Japanese – Page 2 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Robataya

231 East 9th Street between Second and Third Avenues
212/979.9674
$135 for two, with a drink, without tip
♥ ♥

Clair and I didn’t have reservations at Robataya when we walked in so we missed out on the whole scene up front where you point at the produce you like and the robed guys sitting on their shins grill them for you. We ended up sitting in the back with all of the Japanese salarymen where we enjoyed our food sans the show.

I haven’t flinched at a bill in a very long time and boy, did I flinch when I got this one. We ate well, but things added up quickly that we lost track of all the $11 grilled unis sliding down our throats. A six-piece sashimi dish of tuna, salmon and sea urchin was $35. Grilled vegetables of okra, enoki mushrooms and shishito peppers ranged from $5 to $8 per plate. The kamameshi, or rice cooked in an earthenware pot, included small fish with black dots as eyes served two and cost $15. Two pieces of Aussie Kobe beef fillets cost $9.

Everything was delicious and the service was warm and attentive, but man, did it have to cost that much?

Related post/s:
Inakaya is also a robatayaki

Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill

308 West 58th Street off Columbus Circle
212/397.0404
$170 for two, with three beers, with tip
♥ ♥

I was so glad to hear when Blue Ribbon opened their new space in the upper west side. I don’t have to go to the east side for sushi! I don’t have to go downtown for Blue Ribbon! Right across the street from the Eighth Avenue entrance of the Time Warner Center, this new location is the most convenient for me coming from home or from a movie in Lincoln Center. It’s exactly what we did last week after watching Dave Eggers’ movie, Away We Go. The rain let up and we walked down eight blocks from 66th Street.

We opted for the sushi bar when the maitre d’ let us in past the bar. Minus the Brooklyn branch, this Blue Ribbon is actually the most spacious. It looked like any other restaurant situated in the floor level of a hotel and it definitely strays away from Blue Ribbon’s more serene setup. Of course, every Blue Ribbon gets loud and this uptown branch is no different, but the noise is spread out because of the high ceilings and wide dining room.

We nursed our Sapporos and Kirin Lights while we enjoyed several small plates with the ubiquitous bone marrow. The salad of sautéed wild mushrooms bathed in tamari butter and was very fragrant; same with the simple mushroom broth that calmed my stomach. An appetizer of octopus was fresh and tender and a half dozen Canadian oysters drizzled with a ponzu-like sauce were deliciously tarty. I don’t think I’ve ever had wild Alaskan salmon as sushi before–they were really fresh and buttery here. The uni was silky and rich while the roe with quail egg was expectedly light and crisp.

It might have moved uptown, but the prices are up to par with its counterparts downtown. At Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill, it’s impossible to spend less than $80 a person, but you’d be surprised at how full the place was on a rainy Friday night.

Tsuki

1410 First Avenue between 74th and 75th Streets
212/517.6860
$105 for two, with drinks, with tip
♥ ♥

I have to be honest with you here: I’m not one hundred per cent sure I was at Tsuki. I’m pretty sure it was Tsuki because it’s one of the restaurants I have noted on my iPhone, but I have so many pending reviews I think I might have some of them mixed up. It wasn’t that the food was forgettable–as far as omakase sushi goes that won’t break the bank, the selection was pretty fresh and pretty good. There was nothing stunning about the interior because there was hardly any decor, and really, only this photo survived that night:

I’m a little embarrassed that I’m showing my age here, but I’ve racked my brain and I still can’t confirm that it’s Tsuki I’m supposed to be reviewing. Help me out and I’ll edit later, but let me continue and tell you about the place anyway.

We walked in around 930pm on a weeknight. Everyone else decided to stay indoors because it was cold out, but we were hungry after attending a retail store party with free sparkling wine. There were already two couples and a single diner sitting at the short bar, and because we always prefer to sit by the chef, we waited for our turn to sit there. Everyone left at the same time and we were able to move after only ten minutes. For the rest of the night, there were only three people with us inside: the chef, who also doubled as the dishwasher; the waitress, who could have been the chef’s wife and who also answered the phone; and a white guy in chef’s whites who returned from a food delivery but settled behind the bar after he had removed his coat.

It certainly looked like a family business with, perhaps, the white guy as an apprentice, but they seemed like they needed an extra hand or two to make things run smoothly. We ordered our sushi piece by piece from the chef because he looked like he couldn’t handle more than two orders at once. He fulfilled orders that were called in and he ran back and forth from the kitchen to get clean serving plates. Meanwhile, the waitress picked up the phone, cleared the tables and packed deliveries while also refilling our water glasses.

It took us two hours to go through a dozen sushi pieces each but we killed time by drinking Sapporo and cold sake. Although some of them fell apart while I tried to eat them, the restaurant had a varied selection that included hokigai, or red clam. The mackerel was great and the uni was fresh. After a while, eating there felt like we were in the Japanese couple’s dining room: we waited to be served; they waited for our feedback. We spoke in hushed tones and bowed every time plates were exchanged. We were comfortable and an inconvenience at the same time, staying after every guest had already left. I’m not sure if the frail couple reminded me of my parents but I felt very melancholy the whole time I was there; watching them work so hard to keep the night, and their business, alive. Sadness and sushi don’t make a good combination and maybe that’s why I’ve blocked the restaurant name out of my head.

Mr. Jones Yakitori

243 East 14th Street between Third and Second Avenues
212/253.7670
$222 for four, with drinks, with tip
♥

Update, 2009: My Deathwatch prediction came true after only a month.

Oy, I’m putting Mr. Jones Yakitori on a Deathwatch. I don’t know why anyone would open a yakitori restaurant a few blocks away from St. Marks Place where yakitori joints are a dime a dozen. I immediately looked around for the grill when I went in, but I only saw booths for group diners. Upon entering, you immediately realized it’s that type of place. The decor reminded me of some of the worst Thai places in the city where mod is the predominant theme and the restaurant converts into a club come the weekend. I just know that I regret paying over $200 for a mediocre dinner for four. Good thing my companions, two of whom were Japanese, had a good sense of humor.

The foie gras inside the meatballs were barely noticeable. The bowl of rice cooked in butter and truffle oil was, admittedly, an unnecessary selection but it was even more ridiculous that they charged $9 for it. The yakitori pieces that would have cost us $3 apiece elsewhere were $5, while a pair of chicken ones came in for $7. Everything added up quickly and we accumulated a pretty long list of small bites. If we brought our boys with us, they would have complained at how hungry they still were after all that expense. Heck, I wanted a slice of pizza on my way home! (If you know my relationship with pizza, you would know that that’s saying a lot.)

The waitstaff were pretty, and though they were attentive, none of them looked like they appreciated Japanese food. I wouldn’t be asking them the difference between kobe and wagyu beef anytime soon. But then again, they might not be around even if I wanted to.

Kyo-ya

94 East 7th Street between First and Avenue A
212/982.4140
$130 for two, with drinks, with tip
♥ ♥

I’d like to think that kaiseki is Japan’s answer to Spain’s tapas if only a pincho is served in bejeweled bread held together by a hand-carved toothpick. The most basic types of food need to go a long way in a kaiseki meal, so presentation is key to make them more appealing. For the Japanese, it’s an aesthetic experience.

I remember my first meal at Morimoto where a selection of fine sashimi was served on a large porcelain square container. The tub was so ridiculously big that it took attention away from the fish. Sometimes, you only need the most humble utensil to appreciate a skillfully-executed dish, no? At Kyo-ya, however, the attention to both food and presentation are pretty much equal: both are of very high quality. A very simple mackerel roll was beautifully presented with edible flower petals, while the uni came on top of a miniature bale of hay. The fish was served on a small mat woven together with a soft piece of thread while a twig of what looked like mistletoe stuck out of the crushed ice. Even the wasabi was on onion-skin paper I’ve only seen used for truffles. The accessories seem unnecessary, but Kyo-ya makes them so delicately that they don’t come off cheesy. Each order, even our very simple udon soup and plate of grilled sardines, came out looking like very special gifts.