Lobster Sashimi for Dinner

...and monkfish liver, salmon roe, and deep-fried mackerel bones among other sashimi. The dinner lasted hours due to the many steps of preparation and gawking, but the time flew by.

The dinner began with the live lobster being ushered to the table on an enormous platter, a step I imagine that exists as proof of freshness. After we each held the flailing lobsters to get the obligatory "I'm going to eat this!" photo, they were swept back to the kitchen to be prepared as sashimi. The chef, Ken Zaburo (the restaurant's namesake), let me back in the kitchen to see the action.

The lobster's tail is expertly severed, the remainder of the lobster placed on a platter of crushed ice. The meat of the tail is removed from the shell using a knife and kitchen shears, then sliced into thin slices for serving.


The lobster sashimi is plated behind the still moving lobster, as even though the lobsters are dead when their tails are removed, their muscles continue to spasm. The taste was clean, while the texture was chewy, crunchy, and only the slightest bit rubbery.


The now half-eaten lobsters were once again whisked back to the kitchen for the final preparation step of our lobster dinner, returning cooked and drenched in butter over a large bed of flat noodles.


By this final course, I was absolutely stuffed as it was after we tackled a large platter of various sashimi, including the deep-fried mackerel bones and monkfish liver. The mackerel bone tasted like a kettle cooked potato chip, and the liver was silky in texture and not too fishy. I would have had more, but visions of the monkfish on display at Pike's Place Market kept my chopsticks away.


The experience was phenomenal--beyond delicious and memorable. Next time? Kobe beef sashimi. Who's hungry?