of having a memorable meal...and we were not disappointed.
So what if it's in a strip mall?
The restaurant occupies space in one of those new retail complexes along Second Ave. When we went on a Tuesday night not too long after the grand opening, we were amazed to find nearly every table full…even the sushi bar. Luckily our party of five adults and two children got the last available table, but even full, the dining room is spacious enough that it didn’t feel at all cramped. The décor is typically, but not effusively, Japanese – walls painted a calming green and simple but comfortable furnishings that contribute to the relaxed, peaceful environment a Japanese restaurant should rightly have. Air thick with the aromas of ginger and teriyaki held promise for the meal to come.
Having elementary-age children in tow, the first order of business was to peruse the menu and order something quickly. The Gourmet House and its sister restaurant in North Platte serve a delicious green tea made with brown rice as one of the ingredients – Genmai Cha. We ordered several appetizers including gyoza and California Roll — a perpetual favorite that is very accessible for those new to or suspicious of sushi.
For our meals, two decided to go straight to the heart of this style of Japanese cuisine and try the sushi sampler plate with salmon, shrimp and mackerel. One of us opted for a vegetarian stir-fry and one chose a Bento box — a delightful tradition of Japanese cuisine — that included shrimp tempura, and teriyaki salmon and chicken. The last went straight for another Japanese favorite, tempura, which included crispy batter-fried shrimp, scallops, crab meat, vegetables and a Japanese fish cake
A varied crowd.
As we waited for the soup course, we glanced around at our fellow diners. There was a big family group, some couples, a lot of college students and at least one gentleman in a seed cap and cowboy boots happily eating sushi. The sushi bar was a hive of activity, serving both the sushi bar customers as well as making the sushi for other diners. I took a moment to make an origami-type chopstick holder out of the paper wrapper, a trick taught to me by a Japanese friend years ago in California. Isn’t it funny how little traditions can set off a whole flood of memories? Our server — who turned out to be the manager — noticed my holder, and taught our group how to make a different version, so everyone could keep their chopsticks at the ready.
When the soup arrived, we encountered one of those “new restaurant” glitches — it was still tepid. The server hastened to whisk our bowls away to be reheated, full of apologies and explaining that someone forgot to turn the warmer on. When it returned, it was a light but rich miso broth garnished with tofu squares and sliced green onion — soup that warms one from the inside out.
The thing about Japanese restaurants in general is that all food is prepared fresh for each order, so sometimes, especially when the restaurant is full, it can take a while to come out of the kitchen. Think of it as relaxed. The appetizers and soup are welcome diversions, but all the best, most memorable meals are lifted by great conversation, and this outing was as much an opportunity for visiting as it was a dining experience.
We trade morsels.
Once our plates started arriving, however, the conversation turned to food. Since everything is bite-sized in its presentation, it is easy to trade a taste of this for a morsel of that, and everything was delicious. We did notice, however, that the young girls at the end of the table resembled nothing so much as baby birds with their mouths always open. Mom and Dad had a hard time getting a bite in edgewise! No worries about developing cosmopolitan food preferences for those two.
Our server, the aforementioned manager, Lauren Hubbell, returned several times to make sure we had everything we needed. As we chatted, she shared that she had previously worked for three years at Adam’s North Platte location. She is attending the University of Nebraska at Kearney, studying music with a minor in Japanese, and was thrilled to be able to work locally for Adam. We asked Lauren where they were able to get such fresh fish and she told us that Adam had negotiated with a Denver-based fish broker to have it flown into Kearney from the West Coast. It is all Pacific fish, she said, and was swimming less than 24 hours before being served.
All this and green tea ice cream, too.
As our bare plates were cleared away, Lauren came back bearing a trio of desserts that were a gift from our friend Adam along with fresh tea. There was a deep-fried cheesecake, a green tea ice cream cake, and green tea ice cream accompanied by tempura fried bananas. We couldn’t agree on which one was best, but you won’t go wrong ordering any of the desserts. They were all light but scrumptious and generously portioned.
Finally, we cannot fit one more sip of tea. As we gathered our wraps and purses, Adam came out to greet us. A charming man, he thanked us for coming, thanked us for our compliments, thanked us for enjoying ourselves.
“We see you soon?: Thank you! Goodbye! Thank you for coming!”
Oh yes, Adam. You can count us among your regulars!
Who to Contact
Gourmet House Japanese Restaurant
Adam Chan
1325 D 2nd Avenue
Kearney, NE 68847
phone: (308) 995-6980
Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
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