Saturday 02/12 - Shoya Izakaya & The Frosty Caboose

4/5 rating for Shoya Izakaya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izakaya) and Sushi Bar

On Saturday, 02/12, for dinner, Phili and I made it out to Shoya (http://www.shoyaatlanta.com/) in Dekalb County. Location is in a very bare, dying plaza containing few notable stores. The most notable stores are H-mart and Brandsmart, then nestled somewhere in between those two large corporates is Shoya - a very traditional Japanese restaurant. It was his second time, and my fourth time to this restaurant. We had a pleasant time. I like to order a la carte (single orders of small plates). The menu at this restaurant is styled a la carte anyway. The service was okay, but it was also a busy night. I called around 4p to find out if it was going to be busy (since it's Valentine weekend). A woman, speaking broken English, answered the phone and told me that reservations after 7pm were going to keep the restaurant busy, so I should show up between 6 and 7p. So, we did. The only seating that was available were sushi bar or outdoor insulated patio (temperature was in the high 30s this night). We sat at the sushi bar. Our o-cha (hot tea) was only refilled twice within the one hour that we were sitting and eating.

We ordered the beef yanagawa plate (i failed to get a picture because i was hungry and i jumped at eating). It was a dish of sukiyaki (sweet sauce) beef, mushrooms, onions, and egg stir-fried in a "special" sauce. I'd give it a 3/5 rating as far as palate goes, and 3/5 rating as far as presentation goes. Average for the usual Japanese food I order.

this is a sample picture of the Beef Yanagawa that I googled

Other food we ate - dynamite oyster, umaki egg, spicy scallop R, green dynamite R. Pictures as follows:

Dynamite Oysters, 4/5 rating

had to google this too because i forgot to nab a picture of Shoya's Umaki egg (eel in an egg omelet), 3/5 rating

Green Dynamite R, 3/5 rating

Spicy Scallop R, 3/5 rating

 If you've never been to Shoya, try it at least once. The menu is extensive and there's so much more to order. Some of my favorite items, from any Japanese restaurant, are the Hamachi Kama, Ika Maruyaki, the Kushiyaki Sampler, and wasabi Shumai. Googled images below.

Hamachi Kama (grilled Yellowtail Cheek)

Ika Maruyaki (grilled squid with special sauce)

Kushiyaki Sampler (skewers of seafood/meat in teriyaki sauce)

Wasabi Shumai (wasabi flavored pork dumplings)

Afterward, we went about 1.5mi down Peachtree Rd to The Frosty Caboose (http://www.frostycaboose.com/). Mostly serves ice cream of the Greenwood brand (http://greenwoodicecream.com/), which is my favorite corporate/restaurant brand of ice cream. I always get one scoop of green tea ice cream in a waffle cone. It gets a 5/5 rating as far as ice cream goes. 3/5 for ambiance -you have to eat the ice cream in your car in the winter because it's an outdoor-styled venue - no indoor seating available! But it's cute because it's a little red caboose that has a window that you order from. Located in Old Downtown Chamblee, just down the road from a district of antique shops. This is a very park and walk area for a nice sunny early spring/late winter day in Metro-Atlanta. This place has been open since May 2009, but I just discovered it sometime in November 2010. Incredible...

yummy green tea