An Excerpt From:
Food and Lifestyles Magazine, Nov/Dec 2004
By Mark Abbott
"...we're off to Toyama. A favorite restaurant of Chef Groban (Reed Groban, Executive Chef at Scottsdale Princess Resort)...
Chef Mamoru Kugaguchi heads up the team at Toyama...I hope, I don't upset his regulars, but I am going to tell everyone to go there with all due dispatch. This is just what you want your sushi restaurant to be. Plate after plate of wonderfully prepared sushi was presented to us as if by sleight of hand....impeccably fresh sashimi, spicy tuna and scallop roll....creations for the low carb crowd..cucumber wrap with fine demonstration of knife skills. Tasty tempura eel was served with sweet, house made eel sauce. How good is Chef Kugaguchi's sushi? I live over an hour away and will gladly make the trip for this treat"
An Excerpt From:
Arizona Food and Lifestyles, April/May 2003
By Candy Lesher
"The Prefecture (region) in Japan, called Toyama is considered the most appealing province on the main island, Hinshu. Providing insight to Toyama Restaurant owner/chef Mamoru Kugaguchi brings remarkable culinary heritage of Toyama fare focused on freshwater fish and farming..."
"Chef Mamoru is the consummate host ; conversing with him, one notes genuine warmth. There is a delight in his welcome, answering what an item is, how it tastes, why they cut it "just so"...
"...order sashimi at the beginning of a meal to fully appreciate the buttery texture of pristinely fresh seafood..."
"Toyama Assorted Sashimi includes generous, precisely carved dominoes of prime tuna, salmon, yellowtail, albacore and white fish. Each with unique texture, from silken to meaty, all with incredible subtle flavors.. Accompanying garnish is a perfect, heart shaped leaf of shiso (delicious herb with its own nubby texture)..."
"...not into raw? Dynamite Scallops, thin shaving of sea scallops atop mushrooms, baked in rich crab infused sauce; positively divine......I loved Volcano, pinwheels of seaweed, white fish and salmon, heated in creamy crab sauce....grilled chicken or salmon Teriyaki featured precisely cut squares of fillet flash fried, panko coated (crispy bread crumbs)..."
"Chef Mamoru pays tribute to the heart of traditional Japanese cuisine, balancing equally important great flavors, quality of ingredients, diversity of his homeland's rich culinary heritage with exquisite presentation. We're indeed lucky, for this is one of (scant of Valley restaurants, that whether traditional or contemporary fare, have brought Japan's best to the desert Southwest."
An Excerpt From:
Phoenix New Times, March 2003
By Carey Sweet
."...Chef Mamoru Kugaguchi keeps it lively behind his sushi bar, slicing through generous slabs of ruby-fleshed tuna, coral-hued salmon and creamy yellowtail sashimi with his glinting silver knife. Superior fish this is.... So is the special of the day, cuts of prized toro, the luscious fatty underbelly of the blue fin tuna..."....cooked delights, prepared in the kitchen, like hamachi kama (grilled yellow tail jaw), karei karage (deep fried sole), and ka tetsupouyaki (grilled whole squid with onion stuffing and miso seasoning)..."
"...hot menu vegetable tempura, salmon and chicken teriyaki, grilled salmon, chicken katsu, steak sukiyaki (shredded beef with mushroom sauce). I loved the firm white rice, the careful presentation of fresh romaine, spring greens and purple cabbage salad...as the chef talks to us over his sushi bar to see if we're happy, we really are."
