Eats - Japanese

Cities covered: Palo Alto, Santa Clara, San Jose, San Mateo, Sunnyvale

Akebono Restaurant
4960 Freeport Blvd.
Sacramento , CA
(916) 731-8288
Overall: ****
$$$
I took my parents here as a treat. I didn't know about the Granite Bay location, but this one in the big strip mall a mile or so from Land Park has great food if not much atmosphere. We had a huge feast, although they don't appear to serve any really oddball dishes. I highly recommend it. Dinner for four $93.96 before tip, which is pretty reasonable for eight dishes, including a sashimi platter Service is cordial and the young waitstaff are there when needed. Probably not where you'd want to take a date since it has the ambience of a Burger King. Dec 23, 2007

Andoh
161 S. Sunnyvale Ave.
Sunnyvale, CA
408/739-0222
6 p.m.- 10 p.m., closed Sundays
Overall: ***
$$
This is one of my favorite Japanese places, and I don't particularly care for Japanese food having eaten it almost everyday of my life when I was growing up. The owner is from Hawaii, so the food is more updated than at most Japanese restaurants, which are heavy on atmosphere, but crank out pallid versions of clichés. Appetizers at Andoh are varied and unusual. Entrees range from standards like tonkatsu to interesting specials, most of which come with a tableful of tasty tidbits—pickles, salads, etc. 11/00

Update 07/03: A visitor writes that Andoh is no longer open for lunch.

Updated 02/04: My boss has been raving about dinner at this place for years, and I finally got to go at the last minute with a co-worker who loves Japanese food, and frankly enjoys hunting for the most bizarre foods she can find. Japanese people are constantly surprised that she loves uni (sea urchin) which I find too strong. If I have exotic food fever, Tonya is flaming like Paul Lynn.

I should say that Tonya is one of my favorite people, and one of the few co-workers that I'd like to get drunk with if I had the chance—super-smart, pretty, athletic, likes to eat. I've told her repeatedly that if she were a man I'd marry her in an instant. She hates this. I know she hates it. She knows I know she hates it and tortures me by out-quipping me. It's perfect.

Anyway...

I made early reservations (6:30 p.m.) and told Tonya that if we didn't show up on time, they would revoke my Japanese card. I spoke to the chef on the phone, and he asked if I'd ever eaten there. I said, yes, lunch. He asked if I knew that dinner was very different and that most people come for the "omakase" dinner, which translates as chef's choice. It's a prix fixe dinner not unlike kaiseki but far less formal; basically you put your trust in his choice of what is at its best. You get the added excitement of not knowing what will appear next. The downside to this is that you will most likely never be able to have this exact same meal again. Ever. So it's very much "of the moment."

We arrived on time, as Japanese people tend to do, and sat down. The sake list is good but definitely geared towards larger groups with most sakes coming in big bottles. Tonya ordered a single serving and I declined since I had to drive. Ten minutes later, it started...

Note for Tomo fans: Please don't crucify me if I get any of this wrong.

Assorted sashimi
- sharkfin in a citrusy dressing - crunchy translucent slivers, a textural thing
- sea cucumber with ponzu jelly - crunchy like fish maw with a subtle agar agar jelly (I didn't like this)
- eggplant stewed in dashi with bonito flakes - nicely done. I think we used to eat a similar dish when I was a kid at family dinners
- seared scallops in cherry blossom leaf dressing - slightly cooked scallops in a slightly flowery and lightly thickened sauce
- blanched daikon leaves - Japanese winter greens. I'll probably try making this at home.
- marinated salmon eggs - popping and luscious, when they burst they leave a clean flavor
- two tiny Japanese squid stuffed with something pinkish red

Broiled cod sperm sac (shirako)
Freaking incredible. I think he may have started this on the stove and finished in the oven; there were delicious brown crusty parts, but the entire piece was piping hot all the way through. My co-worker said that it had the consistency of country gravy, which is true.

Seaweed & sashimi salad
A little stacked tower of three different seaweeds, slivered Kyoto carrots (subtlely perfumy), and raw mackeral in e.v. olive oil and yuzu dressing. I'm not sure about the yuzu, a Japanese citrus. The chef said no salt was added since the seaweed was already salty enough. It was delicate and a perfect balance to the richness of the shirako.

Spaghetti with coq au vin with a demiglace sauce
A nice and surprising finish to the meal. Maybe 3/4 cup of al dente spaghetti with three little pieces of coq au vin on top of a pool of a dark and slightly bitter demiglace. Surprisingly, this dish, which I think was meant to sort of round out any remaining pangs of hunger was still light and easy to consume.

I'd have to say that Brasserie Tomo is now in a dead heat with Hatcho in Santa Clara. If you want to see photos of the food served at Tomo, go to Pamela's excellent website. This has been a great month for dinner, even though I know it will all come to a crashing end when I start paying a mortgage in a month or so. Omakase dinner for two with one sake: $133.

Futami Japanese Restaurant
5609 Freeport Blvd.
Sacramento, CA 95822
Rating: **
$$
This is my parents' great favorite as far as Japanese food goes in Sacramento, but they don't have a very adventurous palate. I always order the sabe shioyaki, which is dependably cooked and makes a nice but not fancy meal at a high but not "Japanese restaurant" high price (dinner for four $61). There are special items available, although I can't vouch for them. There is not decor to speak of, but the woman who runs the place is as authentic as they come and takes good care of my parents. How can I complain? (4/1/2006)

Gombei Japanese Restaurant
193 E. Jackson St. in San Jose Japantown
San Jose, CA 95112
408/279-4311
Rating: ****
$$$
This was a surprise, considering it's in Japantown in San Jose. Japantown restaurants have a nasty habit of being closed for lunch on weekends, which means you can get fresh tofu and monju, but no lunch. Anyway, my friend Michael and I went in because it was busy and full of other Asians, so much so that we had to sit at the counter, which turned out to have special benefits (more on this). I had donburi, which was okay. Michael's meal was from the specials board, and I realized my mistake the instant our plates came. Which brings us to the special benefits: the cooking staff and waitstaff at Gombei are perhaps the handsomest bunch of men I've seen in one place, and all of them had facial hair of some kind. Michael and I will return for more grazing and gazing shortly. (10/04)

FYI: Gombei has another location at 1438 El Camino Real in Menlo Park, although I can't vouch for it.

Grandeho's Kamekyo Restaurant
943 Cole St.
San Francisco, CA 94117
We chanced on this place because my friend Scott wanted to go to Cole Hardware, and this is right across the street. Food was very good. We had tonkatsu and a saba shioyaki & sashimi bento box. Both were of good quality ingredients, and cooked well. I have the feeling that the owners are Hawaiian because portions are fairly generous. I will say that the only problem with this place is the prices, which are high compared to other restaurants of similar quality. Still, you get what you pay for. Service was excellent. Our waitress provided great service to the entire restaurant and managed to keep a baby at another table amused. $39 for two at lunch. I'm guessing dinner prices are about the same. 05/13/2006

Hatcho
1271 Franklin Mall
Santa Clara, CA 95050
408/248-8500
Rating: *****
Lunch: Mon–Fri, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
Dinner: Mon–Sun 5:30 p.m.–10:30 p.m. Kaiseki dinner (call ahead)
$$ to $$$$ (depends on how hungry you are and how much you drink)
An interesting place, where the focus is on appetizers and seasonal specialty dishes and less on entrees according to the hostess. We started with the "chef's selection" of appetizers: steamed tuna, braised tuna is a sweet sauce, mackerel eggs on seaweed, broiled sardines, a chopped then reformed egg roll, and an ahn and aspic slice. We also had okra (okura on the menu) and squid, which looks exactly as it sounds—mucilaginous, as if someone had mixed a raw egg in with it—but, still tasty. I opted for mizutake mushroom mushi which came in a tiny clay teapot. The broth was delicate, woodsy, and delicious and the little bits of shrimp, tuna, bamboo shoot, greens, and kamaboko (fish cake) were tasty (much better than at that Burlingame sushi house).

To round things out, I had ochazuke, which is total home cookin'— the Japanese equivalent of peanut butter and jelly: first the waitress adds steamed rice, then you put on a layer of nori, three strips of raw salmon, and then three tiny spoonfuls of shoyu-flavored sauce and tiny round rice crackers. Boiling tea is poured over this to instantly cook the fish. My friend had a more traditional dinner of tempura, sashimi, and tonkatsu, which was served on separate fancy plates. The new location is in the unassuming mall in downtown Santa Clara. The setting is pleasant and contemporary. There is a tatami room in the back if you feel the need. 01/03

Update 05/03 - Hatcho's menu is actually seasonal, which speaks volumes about the quality of the food. Mitsutake mushrooms are out of season until September, and the squid and okra dish wasn't available either. I took a normally squeamish eater this time, so of course I ordered the most oddball thing on the menu—uni (sea urchin) tempura. I couldn't figure out how they would manage this since uni has the consistency of miso. It was wrapped in a nori tube, quick fried, and tasted like the sea. I have to say that the hostess/owner is a patient woman. My friend spent a good five minutes trying to figure out with her what sushi to order since he doesn't like raw fish.

See kaiseki dinner update from 02/07/04

Update 10/16/04 - My friend Piet chose Hatcho to have his birthday dinner and my new friend Scott came along. There was a tatami room free, so we took off our boots and climbed in.

We started with mixed sashimi—red snapper, squid, toro, maguro, salmon, another kind of white fish I couldn't identify, and live shrimp, which I've wanted to try the latter for some time. "Live shrimp" are just that: the sushi chef pulls them out of a tank, chops it in half, cleans it up, and serves it. Shrimp are a lot hardier than you might think; the heads continued to move around for most of the meal and one actually leapt off of the platter as the waitress was setting it down (they will cook the heads for you later if you wish). The live shrimp tailmeat is delicious and beautiful to look at: amazingly sweet, jewel-like, and slightly gelatinous. You should try it.

We also had seared beef—a large platter of thinly-sliced, excellent-quality steak which you dip in a garlic, chili, green onion and ponzu sauce—followed by matsutake dobin mushi, scallop sushi, huge grilled oysters in the shell, kakiage (burdock root and squid legs cooked tempura-style but made in clumps), and mochi ice cream for dessert. Piet is actually a big fan of the salmon ochazuke they prepare here at the table, but he was too stuffed. This was the best meal I've had in months. A great evening.

Update 9/3/05 - I've actually been back here more than a few times, including another full kaiseki dinner in November of 2004 to which we added live lobster sashimi. It's as spectacular as it sounds but the texture of raw lobster is a bit stringy for me; you also have to watch where you put your fingers since the claws can still snap). Anyway, I just thought I'd note that the owner is trying out US-raised Kobe-style beef tataki. There's also an excellent new waitress.The quality of the food remains the same.

Update 11/1/2006 - Again, I've been here quite a few times, but haven't had time to write anything new. My uncle had just gotten out of the hospital after taking a spill, so my parents were both in town. I decided to take them here as a treat. We had the premium sashimi with four live shrimp, the beef tataki, the matsutake dobin mushi, the okura (okra) and squid, the tempura soft-shell crab, and grilled oysters. My parents didn't seem to understand that the twitching shrimp heads and tail meat on the big platter were somehow related.

I have to say that toro is probably my all time favorite sashimi; it's so fabulously marbled with fat and has such a wonderful flavor. The matsutake was not very matsutake-y this time, but the beef tataki was amazinglly marbled. My dad said it tasted like salami, but I think that's mostly because of the flecks of fat throughout the meat. I will say that the food had a magical effect only my uncle, who is normally a bit dour. That night by the end of the meal, he was rosy cheeked and actually giddy from the delicious food. Dinner was just under $200 before tip. The owner says that people are still coming for the kaiseki dinner, which is a very good thing and worth trying if you've never done it. Allow 2-3 hours to eat and drink.

Izumiya
1581 Webster St. 2nd Floor (in the Japantown shopping mall)
San Francisco, CA 94115
We were at the NihonMachi festival and I wanted to saba shioyaki, so we tried this place which is billed for its okonomiyaki, which most of the Asians present were eating. The miso soup was good with little bits of fried tofu floating on top (I should say that 99% of the time I just pass on it, but this one was pretty good). The salad was the routine shreds of Japanese iceberg lettuce and dressing.

I had my saba shioyaki, which was nicely done: juicy, crispy skin, although there were quite a few tiny bones in what should be a filet. Saba (mackeral) is basically a huge mistake to make at home because of the smell, which lingers.

My boyfriend had the tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet) and okonomiyaki, which is seafood and beef and god knows what mixed in an egg-based "pancake" and slathered with a dark sauce similar to worcestershire sauce. I'm really not sure why this dish is so popular since it reminds me a lot of "emergency" dishes I used to make out of whatever was left in the fridge. I wouldn't order it, but my boyfriend who live in Japan for five years gobbled his up. The tonkatsu here is made with a relatively thick slice of pork, which was beautifully cooked.

This restaurant has basically zero atmosphere, but an exceptionally pretty waitstaff, I thought. Service was very good.

It's interesting that I've yet to have a truly bad meal at one of the tiny restaurants in the Japantown mall. They're a bit more expensive than eating in a non-tourist spot, but the quality is good. It's a shame they're planning on ripping the whole thing down. Lunch before tip was $33.09. August 11, 2007

Joji's Japanese Cuisine & Sushi Bar
Joji appears to have closed for good. We mourn their passing. 12/02

Kushi Tsuru
1737 Post St.
San Francisco, CA
415/922-9902
Overall: ***
Price: $$
We went here because the restaurant we were going to eat at had a huge line. I actually thought that the food here was surprisingly good. I had tonkatsu and Scott had something else which I can't remember. The tonkatsu was nicely prepared and not overly thin, so the meat wasn't dry. The other items on the tray were all very good and we left thinking that we'd stop back here and try something more interesting soon. Nice lunch for two: $21.43 before tip. 10/8/2006

Minato
617 North 6th St., San Jose, CA 95112
408/998-9711
Overall: ***
$$
Surprisingly good Sansei-run joint downstairs from my favorite gift shop in Japantown. Quality is good, although the menu is feels as though it was done according to childhood memories. 11/01

Update 06/03: Went for lunch with a friend. Again, the menu here is severely limited. On the hottest day of the year, do they think of adding a cold noodle dish? No. Had the tempura udon. Soup was passable, although a bit foamy for some reason. Noodles were overcooked. Tempura was good though, with two shrimp, sweet potato (just like dad used to make), broccoli, and green beans. Service is very good as usual.

Kaz
71 East 4th St.
San Mateo, CA
This is a tiny (as in counter with no seats) joint that makes up a corner of the Japanese grocery store on 4th St. in downtown San Mateo. We stopped here because I wanted bento lunches to take with us to a park, since it was a nice day. The food isn't that great, but this place has a great location one block from the big park downtown near the tennis courts. The chicken katsu bento ($6) and the tonkatsu ($6) were both lukewarm and the coating was not crispy nor the meat moist. The side dishes were fine, and for a quick, relatively cheap meal, it works just fine. For a treat, look elsewhere. (5/28/2006)

Le Poisson Japonais - Closed
Good fish, but pricey.

Michi Sushi
2220 S. Winchester Blvd.
Campbell, CA 95008
Overall: **
$$$$
The most ridiculously expensive Japanese place I've been to in the South Bay. The food is okay (especially when they cook yesterday's sushi fish), but I'll never go back. Service is good if slow and the food (I had saba shio, Scott had some sort of fried fish) was okay but not worth the price (about $5-8 more than what you'd expect to pay. The staff half-heartedly plays along with the Japanese thing, giving a lackluster embarassed greeting. 6/17/2006

Osakaya
1737 Post St.
San Francisco, CA 94115
We apparently went here, but I've completely forgotten about it. My opinion of both of the small restaurants across from Benihana is that they're fine and occasionally quite good. Lunch for two was $22.79 before tip. July 14, 2007

Rokko Fine Japanese Cuisine
190 S. Frances, Sunnyvale, CA 94086
408/732-7550
Mon-Fri 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., Sat 6 p.m.-10 p.m.
Overall: ***
$$$
Yet another new drink/eat Japanese joint. This one is a little hipper than Den in San Mateo and the focus is more on sushi than oddball delicacies. We started with garlic steamed clams, kaki fry (panko-breaded, deep-fried oysters), and grilled scallops with butter and salmon roe, both of which were fantastic. We had tonkatsu for the main course, which was served with sides of Japanese pickles and edamame. My friend ordered a grapefruit & soju cocktail, which tasted a lot like grapefruit Zima. Service was first-rate. 04/06/03

Shabuway
145 E. Third Ave.
San Mateo, CA 94401
650/548-2483
Mon-Fri 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., 5:30 p.m.-10:00 p.m.
Sat 12 p.m.-3 p.m., 5:30 p.m.-10:00 p.m.
Sun 12 p.m.-3 p.m., 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m.
www.shabuway.com
Overall: ****
$$
My boss found out about this place. They completely remodeled in a modern style similar to Himawari Ramen. Most of the seating is at the counter with a couple of tables. We chose the counter and ordered the large Shabuway Original (10 oz of meat) lunch, which was plenty.

You're served a plate of napa cabbage, tofu squares, a shiitake mushroom, some enoki mushrooms. A dipping bowl with a light mustard and a heavier soy dipping sauce come next along with a bowl of steamed short-grain rice. You can mix in green onions or other condiments to taste. It's been 15 years since I've eaten shabu shabu, so I just ate it like a hotpot. Wait a bit for the water to heat, then slide the napa in the water. Once the water gets going, swish the meat, wait for it to cook as much as you like it (I like it fairly pink), then dip, then eat. I use my ricebowl to catch drips. The waitstaff comes by to scoop the scum off of your water, although you can do this yourself as well. This isn't really like nabe where you can drink the broth. I think lunch came to about $12 for each of us. Cheap and very good. We'll definitely be back Oh, my boss said the place is jammed on weekends; go early. 01/19/2005

Update 03/10/2005 - We return and order the regular lunch. Still a nice meal. My coworker Leslie said that she went at 9 p.m. on a Saturday and there was a line. TIP: Go during the week if you don't want to wait.

Shabu Sen
1726 Buchanan St.
San Francisco, CA 94115
Overall: ***
$$$$$
We stumbled on this place because we were a) in Japantown and b) looking for a light dinner before heading over to a three hour elementary school play. This is a very nice place with excellent super-Japanese-y service, but boy is it pricey. Dinner for two (beef shabu shabu) was $45 with tip. The quality of the veggies, etc. was average. The beef was sliced paper-thin (a good thing here) and presented nicely. The quality of the meat is very good. Go here if you can't drive down to San Mateo or if you're trying to impress someone. Shabu shabu is always fun.
05/20/2006

Shiki Sushi
1082 El Camino Real
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
408/248-1577
Overall: ***
$$$$
We went here because we couldn't get into Tanto across the street. This is a very unassuming place from the outside, and right next to Palace BBQ. The hostess and waitstaff are PAINFULLY Japanese, and insisted on speaking to us in Nihongo. I thought about answering in Spanish, but decided to just let my friend Mike respond. Anyway, we started with sliced cooked monkfish liver which came with a slightly spicy sauce, a good thing because it has the texture of oysters and just a slight ocean-y flavor. We probably won't be ordering that again, but it was fun to try. I had the saba and sashimi combination dinner (this was actually supposed to be a "cheap" dinner) which was fine. Nice piece of fish well cooked, and decent tuna sashimi. Service is first-class and we'll probably go back for a splurge (they serve Kaiseki here, but it's pricey). Out the door for $50.17. 05/12/2005

 
Suzuyou
505 2nd Ave, San Mateo, CA 94401
650/347-8626
Overall: ****
$
Authentic to the point of having actual Japanese grandmothers in the kitchen, this tiny dive is a big favorite of Siebel employees (don't be surprised if you walk into a room full of suits). Note that they make NO effort to dress this place up; it's picnic tables and chairs with vinyl tablecloths. Waitresses are mostly Japanese-speaking, so don't be afraid to just point to menu items. Lunch specials are excellent and authentic, with items changing daily. More often than now, however, they're written entirely in Japanese, so just ask for the "lunch box" and take your chances. A special note: this restaurant is really difficult to find. It sits between to a Korean grocery and video store, and there are perhaps five parking spaces out front. It's about equidistant between the railroad tracks and Delaware. 06/01

Updated 07/03: Went back for lunch with a Japanese-American coworker. We had the lunch set of course and this time it was moist, fresh salmon cooked tonkatsu-style, a broiled white fish, kobocha pumpkin, that strong-tasting black seaweed that I can't remember the name of, salad, two pieces of a stewed fishcake neither one of us recognized, misoshiru, rice, and tea. $8. I don't think anyone can beat that deal.

Updated 04/04: I really love this place. You never know what to expect, but it's always good, fresh home cooking—like having your own Japanese-Japanese housewife. They experiment a great deal, and this time they had smoked salmon pressed sushi, which was fantastic.

NOTE: I eat at Suzuyou maybe 3-4 times a month. It's a regular lunch hangout for Siebel employees (which is why you may see an odd number of people in suits).

Updated 07/04: Again we return for fabulous home-style Japanese cooking. This time saba (mackarel) shio (salt), a little bit of deep-fried white fish and a selection of seaweeds. Never disappointing. When you go, forget the menu and just order the lunch box. Even sanseis do.

Updated 02/05: We return for a group lunch. I'm not sure, but I think the restaurant may have changed. Not as much cool little side dishes, and the portions were smaller. We'll return to investigate.

Tazaki Sushi
3420 Judah St
San Francisco, CA 94122
415-566-6860
This place is just a few blocks from my boyfriend’s house so we drop in once in awhile. The food is decent, service is very good, and the prices are reasonable (usually dinner with tip runs about $25). We had the exact same combination dinner last night: excellent shrimp tempura (like some of the best I’ve ever had), maguro sashimi (not so great, but fresh), and chicken teriyaki. The latter was a big portion and nicely cooked, but I don’t know why sit-down Japanese restaurants have resorted to “faking” teriyaki, which should basically be lacquered in the sauce as it cooks, not grilled and then drowned in sauce, which is a lot like those frozen dinners in the supermarket. Anyway, the dinner included some nice tiny sides (takuan, seaweed salad), miso soup, and a standard green salad and rice. I’d only order appetizers, sushi, etc if you’re really famished. I’ve had the “chef’s choice” sashimi and they do a nice job on selection and presentation. $20.62 before tip. Oct 23, 2006

Update: if they have the "super white tuna" order it.

Update Mar 2, 2007: I think they were off tonight. We both ended up feeling kind of odd after eating here. Tempura wasn't up to what we'd had before, and the chicken teriyaki was almost inedible. Sushi (tai) was so-so; had that weird "refrigerator" smell. We may stick to eating lunch here. It's depressing watching the new restaurant next door go under (which has the singularly most uninteresting menu I've ever seen). Approach from the west.

Update Apr 22, 2007: We cautiously return for lunch, and everything was fine. I think the problem may be that when they're over-run with people (it's usually packed for dinner on weekends), things just go wrong. We had two great lunch specials and the food was fine. I just wish they would make an attempt at real teriyaki instead of grilling chicken thigh and dumping some sauce on top, fastfood restaurant-style. Before tip, $30.22.

Toyo
1559 A. Sloat Blvd (in the Safeway shopping center on the Ross side, near UPS)
San Francisco, CA 94132
415/664-6477
Overall: ***
$$
Another solid Japanese-run Japanese restaurant. We had teriyaki beef and tonkatsu, both of which were good. We go here whenever we go shopping at Ross, which is a few doors down. We've done shabu shabu here, and it's half the cost of the same thing in Japan Town. This is a fairly large restaurant with booth and table seating. Service is first-rate, although if you order a hotpot dish, they'll probalby need to clear out the employees doing their homework in the back booths. Before tip, $28.10 Dec 22, 2007

Tsunami Grill
220 Capella Way, Town & Country Village, Sunnyvale, CA 94086
408/773-8776
Overall: **
$
Tiny family business with consistently good home cooking. It's one of those places where if I go with someone who is Japanese, we get different food from when I go with, say, a white guy. This might seem unfair, but I doubt a non-Japanese person would appreciate or even like the special side dishes. 02/00

Umami Tapas Bar
572 Davie Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
Overall: *****
$$$
We were here on my birthday trip last year, so I'm not even sure if this place is still open. I was in one of those moods, so basically we ordered their entire menu, most of which are appetizer sized. We had the spring roll, the carpaccio, the eel & foie gras, the prosciutto salad, the angus beef, the chicken wings, and the prawn pasta, all washed down with a horin sake. The quality of the food is excellent, although some dishes you can probably skip like the chicken wings. This is a Japanese style of eating which is in fact like tapas, although this is by far the fanciest version of this I've seen. The restaurant itself is tiny, with maybe 7-8 tables and a bar. The tab was surprisingly small considering the amount of food: $129 canadian, which at the time translated to about $100 US. 8/28/2005