Gato Arigato has been operating out of Gato Bizco in Candler Park for many months now, though I recently made my first visit to the Japanese inspired pop-up operated by Chef Allen Suh. The menu is constantly changing, almost as much as their days of operation, with the most recent schedule having them open Sunday through Thursday evenings. Monday nights is Jimmie’s Hot Chicken night, robbing me of the namesake of my future restaurant.
We tried most things on the menu. Chef provided a couple of extra dishes, probably because me and my dining companion are huge on Instagram. BOSS.
I was especially grateful for this young, pristine yellowtail tuna with really good wasabi, julienne ginger, and a light soy sauce. Excellent and simple sashimi.
We also tried the hot chicken gyoza, which are in fact, relatively hot, as well as the tofu version. The individual dumplings don’t come apart too well if sharing, but no matter. I like the upside down serving, to show off the crisp side and hane (which I just learned the name of from John Kessler, and means “wings”) which is created by adding a little potato starch to the water used when steaming the dumplings.
Chef serving up some ramen.
Takoyaki. [DOUCHE ALERT] I fear this dish will never measure up to the versions I tried many times in Osaka.
Tonkotsu ramen with pork belly and apples, egg added. One of the finer version in the Atlanta area. Noodles are handmade and are not perfect, but sometimes that’s the beauty of homemade products – they really stand out, and to me, I thought they were great.
Tofu ramen. Also very good. My veg wife would really love this. To me, it misses a certain je nai sai quoi, which I believe translates to pork.
BYOB only. New friends were sharing their toys at the bar.
I didn’t enjoy the long wait in the cold, or the brutal heat inside generated from the hot burners in the small space, but loved everything else about the place. Couldn’t imagine a finer ending to that evening’s food crawl. [Joystick | One Eared Stag]
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