Gohan - Japanese, Petaluma

1367 North McDowell, Petaluma CA 94954

(707) 789-9296
Parking: shopping center parking lot
Hours: Lunch Mon-Fri 11:30-2:30pm, Dinner Mon-Sat 5:30-9:30pm, Sun 5:30-9pm
http://www.gohanrestaurant.com/

Last Visited: August 25, 2007

Food: 3 to 4 stars
Atmosphere: 3 to 4 stars
Service: 3 to 4 stars
Price: $$ to $$$$

Gohan is located in the new shopping center containing Kohl’s and Shoe Pavilion. Steve told me about some of the great food he had tried here, and knowing Steve and his love for food, that meant it was going to be pretty decent. Hot towels folded in triangles were brought to our table once we were seated.

The setup of the entry is interesting. The front façade is made of glass windows and you walk immediately to your right through a narrow walkway that they have created by adding a wall immediately behind the glass. This gives the restaurant a more intimate feeling while maximizing space, but somehow might lead to some discomfort for the owner of the restaurant as you can’t see who is entering the establishment (not the best scenario in terms of safety). At the end of this walkway is a hostess station that is seldom attended. Since it was a sunny day, the shadows of the people walking indicated when a customer had arrived.

The restaurant has clean lines and a modern look about it. Two large bright 3D wall decorations are made of orange and white paint and located on the right wall of the restaurant. Under this wall is a cushioned bench seat that goes along the length of the wall that acts as one side of the seating for the tables. Hanging above the bench seating area are white lantern covers. The rear left contains the sushi bar that offers seating in an L shape. The remaining dining area includes various tables and chairs in light maple with charcoal gray cushioned seats. There is a lot of contrast in colors with the white, orange, charcoal gray – found in the chairs, dividing wall, and rear hall. There is also a strip of green along the bench seating. Soft rock plays on the sound system.

After being seated, we were asked about drinks. Our water came in tall glasses with a thin cucumber slice and the hot tea came in a medium sized cup. It was great that the tea temperature was very hot – always a plus in my book. However, it took quite some time for a member of the waitstaff to come by our table to take our order. About 15 minutes passed, and a person finally came. With the music on and the restaurant starting to fill up, she had a hard time hearing my order, so she repeated the list, however, she did not repeat everything on the list, so I had to verify that the missing items were captured. A small note on service – that if you are going to repeat the items ordered, you should repeat everything, not just a portion of the list.

It seemed to take seconds for the hot miso soup to arrive along with our sunomono.

- Miso Soup – The soup was very hot and came in a ceramic bowl. The contents included a single slice of dried shitake mushroom, small tofu cubes, and sliced green onions. Good. $2

- Sunomono – The sunomono salad came with the cod (see below). They also gave us one complimentary sunomono salad. These came in small dishes shaped like flowers. About 7 half slices of seeded cucumber were dressed with black and white toasted sesame seeds and a light vinaigrette. Small pieces of wet seaweed were also distributed over the salad. I hope these orders were considered small because a regular priced order with these portions would have been much too small.

- Sake – Of all the nigiri sushi, I found the salmon to have the freshest taste and to be the most flavorful. $4

- Hamaichi – Just after the salmon, the hamaichi had a nice texture and flavor too. $5

- Maguro – Thick slices with a clean taste, but just okay – it lacked in flavor. $5

- Unagi - Tender and fresh. $5

- Black Cod Misozuke – As mentioned above, the fish was accompanied by miso soup and sunomono salad as starters. Two pieces of boneless black cod is cooked to perfection. It’s beautiful dark brown from the miso and the tenderness of the fish were wonderful. Each flake was buttery and sweet. A bowl of rice also accompanies the fish. As for presentation, a few tender radish sprouts are gently placed on top of the fish. Very good. $19
Overall, service is pretty good with the busboy being very attentive in refilling water and tea, but the wait staff could be a little faster in returning after the menus have been handed out and in saying goodbye as we were exiting. Although most people were greeted by the sushi chefs as they exited, they missed our exit. The check came fairly promptly though. Gohan is a nice addition to Petaluma’s Japanese repertoire. The black cod misozuke is excellent and the menu offers a variety of what is called new style sushi. The atmosphere is minimalist, but pleasant. Check out Gohan some time.