Sushi in NYC
Yesterday B's band was supposed to sign a contract with Sony Publishing. For the third time, and to everyone's frustration, it was cancelled yet again. I was pretty upset as I'd asked for the day off from work just for the signing and the celebratory dinner to follow. After the disappointing news, the one upside was "thank goodness I didn't shave my legs."
So instead B and I went out for sushi. This is a task these days, as we both love sushi, but I've become very picky about it. B will eat pretty much anything - rolls, cheap nigiri, whatever. My feeling is if I'm expecting sushi, I expect good sushi, and if I'm going to pay money, I want nigiri or sashimi, attractively cut fresh fish that caresses the palate - not rolls with cucumber and avocado and other crap in them. As a result, we don't eat sushi that much, because it ends up being expensive. Although that's probably self-perpetuating as, by the time we finally eat sushi, we crave the good stuff (at least I do). We've tried a couple places around Astoria/Long Island City, but they've disappointed me. The ones we've tried in Manhattan have been good, but expensive. I'll review anyway.
Several months ago we tried Nada Sushi, on 50th between Lexington and 3rd Ave (just a block from Gyu-Kaku Midtown). We went for lunch and had some sort of set that included Miso soup and salad. Something about the salad was very refreshing and tasty. We also had a starter of negimaki - scallions rolled in grilled beef. Savory little morsels that exceeded my expectations. The sushi of course was excellent; the hamachi (yellowtail - my favourite) melted in the mouth. Most of the clientele was Japanese if I remember correctly, and the atmosphere was quiet and subdued. Pleasant for a lunch date. However, being a lunch in midtown, it came out to about $60. (We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant across the street from Gyu-Kaku a couple weeks ago, and that was also about $60, so I gather that's normal for a Midtown lunch.) Still, I have a fondness for the place, and would definitely go back.
When J, my sister's fiance, was in town for an interview in the winter, we joined him, his sister, and cousin for dinner at a place downtown called Yama, 17th St and Irving Pl. Clearly a popular spot, they don't seat until your whole party is there. And once we were, we still had to wait. The restaurant was a bit cramped; we squeezed into a table in the corner. This is the place that J and his family always go to when in the City, and he urged us to have the spicy tuna te-maki (hand roll). It was fun; they certainly have "creative sushi" down at Yama. We mostly had rolls that night, which were tasty, but not my favourite - particularly if they contain avocado. We had a discussion about how avocado affects sushi. J's cousin (I believe it was) understood how I felt. Not only do I dislike it, but I feel the texture and taste of avocado, which is soft and creamy and bland, detracts from the experience of the fish. In the end, I felt Yama was good enough, but rather overrated, particularly considering the wait and space.
Last night, after the disappointment of the day, B and I trekked out to Hasaki in the East Village, on 9th between 2nd & 3rd Aves. A Japanese coworker and friend of mine had recommended it and well, of course I'm going to trust a young-Japanese-man-on-a-similar-budget's judgment. The reviews online all said it was a great value for lunch... too bad we were going for dinner. They also remarked that the sushi wasn't very "creative," which I ignored, since I couldn't care less, as long as the fish is good. When we got there (after 9:30pm) they were only seating at the sushi bar, which of course was no big deal. We each had Mura (a potato shochu) on the rocks and examined the menu. The days' specials were a little too elaborate and exotic for my tastes. I, as always, really just wanted nigiri. There was a 16-piece sushi set, with two set rolls plus a roll of our choice. But since I didn't really want rolls and would rather save the stomach space for additional nigiri, we ordered two Sushi Eights - 8-pieces plus one Tekka maki (tuna roll) - for $4 less. Not being terribly familiar with sushi bar etiquette, I shyly addressed the chef standing near us.
--注文していいですか？[May I order?]
--いいです。[Yes, fine.]
I pointed to "Sushi Eight" and said 二つ下さい [two please]. He then pointed out the 16-piece set, to which I replied,
--でも、巻きがあまり好きじゃないんですから．．．[I don't really like rolls that much, so...]
He smiled and nodded and asked if we'd rather start with Miso soup or salad. So Miso soup arrived, which I told B to drink without a spoon (until we got to the very bottom, and then I didn't want to be vulgar), and we watched the chef make our pretty plates of sushi.
The first one I tried was the Salmon Roe - as I've never been a big fan of Roe, I figured I'd start with it and finish with my favourites (hamachi, hirame). BUT
the Roe was really surprisingly good! The hamachi and hirame were okay, not as good as I'd remembered at Nada Sushi. And I decided Unagi nigiri had dropped in my ratings. I think I prefer it as unagi-don or similar. It's too heavy and sweet a flavour for sushi. After they cleared away our plates, I again asked the chef for a recommendation. He pointed to the specials, which I wasn't interested in. As the Salmon Roe had been so good, I asked which of the four Roe (Salmon, Spicy Cod, Flying Fish, and something else) he recommended. Salmon, he said immediately. So we ordered an additional two Salmon Roe and two Aji (Horse Mackerel). It must just be the season, because they were both very very good.
The bill in the end was $80. We left $16 for the server and $4 for the chef, so a total of $100 for a satisfying sushi dinner. I feel guilty for spending so much everytime I go out for sushi. What we really need to find is a secret, local, cheap, quality place.
I've been craving chocolate lately, so after dinner we went in search of a molten-middle chocolate cake. We found something close enough at Pizzeria Uno just a block away and went home happily in food coma.
...Until a couple hours later when I realized that raw fish and fudge don't exactly complement each other. Nothing Pepto-bismol couldn't handle. ;-)
So instead B and I went out for sushi. This is a task these days, as we both love sushi, but I've become very picky about it. B will eat pretty much anything - rolls, cheap nigiri, whatever. My feeling is if I'm expecting sushi, I expect good sushi, and if I'm going to pay money, I want nigiri or sashimi, attractively cut fresh fish that caresses the palate - not rolls with cucumber and avocado and other crap in them. As a result, we don't eat sushi that much, because it ends up being expensive. Although that's probably self-perpetuating as, by the time we finally eat sushi, we crave the good stuff (at least I do). We've tried a couple places around Astoria/Long Island City, but they've disappointed me. The ones we've tried in Manhattan have been good, but expensive. I'll review anyway.
Several months ago we tried Nada Sushi, on 50th between Lexington and 3rd Ave (just a block from Gyu-Kaku Midtown). We went for lunch and had some sort of set that included Miso soup and salad. Something about the salad was very refreshing and tasty. We also had a starter of negimaki - scallions rolled in grilled beef. Savory little morsels that exceeded my expectations. The sushi of course was excellent; the hamachi (yellowtail - my favourite) melted in the mouth. Most of the clientele was Japanese if I remember correctly, and the atmosphere was quiet and subdued. Pleasant for a lunch date. However, being a lunch in midtown, it came out to about $60. (We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant across the street from Gyu-Kaku a couple weeks ago, and that was also about $60, so I gather that's normal for a Midtown lunch.) Still, I have a fondness for the place, and would definitely go back.
When J, my sister's fiance, was in town for an interview in the winter, we joined him, his sister, and cousin for dinner at a place downtown called Yama, 17th St and Irving Pl. Clearly a popular spot, they don't seat until your whole party is there. And once we were, we still had to wait. The restaurant was a bit cramped; we squeezed into a table in the corner. This is the place that J and his family always go to when in the City, and he urged us to have the spicy tuna te-maki (hand roll). It was fun; they certainly have "creative sushi" down at Yama. We mostly had rolls that night, which were tasty, but not my favourite - particularly if they contain avocado. We had a discussion about how avocado affects sushi. J's cousin (I believe it was) understood how I felt. Not only do I dislike it, but I feel the texture and taste of avocado, which is soft and creamy and bland, detracts from the experience of the fish. In the end, I felt Yama was good enough, but rather overrated, particularly considering the wait and space.
Last night, after the disappointment of the day, B and I trekked out to Hasaki in the East Village, on 9th between 2nd & 3rd Aves. A Japanese coworker and friend of mine had recommended it and well, of course I'm going to trust a young-Japanese-man-on-a-similar-budget's judgment. The reviews online all said it was a great value for lunch... too bad we were going for dinner. They also remarked that the sushi wasn't very "creative," which I ignored, since I couldn't care less, as long as the fish is good. When we got there (after 9:30pm) they were only seating at the sushi bar, which of course was no big deal. We each had Mura (a potato shochu) on the rocks and examined the menu. The days' specials were a little too elaborate and exotic for my tastes. I, as always, really just wanted nigiri. There was a 16-piece sushi set, with two set rolls plus a roll of our choice. But since I didn't really want rolls and would rather save the stomach space for additional nigiri, we ordered two Sushi Eights - 8-pieces plus one Tekka maki (tuna roll) - for $4 less. Not being terribly familiar with sushi bar etiquette, I shyly addressed the chef standing near us.
--注文していいですか？[May I order?]
--いいです。[Yes, fine.]
I pointed to "Sushi Eight" and said 二つ下さい [two please]. He then pointed out the 16-piece set, to which I replied,
--でも、巻きがあまり好きじゃないんですから．．．[I don't really like rolls that much, so...]
He smiled and nodded and asked if we'd rather start with Miso soup or salad. So Miso soup arrived, which I told B to drink without a spoon (until we got to the very bottom, and then I didn't want to be vulgar), and we watched the chef make our pretty plates of sushi.
The first one I tried was the Salmon Roe - as I've never been a big fan of Roe, I figured I'd start with it and finish with my favourites (hamachi, hirame). BUT
the Roe was really surprisingly good! The hamachi and hirame were okay, not as good as I'd remembered at Nada Sushi. And I decided Unagi nigiri had dropped in my ratings. I think I prefer it as unagi-don or similar. It's too heavy and sweet a flavour for sushi. After they cleared away our plates, I again asked the chef for a recommendation. He pointed to the specials, which I wasn't interested in. As the Salmon Roe had been so good, I asked which of the four Roe (Salmon, Spicy Cod, Flying Fish, and something else) he recommended. Salmon, he said immediately. So we ordered an additional two Salmon Roe and two Aji (Horse Mackerel). It must just be the season, because they were both very very good.
The bill in the end was $80. We left $16 for the server and $4 for the chef, so a total of $100 for a satisfying sushi dinner. I feel guilty for spending so much everytime I go out for sushi. What we really need to find is a secret, local, cheap, quality place.
I've been craving chocolate lately, so after dinner we went in search of a molten-middle chocolate cake. We found something close enough at Pizzeria Uno just a block away and went home happily in food coma.
...Until a couple hours later when I realized that raw fish and fudge don't exactly complement each other. Nothing Pepto-bismol couldn't handle. ;-)
posted by Bibhatsu at 13:09
1 Comments:
so, i lost my taste for sushi while pregnant. in my earliest weeks we were in mexico with the family at an all-inclusive resort. it had a sushi place, and, well, hot mexican sushi place + 1st trimester nauseated pregnant woman do not mix. i've had an aversion ever since.
that said, there's a restaurant not a mile from my house called uchi, and it is known to be phenomenal sushi. and right across the street is the s. lamar alamo drafthouse movie theater, which has the best molten chocolate cake i've ever had (and i've had a lot).
so. come to austin with that b of yours, and come eat food. and then crash on arden's futon. c'mon...
alternately, we could just, like, hang out in alaska or something.
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