| Like Stockton, The Pagoda Plays Well For Decades | ||
| By Anne Wilson -- Special To The Tribune | 04/26/2002 | |
| Fujio Iwasaki didn't plan on running a restaurant in Salt Lake City for 55 years. But here he is at the age of 81, despite a bum shoulder and a bad ankle, still working in the kitchen of The Pagoda, one of Salt Lake's most enduring restaurants. "What else would I do?" shrugs Iwasaki, better known as "Fudge." His younger sister, Mary, works there, too, as she has since The Pagoda opened in its original location downtown, where the Salt Palace now sprawls. Back then, the neighborhood was known as "Japanese Town" for its multiple Asian-owned businesses, including a cafe run by Iwasaki's father after the Depression wiped out his livelihood in Burley, Idaho. Iwasaki moved to Salt Lake with his family, and went to college in Los Angeles, where he studied foreign trade and marketing. He was going to be a businessman until World War II intervened. Ineligible for the draft for physical reasons, Iwasaki was left home to help run the family cafe while his brothers went to war. The restaurant became his life, although he had no formal training as a cook. He married, had kids and kept his regular customers happy with egg foo young, fried rice and chow mein. Major change came in the early 1960s, when Iwasaki bought property on E Street and built his own place. The Pagoda has been a landmark there for 40 years. Little has changed since, although Iwasaki's son Mark, who will run The Pagoda if Iwasaki ever retires, convinced his dad to add some new menu items. The dining room looks the same: Formica tables, metal and faux leather chairs, wood and paper screens between the tables and colored paper lanterns. It isn't fancy, just functional, and quiet. Three levels allow for a small private dining room up and a banquet room below. The kitchen is at the back, out of sight, where all restaurant kitchens were before cooking got trendy and chefs became celebrities. The Pagoda isn't trendy, which may be why its regular customers (including a number of Utah Jazz players such as John Stockton, who names the restaurant as his favorite) keep coming back. The menu offers Japanese and Chinese-American dishes, as well as foods that aren't particularly Asian but have become Pagoda fixtures, like the fried jumbo shrimp, butterflied and pounded thin, then battered more heavily than tempura (five for $11.25). These are best eaten immediately, when they are hot, crisp and delicious. Same with the wontons (eight for $3.95), which are fried triangles of rice paper with a meat and vegetable filling, and the tempura, which is thinly battered shrimp and vegetables (sweet potatoes should always be cooked this way!). Tempura can be ordered as an entree alone (shrimp and vegetables for ($9.95) or as a combination with chicken or beef ($13.50 to $13.95, which includes soup and rice). Those combo meals are among The Pagoda's new menu items. Other additions include a teriyaki hot dog meal for kids ($4.25, including a drink); beef, chicken or tofu stir-fried with peppers, onions, zucchini and mushrooms ($10.75); a wonderful dish called chicken tatsuta age ($10.50), which is battered white meat, fried and coated with sesame seeds and flavored with a slightly sweet teriyaki glaze ($10.50); and one-dish noodle bowls with meat, chicken or shellfish ($6.95 to $8.50). The chow mein ($7.65 to $8.40) is good, especially with the extra investment of fried noodles ($1.25), as is the egg foo young, which can be ordered plain or with chicken or shrimp ($6.75 to $8.75 - the higher price will get you three good-sized patties, suitable for NBA-sized appetites). Consider them as mini-omelets, with the protein and vegetables mixed right into the batter. They are served with a clear, flavorful brown sauce. Pork ribs are prepared two ways: on-the-bone spare ribs with a teriyaki sauce ($10.50), which are fairly lean and therefore slightly chewy, but wonderfully flavored; and a sweet-and-sour version ($8.95), which is bite-size but not as lean and still contains the bone. There is also a fair amount of gristle in these ribs, which along with the bone makes them tricky to eat, although the sauce is succulent. The ma-ha-kai ($8), battered fried chicken, is a tough sell for the same reason -- too high a waste-to-meat ratio. Whether dining in or taking out, The Pagoda's relatively late weekend hours are a lifesaver for people who work or party past prime-time. The Pagoda menu is designed to appeal to Middle America. There is nothing too exotic -- no sushi and no raw fish, nothing with octopus. But the food is solid: fresh, served steaming hot and reasonably priced. Kids like the place and the service is quick and friendly. With so many Iwasaki relatives working there, The Pagoda truly is a family restaurant. The Pagoda 26 E St., Salt Lake City; 355-8155 * Hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 5-10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m. to midnight; Sunday, 3-10 p.m. * Prices: Entrees from $6.25 to $10.75 * Liquor: Full bar, wine list * Reservations: Yes * Children's Menu: Yes * Takeout: Yes * Wheelchair Accessible: No * Outdoor Dining: No * Parking: On site lot, street * Credit Cards: All major Anne Wilson is The Tribune's restaurant reviewer. The newspaper covers the cost of meals at restaurants reviewed and there is no connection between reviews and restaurant advertising. Wilson welcomes food and wine news, comments and suggestions at wilwrite99@aol.com. |
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