Kita Modern Japanese, Charleston, WV

Truly modern Japanese. I went to Kita yesterday for lunch with a work colleague. When glancing at the menu, it appeared that it was more of a fusion restaurant than modern, but I'm just here for the food. They had a few sushi rolls on the menu. I would have liked to see a few more selections but they had most of the basics that I use to compare restaurants.

We arrived around noon, just after they opened. We were the first people in the place, so we were seated immediately. Our drink order was taken immediately, as well as my appetizer order, the crispy pork belly. I also ordered the volcano roll, some unagi, and the shrimp and scallop hibachi. He ordered a crunch roll and the spicy garlic beef.

First, I was served the onion soup, or "clear" soup, and house salad that come with the hibachi dinner. The salad had the house ginger dressing. Pretty typical. Dressing was sweet and had a good ginger flavor. The soup was over spiced. Way too much pepper.

Next was my crispy pork belly. Served on a bed of grits, topped with fried onions, drizzled with a tare sauce, and garnished with green onion shreds. This dish was excellent! The pork belly was well cooked and not as fatty as some pork belly I've had before. The grits were creamy and the fried onions added a nice texture and flavor to the dish.

Then came our meals. First, my shrimp and scallop hibachi. Typical setup. Shrimp and scallops, on a bed of cooked veggies, with fried rice and yum-yum sauce. I will say that the shrimp and scallops were good sized and flavorful in the sweet hibachi sauce. Veggies were well cooked, firm, not soggy. Fried rice was average, as was the yum-yum sauce. My friend said his spicy garlic beef was not spicy at all.

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Our sushi was served last. My friend said his crunch rolled smelled fishy and tasted like the shrimp tempura had been cooked the day before and stored outside in the freezing cold. As for my volcano roll, I was not impressed either. The presentation was nice but it was not very flavorful. With regard to the unagi, it was fairly typical. Nothing special however, for the price, I was expecting a larger slice of eel.

Also, while we were there, I don't know if the hoods weren't working properly or what dish they were cooking but the cook placed someone's dish on a bed of coals and it filled the entire restaurant with smoke. So, that was a turn off.

Overall it was a decent place to eat. I would probably go back and try something different.

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