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Back when she was still a student at Central Missouri State University, Yokahama-born Erika Koike decided to open her own version of an izakaya, which she calls a Japanese tavern — "a place where people stop in for a drink and a little bite of something." Now that she's the owner, manager and designer of the tiny One Bite, she has discovered that things in the United States are a bit different. "When I first opened, I did have smaller portions, but Americans really prefer to eat more."
"That's why Americans are so fat, honey," I told her as I reached for another pan-fried dumpling from the half-dozen plump beauties in front of me. Over several visits to One Bite, I took hundreds of bites of many delicious things. In fact, I dare anyone to eat just one of anything there. Despite its location in one of those indistinguishable Johnson County strip malls (if you get lost, the landmark is the Sam's Club), One Bite is a stylish little room.
It's a narrow space with just five roomy booths and a long counter with 10 tall stools; behind the counter is a stainless-steel open kitchen and grill area. The floor is lacquered concrete, and the back wall is mirrored to make the skinny room look bigger than it is. Koike and her server Vickie (a pal from her CMSU days) scurry around taking orders, whisking away empty plates, pouring wine and sake and mixing cocktails behind the pint-sized bar. Among several signature cocktails there is a Spring U-la-la Martini made with pear sake, spiced rum and fresh fruit.
My friend Bob was more interested in the Ramune soda pop. Each oddly shaped bottle is sealed with a marble, so after it's opened, the marble falls into the bottle neck and rattles around as you sip the soda. Bob loved the concept (Koike tells me kids do, too) but said it tasted just like any fruity American carbonated drink.
Bob and I were dining with Linda, who has traveled through most of Asia. A midtown girl, Linda had rolled her eyes at the idea of driving out to 133rd Street and Antioch, but the novel concept of One Bite intrigued her. "A Japanese tapas bar?" she said and laughed. "You're kidding, right?"
She and Bob were crazy about this izakaya from the very first gyoza — otherwise known as a pan-fried dumpling filled with pork, beef or chicken. (There's also the Chi-zu version, which the menu describes as a cheese dumpling.) "I should tell you that it has pork in it," Vickie confessed. "Is that all right?" It was with me, but I'm not keeping kosher.
For starters, we shared other not-so-little bites: pillowy cubes of firm tofu fried to a light, crunchy, golden brown, and fat green mussels baked with a creamy mayonnaise-based sauce. (We later discovered that this sauce accompanies many of One Bite's dishes.) To our amazement, tofu-hating Bob ate several fried squares of that gorogoro. And he couldn't stop raving about the succulent mussels.
We also shared One Bite's signature dish, okonomi-yaki, ordering it as an appetizer instead of an entrée. Koike calls the yaki a "Japanese pizza," but it's more like a fried flapjack made from a light batter, with shredded cabbage and various other ingredients, all topped with a malty Worcestershire-style sauce and more of that creamy mayo concoction. I wished I'd ordered a yaki strictly for myself after we also shared the "Mix Special" combination of vegetables, meat and seafood.
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Only douchebags use styrofoam. Hawaiian soul food? Get outta town, Jack! Spam hails from Austin, Minnesota very far afield from soul food, just the same as musubi, dumbass!
We LOVE this restaurant. The service is friendly and personable. Vickie and Erika remembered my husband and I after one visit and we were treated well. The food is mouthwatering and beautiful. Yes, good food and service have a price, but in comparison to other Asian restaurants I've been to, this one gives you your moneys worth. I highly recommend One Bite.
We LOVE this restaurant. The service is friendly and personable. Vickie and Erika remembered my husband and I after one visit and we were treated well. The food is mouthwatering and beautiful. Yes, good food and service have a price, but in comparison to other Asian restaurants I've been to, this one gives you your moneys worth. I highly recommend One Bite.
The food was great, but pricy. But the service? Leaves much to be desired! I have waited many years to try Okonomiyaki, so when i went I was excited and wanted to show friends, so I took pictures of my food (an asian thing). The waitress immediately accused me of being a spy from another restaurant, asking pointed questions such as "What restaurant do you work for?".
Unfortunately, I'm a software engineer, not a pirate. It's too bad that the server's attitude was so poor. I wanted to recommend the place to my friends, but for the price I had to pay plus the attitude, I think I'll divert them to another restaurant. If they want Okonomiyaki, there are recipes on google that do the same thing, minus the poor attitude in service.
The food was great, but pricy. But the service? Leaves much to be desired! I have waited many years to try Okonomiyaki, so when i went I was excited and wanted to show friends, so I took pictures of my food (an asian thing). The waitress immediately accused me of being a spy from another restaurant, asking pointed questions such as "What restaurant do you work for?". Unfortunately, I'm a software engineer, not a pirate. It's too bad that the server's attitude was so poor. I wanted to recommend the place to my friends, but for the price I had to pay plus the attitude, I think I'll divert them to another restaurant. If they want Okonomiyaki, there are recipes on google that do the same thing, minus the poor attitude in service.
hey charles fagruzza!its ridiculous that you wont consider a good place to eat just because they use ultra clean,one person usage,cheap and effective styrofoam. but will you consider? a hole in a wall place that use disposable plate served by a good looking
male waiter. some of us "styrofoam using people" really don't need you to get exposure.
by the way, why do you review the same restaurant every six months? running out of restaurant? or alot of us use styrofoam?hawaiian soul food will not work in j.c. dumb ass max thought otherwise. you can't serve spam musubi in a china plate
hey charles fagruzza!its ridiculous that you wont consider a good place to eat just because they use ultra clean,one person usage,cheap and effective styrofoam. but will you consider? a hole in a wall place that use disposable plate served by a good looking male waiter. some of us "styrofoam using people" really don't need you to get exposure. by the way, why do you review the same restaurant every six months? running out of restaurant? or alot of us use styrofoam?hawaiian soul food will not work in j.c. dumb ass max thought otherwise. you can't serve spam musubi in a china plate
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