Eastwind

Well, I was right, Thursday afternoon came around and I got the call from dad; the dinner call. With mom not due to return until Friday afternoon, I was in for one more night of babysitting duty. I had to go and drop something off at my sister's house, which is right by the folks', so I said that I would head their direction for dinner. I suggested we go try a Japanese place that was nearby, and once Laura got wind of this, she wanted to join us as well. So I picked everyone up (like the good little chauffeur that I am) and we headed North on Tatum Boulevard.

Eastwind is right near where both of them live, but neither of them had ever tried it. I had gone there one day for lunch, probably about 4 years ago, I didn't remember much about it so it was like a new experience for me as well. It is located on the Southeast corner of Tatum and Thunderbird, right next to Kinko's. We walked in and noticed that it was quite busy. The sign said to wait to be seated, but as we were waiting, I noticed the menu hanging on the wall as well. We discovered that their concept changed depending on the meal; at lunch, you order at the counter and at dinner, you have waiter service. I thought this was a good idea because most people are usually looking to grab a quick lunch, while dinner is often viewed as a bit more formal.

Within just a minute we were seated at a table in the main dining area and started to look at the menu. We were first intrigued by the menu insert that highlighted the different Bento Box offerings. They had four different choices, all with quite a variety of different dishes in them. When the water came over he took our drink order, 3 waters and some Saki for dad, and we decided to order a few appetizers as well. Laura and dad love Soft Shell Crab sushi rolls, so we got one of those, and we also decided to try the Calamari and Summer Rolls.

The soft shell crab roll came out first (sorry for the poor picture quality, white on white doesn't photograph well), and the presentation was beautiful. I always find it interesting how the presentation for the same roll can be so different at the different restaurants. This roll was a combination of a whole soft shell crab, that had been deep fried, crab, avocado and cucumber. I wasn't in a mood for sushi that night, but Laura and dad both thought that it was excellent. The pieces were not so big, making them hard to eat, like some places serve it. They both thought that it was better than the one they had had at Yasu Sushi Bistro, which is more of a high end sushi place. At only $8.40 for the roll, they thought this was a steal, and would definitely return for it again.

While they dug into the sushi, I tried out the Summer Rolls. The description on the menu reminded me of Vietnamese Spring Rolls, and when they were placed on the table, I decided they looked like them too! These rolls were wrapped in a tapioca rice paper and filled with shrimp, avocado, crab, vegetables and a spicy mango dressing. A dark colored dipping sauce was served along side them, and it had crushed peanuts sprinkled on the top of it. I took a bite without the sauce and was immediately hooked, the fresh seafood and crisp vegetables were nicely complemented by a bit of heat from the mango dressing. For my next bite, I dipped it in the sauce, and if I thought I was hooked before; I had now officially become and addict! The sauce was a combination of salty and heat, flavors that I could not get enough of. I finally asked the server what was in this magical sauce...and well I am keeping that to myself....just kidding! The sauce was a combination of fish sauce (the salty), siracha (the heat), garlic, and topped with crushed peanuts (more salty).....it has officially earned a spot in my Fave Five! Dad and Laura both tried a roll as well, neither had ever had Vietnamese Spring Rolls before, so they were rookies here, but they both really enjoyed their first experience. I then casually suggested that they go back to working on the sushi; so that I could get the last Summer Roll!

The calamari came out next, it was lightly breaded with panko bread crumbs and served along side a spicy wasabi sauce for dipping. My family loves calamari, and this was definitely a good version. It was light and crispy, not tough or chewy and didn't have a lingering oily taste. The dipping sauce seemed to be mayonnaise mixed with wasabi, it was quite good, it packed just enough heat to wake up the taste buds, but was mild enough to not overwhelm. We all really enjoyed this version.

Since we had decided to have so many appetizers, we decided that we would order two different Bento Boxes and share them amongst the three of us for our meal. We went with Bento A and Bento D, both were served with miso soup, which I let Laura and dad have since I once had a bad experience with it (thank you Rebecca!), both of them really liked it and said it was different than just your standard miso, I took their word for it!

We were still munching away on our calamari when the boxes arrived, and seriously, they were the largest Bento Boxes any of us had ever seen....and the kicker here.....they were each only $10.95! Bento D included Chicken Katsu, Ginger Salmon, Thai Beef Salad, Chicken Teriyaki, Edamame and Cucumber salad. My favorites in this Bento was the chicken katsu, which we all thought was excellent, the chicken was moist and it was not greasy at all. I also really enjoyed the Thai Beef Salad, the beef was sliced thin and had both heat and sweet elements to the flavor, it was delicious. Laura tried the Chicken Teriyaki and said that it was very good; it was moist and had a generous serving of the sauce with a pile of rice to sop it all up. She also tried the Salmon (which is one of my Least Fave Fives!) and said that it was good, but not her favorite part of the meal. Next we moved to the other side of the table to see what we could find in Bento A!

This Bento included Chicken Katsu, Beef Teriyaki, Ginger Salmon, Veggie & Shrimp Tempura, a green salad and Cucumber Salad. Once again, the big favorite here was the Chicken Katsu, but the Tempura was a close second. Sometimes Tempura can feel very heavy and greasy, and has a way of making you not feel very good a few hours after eating it, but this Tempura was light and crisp and not oily at all. Laura called dibs on the shrimp, and I quickly snatched the kobasha squash, so that left dad with the option of the sweet potato or this other white, round piece. He grabbed the white piece and said, "I claim the onion!" Well, he took a bite and quickly realized that it wasn't an onion, he thought it was a potato, I think referred back to the menu and realized that it was actually a lotus root....none of us knew what that was, but he liked it! The Beef Teriyaki was okay, but both dad and Laura decided that the Chicken Teriyaki was much better. Dad tried the cucumber salad, and liked it, but he was the only one to do so. We had quite a bit of food left, but we had hit our limit, and decided to call it quits.

We really enjoyed our Eastwind experience, Laura and dad were both happy to have found a new little gem right in their neighborhood. I have a feeling they will both be frequenting it in the upcoming future. Dad seems to get on kicks when it comes to new restaurants, and the new place becomes the only place he ever wants to go! They have some great prices on lunch specials, so I look forward to stopping by for lunch sometime soon. Overall, a great Japanese food find, and at a great price.

Eastwind

13637 N. Tatum Blvd.

Phoenix, AZ 85032

http://www.eastwind-az.com/