Plates & People goes downtown for dish of fresh fish

Kyoto Ka signature salad redefines the the term salad

4/10/2018

Sung Cho, chef at Kyoto Ka Downtown, with their Kyoto Salad.

The Blade/Andy Morrison
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One of the best salads in Toledo has no leafy greens, but that doesn’t make it any less healthy or fresh. 

Kyoto Ka’s Kyoto Salad is chopped fresh tuna and avocado, and spicy calamari, tossed in ponzu sauce and Sriracha, and topped with shredded daikon radish and seaweed.

We visited chef and partner in the family ownership, Sung Cho, at Kyoto Ka Downtown at 300 Madison Ave. in the Edison Building to let him make us one. (The dish can also be had at the original Kyoto Ka location at 6801 W. Central Ave., but Sung’s father may make that one for you.)

VIDEO: Plates & People gets the Kyoto Ka signature salad

“It is a very simple meal,” Sung said while explaining the dish’s origins from Hawaii via Kyoto, Japan. “It’s a modification created from poke.”

Poke (POH-keh) is a raw fish salad served in Hawaiian cuisine, typically as an appetizer but sometimes as a main course. Poke often consists of tuna or octopus or salmon, but usually just one fish at a time. 

The Kyoto Salad’s derivation to include squid and tuna and avocado make this more than just poke, but a signature salad unique to Kyoto Ka that is perfect for lunch or to share as a dinner appetizer.

For more information, please visit kyotoka.com

Contact Phillip Kaplan at pkaplan@theblade.com, and follow on Twitter @filkap; Andy Morrison may be contacted at amorrison@theblade.com