Supercore Café

Supercore Café

Housing both a contemporary approach to Japanese home cooking dishes and western influenced café menu—sandwiches—by young hip Japanese; the décor was deceiving; no indication of any celebratory Japanese collectables or samurai pictorials; the restaurant could have passed for a French Bristo at first glance. In fact one would not have guessed it was a Japanese restaurant without looking at the menu posted outside.

Expect no California roll—no sushi or sushi chef behind the counter making you any sashimi. I got a sense that the owner(s) are very westernized but still carry their fond memories of slow home cooking when their moms are somewhere in suburban Tokyo.

Food: In the platter section was the curry beef stew; I can not say the presentation was appealing. The stew was not consistant; I had a very finely shredded beef and discovered big chunks. The texture of the sauce was married in water and clump. The taste was rather different than typical stew; it hinted a touch of bitterness. A strong and distinctive flavor; a dish you either love or can do without. It’s a dish that screams out; I am Japanese! and oh how this reminds me of my childhood. In my case, I exchanged it with my dining companion.

I traded my stew for the chicken-niche ~ (something-to be corrected) listed under the classic Japanese section (I’m thinking why isn’t the stew under here?). There were some very Asian vegetables in this soup dish. But the broth was so sweet that it hardly gave any credibility to the vegetables’ natural sweetness.

Along with the entrees, was also a separate order of the kimchee tofu; it was nothing fancy—a 3x3x3 tofu cube sitting in a soy sauce base topped with kimchee with finely julienned seaweed wrap. One side called hijiha; another version of seaweed, this type was not the green kind but thinner, shorter and black. It takes getting use to.

There goes the dessert, I rarely go for a dessert, but the sesame cheesecake made its way to the table. It was hard—overly crusted on all sides, it was like a sandwich cheesecake but made in a pie form. Clearly it was in the fridge too long; thus, hard to eat.

The tab was not bad; in fact very do-able; similar to the cost of going to china-town and going all out (splurging in C-town). Anyhow for a table for two with a beer came out to $37 not counting the tip. The prices are modest, but Supercore sticks to the traditional Japanese portion control. You come out not overly stuffed but a good feeling that it was “just right.”

305 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11211 between South First and South Second. 718.302.1629