hoodi n pooh's ultimate nyc sushi review

Momoya

2006-12-27T12:39:00.001-05:00

written by: hoodi

date visited: tuesday, December 26, 2006

address: 185 7th avenue at 21st st

web: they could use one to draw more crowds

phone: 212.989.4466

ordered: miso black cod $10, red snapper carpaccio $11, toro tartar $9, nakamura roll $12, momoya spicy tuna roll $12, white tuna sushi $3, aji sushi $4, and tempura hot udon $13.

simple, sleek, and trés chic were our first impressions upon entering momoya. pooh and i were in the chelsea area this evening for a prior appointment, so we stuck around to dine. momoya’s interior was very streamlined and made great use of space. they even had their bathrooms well hidden down underneath their mini bar display. tables were lined up with just the right spacing in between - not too squish like other small places. pooh commented how even the lighting created the perfect ambiance and he wanted a room just like it someday in our home (granted we move out to the suburbs first :) the front of the restaurant had sliding garage doors with glass see through panels. we imagine that when the weather is warm enough, momoya would slide these doors up to create the sidewalk restaurant experience for their dining guests (most restaurants we've seen have doors that swing out or to the sides, so this was quite cool to us!).

our waiter served us efficiently and quickly. first came our appetizers, they were so beautifully plated! toro tartar was scrumptious with fatty tuna that just melted in your mouth! the ikura (salmon eggs), vinegarette, and wasabi mixture were in perfect harmony to give it just the right kick! it opened up our tummies and made us crave for more! after a few bites though, the tartar was a bit on the salty side. the red snapper carpaccio was submerged in a soy vinegarette topped with crunchy onion strips - the fish was just slighty chilled and so, so very fresh! pooh loved the miso black cod and stated that it was almost like morimoto's version of the miso chilean sea bass. momoya's cod was cooked to perfection, so soft and delicate, just the right amount of miso for taste, and an awesome sauteed spinach and mashed pumpkin to make the miso black cod a definite dish just to return to momoya! i had a headache for an hour prior to dining, but after eating these appetizers, my headache was gone! (seriously though, pooh said i was probably low on sugar as i had not eaten for about 7 hours. so, no, momoya's appetizers did not cure my headache, but it greatly improved it! :)

our rolls and pooh's sushi pieces came on one plate. again, very nicely plated and very colorful too. the nakamura roll consisted of yellowtail and cucumber on the inside, salmon or tuna on top, then scallop tartar to topped off the roll. needless to say, it was delicious! whatever the three sushi chefs did to the scallop and yellowtail (i could see that some seasoning/mixture was added to them), it was a great combination. fish was again very fresh and just melts in your mouth. the momoya spicy tuna roll was wrapped with seared yellowtail topped with a red sauce (maybe plum sauce?) and almond slices. whoever thought of this creation had great imagination! a roll that i could eat again and again! pooh liked the nakamura better though. pooh said his aji (horse mackerel) and white tuna sushi were very good too.

as i said before, our tummies were opened up, so even though the rolls were good sized for its price, we wanted more! we decided to order the tempura udon to see how their tempura was made and also to fill our hungry-for-more tummies. the tempura was flowery, the taste was aromatic, what can i say, even the noodles were “q” (meaning al dente). there was plenty of tempura (2 shrimps, 4 vegetables) and lots of different mushrooms (3 kinds!), submerged in a very inviting and warm broth! the broth was a bit on the sweet side, but that didn't stop pooh or i from gobbling all of it up even to the last drop! towards the end of our meal, many new guests were seated next to us. i definitely noticed the gorgeously handsome men, two of them sitting next to us must have been models! too bad though, they may all be unavailable to me, but maybe they'll go for pooh! :P do i need to say more??? get yourself to momoya and you'll be in for a scrumptious meal!!!

pros: super fresh fish, trendy interior

cons: had to ask for tea refills more than once

coolness: eye candy all around, sliding garage doors that swing up during warm weather days

would we return? absolutely, i almost wish we lived closer to the chelsea area just to eat there more often!

Tsuki

2006-12-20T11:23:00.000-05:00

written by: hoodi

date visited: monday, December 18, 2006

address: 1410 first avenue bet 74th & 75th st

web: they might consider one

phone: 212.517.6860

ordered: tempura appetizer $8.5, seared toro w/sesame sauce $12.95, 3 color tartar $8.95, scallop w/spicy sauce $4.5, seared scallop w/yuzu kosho sauce $4.5, scallop w/green seaweed salad $4.5, spicy scallop roll $7.95, yellowtail volcano roll $10.95, salmon dragon roll $12.95, and lobster tempura roll $13.5

pooh had a spontaneous idea! geez, that’s a new one for him ;) actually, stitch, pooh’s cousin, asked if we wanted to have sushi b/c he was hungry for some. of course, we were happy to indulge with him. a reader on our blog had suggested a restaurant on the ues. so, we ventured that way. however, when stitch and pooh arrived first to check it out, it was a little “restrictive” as pooh put it. so, we walked uptown on 1st ave to see if we could locate another restaurant. thus, we came upon tsuki which appealed to us b/c of its clean, yet simple décor.

as we settled into our seats, we noticed that both sushi chefs were speaking japanese and so was the waitress. cranes pictures were decorated throughout and there was even tatami lamps on top of us. we immediately thought the place was “authentic!” this restaurant’s menu had very little hot entrees, lots of appetizers, sushi sashimi a la carte, rolls, and sushi entrees. this seemed very japanese to us! the 3 color tartar was chopped tuna, salmon, and yellowtail all separate with their own special sauces. presentation was simple, yet elegant. each fish of the tartar was very fresh, melted in our mouths. i thought the sauce in the tuna was the best, it was more tangy and opened up my taste buds! the tempura had only two shrimp, but lots of veggies. it was very aromatic, flower was just right, and very crispy, just the way we like it! the taste was just scrumptious with the warm tempura sauce! pooh was very excited for the seared toro due to the fact that tuna was very fresh from the 3 color tartar. however, after seeing it, he said, “oh, i’m disappointed” b/c the toro was obviously over seared! it was way over cooked! the sesame sauce was ok, nothing spectacular about it.

our volcano roll came and it certainly looked like a volcano with molten lava scattered around it. it was spicy yellowtail, topped with tempura flakes, tobiko and salmon roe scattered about it. again, the tempura flakes was very tasty and thus it complimented the roll very well. stitch and pooh both said that they could still taste the yellowtail despite all the flavorful flakes which indicates that the fish is very fresh that it retained its flavor despite all other flavors around it. the salmon dragon had spicy salmon on the inside, avocado on top, and salmon roe sprinkled on top. the ingredients were well paired and again brought the flavor of the fish, in this case, salmon. we thought the sushi chefs did a great job of bringing out the flavor the fish in each of the different rolls. only the lobster tempura roll was quite plain, just fried lobster on the inside rolled up with nori and rice. stitch wondered aloud, “is lobster tempura really a japanese dish?” pooh and i scratched our heads and shrugged our shoulders.

the highlight of the evening’s meal was the SCALLOP! we tried three different kinds of scallop sushi a la carte as they offered them in their special hand-written menu (btw, they had a lot of special hand-written menu items). pooh had the spicy scallop, stitch had the seared scallop, and i had the one with green seaweed salad on it. one word, SWWWEEEEEET! the scallop was plump, juicy, very sweet, and had just the right bounciness for its texture. we all savored our scallop sushi very much! so much so, pooh and stitch wanted to get the spicy scallop roll. the scallop on the roll was very good too. one little thing though, portion sizes for all the rolls were very small. that’s why we had to order another roll, but even then, i don’t think stitch and pooh were full after eating the scallop roll. overall impression, tsuki had very fresh fish, i’ll give them that!

oh, one great tactic another table pulled on the restaurant that pooh noticed: a lady complained that she did not order “4 orders” of something, but that she wanted only “4 pieces” of it (which means only 2 orders). in any case, the waitress took it back to the sushi chef, but of course, they just said that the extra orders were on the house. and of course, the lady gobbled up all the extra pieces! pooh kept looking to see if she would finish b/c he was very tempted to ask if she didn’t want the extra sushi pieces, he was going to offer to eat it for half price even! yup, the rolls really had very small portions! don’t’ go to tsuki if you’re super hungry.

pros: fresh fish, simple yet inviting atmosphere

cons: very small portion sizes for rolls

coolness: cranes for decoration and entire staff was japanese-speaking

would we return? pooh’s quote, “i will return for the scallops!” as for me, if i was around the ues, i wouldn’t mind dining at tsuki again.

Lenge

2006-12-15T09:52:00.000-05:00

written by: pooh

date visited: tuesday, 12/12/06

address: 200 columbus ave, @ w 69th st

web: can't find one

phone: 212-799-1601

ordered: tempura $9.50, chirashi deluxe $21, spicy yellowtail roll $6, white tuna with salmon roe roll $6.50

on tuesday hoodi wanted to go see "happy feet" in imax (cute movie btw), so we were in the lincoln square neighborhood and we came upon lenge. from the outside, lenge doesn't look attractive at all, and based on the name, you couldn't really tell it was a sushi restaurant until you see the "sushi" under the name. we sat in what i call the "zoo" section, which basically is all glass and designed to let pedestrians see what people are eating. most restaurants probably have a section like this. when you're part of the zoo, you're the animal on display. mow!

lenge's menu was somewhat plain, and did not have any special rolls. there was a "chef's special" section in the front, but the dishes looked like they've been there forever and are probably part of the regular menu. their prices were somewhat on the expensive side; i guess given the area, they need to have a higher premium to cover the rent. but unfortunately the higher premium did not turn into higher quality (for the most part). the tempura appetizer we got had three shrimps and couple of pieces of vegetables. the shrimps were fried to excellent golden texture with nice "flowers", and the batter had a very sweet aroma. hoodi noticed the tempura sauce was warm, which is not the norm, but very much welcomed. next came the chirashi. hoodi's first thoughts were "are you sure this is the deluxe?" well she had every right to ask. for $21, we only got 3 tuna, 2 yellowtail, 1 salmon, 1 white tuna, 1 fake crab stick, 1 egg, salmon and flying fish roe. don't let the picture fool you, the pieces were small. we can't say the fishes weren't fresh, but they weren't melting in our mouths either. the rice wasn't cooked properly either. maybe it's a chef's choice to cook the rice this way, but we felt the rice was too wet and sticky, mushed together to the point where you almost can't distinguish the grains. the rolls were ok and nothing spectacular. the spicy yellowtail did have an unusual spiciness and not the usual red pepper taste; again i feel is a chef's choice to use a different spicy sauce.

overall, a very flat experience. i feel this restaurant exists just for the sake of it, meaning, for every neighborhood there has to be a japanese place and this one is willing to pay the higher rent. there's not much competition around them to drive them to be better. oh well, their loss, not ours.

pros: good tempura

cons: pricey, serving size not worthy of price

coolness: they have tatami rooms?

would we return? if we were in the mood to shell out $21 for chirashi...hell no!

Twist

2006-12-07T11:44:00.000-05:00

written by: pooh

date visited: tuesday, 12/5/06

address: 66 madison ave, btw e 27th & 28th st

web: http://www.sushitwist.com

phone: 212-213-2299

ordered: shumai twist $8, spicy tuna tartar $12, dancing eel roll $15, tokyo triangle roll $15

we were in the neighborhood checking out a wedding reception place, so we wondered upon twist. yes, hoodi and i are getting married! it's taken a while, but we're getting there. ok, back to twist. first impression felt like i was walking into a lounge, not a restaurant. they have a nice bar (alcohol) with blue neon lights right at the entrance. behind the bar are some fancy asian paintings of scantily clothed women; quite interesting. playing in the background was some bass-heavy, new age, fusion music, typical of an asian fusion restaurant nowadays. they offered two levels of seating area; we chose to sit at the lower level. a rather weird scene caught my eyes: the corner leading to the back kitchen looked like a storage area, which to me is poor feng shui. it's just weird that the whole restaurant is nicely decorated, yet they leave one corner stacked with boxes and sodas and piles of junk. not very pretty.

once i opened the menu, i was immediately disappointed. the restaurant's cool, fusion atmosphere had kinda built me up to anticipate cool and new-age dishes. however, the menu was as plain as jane can be. there was nothing spectacular. i was hoping to get a "season specials" menu or find a "chef's special" section, but nope, none of that. i said to hoodi, "you'd think they invest so much in decorating the place they'd also invest in being more creative with the menu." after i finished browsing, i also came to the conclusion that this restaurant has a fetish for spicy tuna. yep, almost half the special rolls had spicy tuna as its ingredient.

our appetizers, the shumai twist and spicy tuna tartar, came first. we were both very pleased with the presentation, goes to show the chefs made extra efforts to make the dishes as enticing as possible. however, that's really all the positives that could be said for the shumai twist. to me, this was nothing but a rip-off. it's supposed to be three different flavors of shumai: pork, shrimp, and vegetable. for $8 i expected to get higher end stuff, instead, they brought out the shumai you can buy in flushing or chinatown. all they did was either steam or microwave them. and what was up with the egg roll? is this a japanese place or chinese restaurant? if there was any salvation it was the sauce, which was sweet, yet not overly flavorful. the spicy tuna tartar looked almost like canned catfood dressed up with tobiko and tempura crunch, with a quail egg in the middle. i personally thought it was a bit dry (until you mix in the quail egg) and that the spicy sauce was too spicy. hoodi liked it though. the tobiko and the tempura crunch gave it good texture and made the chewing enjoyable.

next came our rolls. the dancing eel roll has a a combo that i like: shrimp tempura with eel. my first bite was very enjoyable. the shrimp tempura definitely had good crunchy texture along with very good aroma. it certainly helped bring out the flavor of the eel. the tobiko on top added more crunchiness to the taste. hoodi noted that the rice used was just right: chewy, sticky but not too sticky, and definitely not dry. however, subsequent tasting of the roll got worse, piece by piece. the later pieces turned out to be very dry, which was attributed by an overly-fried shrimp tempura. somewhat of a disappointment to a promising roll. the tokyo triangle roll was hoodi's pick and consisted of tuna, salmon, yellowtail, squid, octopus, and scallops. to pull off this kind of roll, the fishes had to be fresh, otherwise it would foul up everything else. well, they pulled it off. not only were we able to taste each distinguished ingredient, but we were also able to enjoy the freshness. the spicy sauce helped open up the palate even more so we could enjoy the taste. the only minor complaint i had about this roll was that it took too long to chew on the octopus, which by the end was the only ingredient left. i think the octopus could've been left out because all the other fishes were down the throat in a couple of seconds.

overall, this was an ok experience. twist did not intrigue me at all. nothing jumped out at me, but i don't really have any complaints about it either. i guess this was just an indifferent experience for me. :p

pros: cool decor, large serving size for rolls

cons: a bit pricey, lackluster menu, $4 for two green teas

coolness: picture of an asian mona lisa with man hands

would we return? i wouldn't, hoodi would if she was in the area again

Roppongi

2006-11-29T17:44:00.000-05:00

written by: hoodi

date visited: tuesday, november 28, 2006

address: 434 amsterdam avenue @ w 81st st

web: www.ropponginyc.com (domain is for sale?)

phone: 212.362.8182

ordered: rock shrimp tempura appetizer $8, scallop dynamite $8, yellowtail tartar $12, flooded roll $14, hot white dragon roll $15, and one order amaebi sushi $4

by first impression, the decor was very pretty and elegant. lighting was soft and sets the mood for a romantic couple or friendly get together. pooh noticed that there was a fat frog at the corner of restaurant which we believe is a sign of prosperity - a couple could dine at the same table as the fat frog :) i thought the ceiling resembled the details of a colorful rice paper umbrella which adds a traditional japanese ambiance to the restaurant. there were many waitresses who were eager to serve us and we were seated right away.

the rock shrimp tempura was perfectly crispy on the outside yet retained the inside shrimps' softness to make a mouth-watering dish! pooh really liked this appetizer! he also looooovvvvvvveeeeeedddddd the scallop dynamite, which was a combination of baked scallops and mushrooms with a mayo vinaigrette sauce topped with red tobiko - deliciously prepared in a large scallop clam shell. the yellowtail tartar was a bit disappointing because there was no vinaigrette sauce to give the tartar the tangy taste we were seeking. we had to squeeze lots of lemon juice (not even included with the tartar, but taken from the other appetizers we had ordered) to give the dish some zing. also, the yellowtail in the tartar was not so fresh. however, presentation of all the appetizers were pleasing to the eyes. oh, one more thing which was a bit funny to report... as we were eating our appetizers, the server brought an order of tempura ice cream. she placed the dish particularly in front of me and stated that a lady from another table sent it because the lady thought I looked "special." it was quite surprising for me and i thanked her. she stated, "don't thank me, your look is special, enjoy." i've never had anyone sent me a dish at a restaurant because i looked "special" to them - it was more flattering given that it came from another woman! (btw, the lady told her male counterpart that the server should have given me the tempura ice cream after i had finished my meal, it was a dessert dish that the lady had ordered for me. so, the server was not very cognizant of this little detail.)

our rolls and sushi came way after the HUGE appetizer dishes were taken away. the flooded roll had crab meat, eel, shrimp wrapped in nori and then fried. it was topped with spicy tuna and drizzled with teriyaki and mayo sauce. the taste was mediocre. pooh said the sushi chefs did not pair the sauces well for this roll. it was at first spicy, then sweet and then just nothing. it did not ignite our taste buds to want more of it after every bite. we thought it was just ok. to their credit though, whoever did the frying did a great job with controlling the crunch of the batter and retaining the juices of the roll. the hot white dragon roll was white tuna toro on the inside topped with seared yellowtail and drizzled with a miso sauce. again, pooh and i thought the sauce was not paired very well. the roll was not inviting us to gobble it all up immediately. it did not leave a yearning for MORE, but just a "huh, it's ok in taste" type of reaction. in other words, we felt roppongi could have done better on their sauces. the rolls had a good combination of ingredients, but somehow the chefs did not do a good job of enhancing the combinations. we couldn't really tell if the fishes in the rolls were fresh or not, we couldn't get a sense of it. however, pooh said his amaebi was sweet and it was a big piece too!

pros: nice decor, ambiance, good attentive service, some tasty appetizers!

cons: rolls took a long time to come, charge for green tea ($2)

coolness: fat frog bringing in prosperity

would we return? we would totally return for the rock shrimp and scallop dynamite appetizers, but we’re not crazy about the rolls, yet

East (Shabu Shabu East)

2006-11-21T14:37:00.000-05:00

written by: pooh

date visited: monday, 11/20/06

address: 253 w 55th st, btw 8th & broadway

web: how come they don't have one?

phone: 212-581-2372

ordered: kaki furai (fried oysters) $5, 1 piece white tuna sushi $2.25, salmon sashimi $6, 2 pieces salmon toro sushi $2.50, ama ebi (sweet shrimp) sashimi $8, scarock roll $9.50, eel yaki roll $10

we had a company volleyball game in the hell's kitchen area, so we decided to scavenge the area for a sushi place after the game. i used to live in the area, so i remembered there was an "east" japanese restaurant for some reason i never visited. this east is not to be confused with many other east restaurants in the city. this review is only for the one on w 55th st between 8th ave & broadway.

when we arrived, there were some people waiting outside either for seats or for take out. we didn't feel like waiting, so we asked to be seated at the sushi bar, which was a great move (to be explained later). the restaurant is shaped like a long rectangle, with booths and tables also available for shabu shabu. we were already impressed when we heard japanese being spoken amongst the service staff. the menu was equally impressive. they had a picture for pretty much every dish, as well as having them written in both english and japanese. this is when the word "AUTHENTIC" comes to mind. for us, being authentic is a huge plus!

as we were salivating over the menu, we discovered that mondays at this east was salmon special night! virtually all salmon dishes were available at a discounted price. we immediately went for salmon sashimi, which was 6 juicy pieces of salmon at only $6, and 1 order of salmon toro sushi, which was two pieces at only $2.50. i'm still wondering why i only ordered 1 order of the salmon toro... oh gosh, it was so juicy and fatty. yummy! honestly, the fishes themselves didn't look the freshest, but they still tasted great! we ordered kaki furai (fried oysters) instead of the usual tempura because hoodi didn't feel like too much fried stuff. this was another great bargain: 5 big juicy oysters for only $5. next came the ama ebi (sweet shrimp) sashimi, probably my favorite kind of sashimi. even though it was nicely presented and the shrimps themselves were glistening, the taste was really disappointing. you would think there'd be some sweetness in "sweet shrimp", but there weren't any. hoodi said she couldn't taste anything out of these shrimps. perhaps it's just not the season yet. we ordered 2 special rolls, the eel yaki roll and scarock roll. from the outside, the eel yaki looks like your usual eel with avocado roll. however, once you bite it, you'll be like "wow, this is a really interesting taste!" they basically spiced up the roll with a mild spicy sauce, and the rice was marinated in the same spicy sauce as well. you taste the usual teriyaki sauce that comes with eel, but the spiciness just makes you appreciate the sweet taste of the eel even more! the scarock roll was an asparagus roll wrapped in scallops. there was also a touch of tobiko. the scallops were dressed with some light teriyaki sauce, which i thought was perfect. biting into this roll was another intriguing experience. the scallops were fresh; you can tell because there was no stench and the texture was chewy yet firm. you can also distinguish the scallops' own sweetness versus the teriyaki sauce's sweetness. this is important because some restaurants will use stronger sauce to disguise older, unfresh fish, but this wasn't the case. the teriyaki sauce was really there to accommodate the asparagus, which was crisp and added a delightful crunch to the whole roll.

since we sat at the sushi bar, we got to witness one of the fastest and efficient sushi crews we've ever seen. there were only 3 sushi chefs, yet they were cranking out orders as if there were 6 chefs. and the presentation of the dishes were still quite fashionable with no signs of hurriedness at all. i made an observation which blew me away. the chef in front of us (all the way to the right in the pic) was cutting up some cucumbers for dressing; i noticed he quickly sliced up the cucumber with his left hand. i automatically thought he was a lefty, which to me is quite rare for a sushi chef. i then saw him grab a slab of tuna and sliced it up with his right hand! this dude is ambidextrous and he cuts with precision from either side! i've never seen that before...so glad we sat at the sushi bar and witnessed that. ichi ban!

overall, this was a great experience. it's been a while since we've been to a really authentic japanese place. nothing wrong with non-japanese owned sushi places, but there's just something extra special when you see the chefs and staff all speaking japanese. try this place out for yourself, especially on a monday, you'll definitely like it! :)

pros: authentic japanese food and staff, great price for salmon (monday's), attentive and efficient service

cons: not so fresh ama ebi, they charged $1 for tea

coolness: ambidextrous sushi chef, salmon mondays, and a karaoke bar "japa" upstairs

would we return? i'm thinking next monday i'm going to have 10 orders of the salmon toro and sing the night away!

Sushi Hana

2006-11-14T13:14:00.000-05:00

written by: pooh

date visited: monday, 11/13/06

address: 466 amsterdam ave, btw w 82nd & 83rd st

web: they should get one

phone: 212-874-0369

ordered: sashimi salad $12, yellowtail tartar with jalapeno $12, grilled scallops $8, shogun roll $9, caribbean roll $10, green tea creme brulee $7

i had a late game on the uws, so we decided to kill some time by reviewing a place in the area. this sushi hana is not to be confused with the one on the ues, nor should it be confused with the previously reviewed hana sushi. the first impression of the decor is that it's cool and trendy. you'll immediately notice that the bar is actually a boat, which is really cool. dangling from the ceiling were these stringy lights. hoodi noticed they carved out some holes in the brick wall and placed some wine in them as decoration, which was another creative design. there was one thing that i didn't see which bothered me a bit: the sushi bar was not in plain sight. i think it's a faux pas NOT to have your sushi bar out in the open view for your customers to see. this put a question mark in my head with regards to the freshness of the fish.

as usual, we looked to order special items. hoodi wasn't particularly hungry, so we bypassed the tempura appetizer and went with a roll that had shrimp tempura in it. the yellowtail tartar was fantastic. the presentation was iron-chef like, which certainly helped arouse the appetite. i really like how they mixed in masago and caviar, which gave a more crunchy taste. the ginger sauce gave a tangy taste and helped bring out the yellowtail's flavor, and the jalapeno was just right that it awakened the taste buds. the sashimi salad was your typical green leaf salad but dressed with slices of raw fish and vinaigrette. hoodi thought it was wonderful, i didn't think it was anything special. the fishes weren't bad, but not super fresh either. i ordered the grilled scallops because it was on the chef's special menu, so i had high expectations for it. THEY SUCKED. the scallops were old and overcooked. it took forever to chew on them, and they tasted like rubber. i was very disappointed with the scallops. the sauce for it was excellent, as well as the asparagus, which were fresh and crispy.

the caribbean roll consisted of spicy salmon wrapped with mango and minty leafs. i really liked this roll. the flavors of the salmon mixed well with mango, but were still distinct enough that you know what you're chewing on. i thought it was interesting that the spiciness of the salmon was jalapeno spicy, and not the typical tabasco sauce spiciness which is usually found in spicy tuna and spicy salmon rolls. the shogun roll was excellent too. it had eel with shrimp tempura, which is a favorite combo of mine. the shrimp tempura itself wasn't that flaky or flowery, but the texture wasn't too hard either and the taste was certainly there. it had a great aroma which mixed very well with the eel. after the main course we ordered the green tea creme brulee, which was another item on the special menu. again, the presentation was excellent. hoodi noticed this was a homemade item. this was a very well made creme brulee, it wasn't too airy nor was it too puffy, and you could really taste the green tea! i personally like the sugar top, which came out to be a bit bitter, which balanced out the rest so the whole dessert wasn't too sweet.

overall, we liked our experience here. however, this is a borderline returnable restaurant. i felt there were too many ambiguities for this place to be an absolute returnable place. the decor and the presentations of the dishes were very innovative and beautiful, yet some of its substances fell below standards. perhaps we'll try this on a different night to see if the scallops would be better.

pros: cool decor, beautiful presentations of dishes, creative rolls

cons: bad scallops, no open sushi bar

coolness: bar shaped like a boat, stringy lights

would we return? still debating...

Aoki

2006-11-06T10:29:00.000-05:00

written by: hoodi

date visited: saturday, november 4, 2006

address: 234 w. 48th street at broadway & 8th ave

web: they will have more traffic if they had one

phone: 212.956.2356

ordered: peach-tini $10, lyceetini $10, rock shrimp tempura $6.25, chilean seabass kushiyaki $7.75, fragrant shrimp wonton $4.75, super white tuna tataki $7.75, sashimi ceviche $13, drama & salamander rolls w/miso soup & salad $19.50 (fancy fans deal), and rainbow & gold medal rolls w/miso soup & salad $19.50 (fancy fans deal)

plooploo, my friend from college, had called to ask if we wanted to have dinner. she and her friend, esploo, was coming in from new jersey, so i decided to pick a place that was around midtown so that it was easy enough for all of us to meet up. i searched on citysearch.com and found aoki. first impressions when we arrived, great modern décor with a touch of rustic, traditional comfort. the lighting was a cool light blue, red, and green with bright red ceiling accents. it had a very comfortable feel with wooden beams on the ceiling and around the restaurant that really put us in a relaxed mood – very zen-like. there was also a feng shui waterfall wall that produced the rain effect. we all agreed the music was awesome too – mix of chinese, carribbean, indian, hip hop, and techno.

pooh and i shared the peachtini which was way over done with liquor and not enough peach flavor. plooploo had a great lyceetini which she kindly shared with us – yummy!. All the appetizers were so scrumptious and delightfully decorated! aoki’s chefs truly deserved the edible arts award! the rock shrimp tempura was prepared lightly fried, tossed with creamy spicy sauce on top of a bed of greens. it was so delicious and tasty! pooh said that he preferred the shrimps a little bit more crispier. the fragrant shrimp wonton just had the right amount of kick to bring out the sweet and spicy flavor of the chili vinaigrette dipping sauce. with perfect technique, the chilean seabass was deliciously tender and juicy, very lightly torched on the edges, drizzled with teriyaki sauce on a bed of greens. then, the super white tuna tataki was almost to die for! the tuna was so sweet, fresh, and aromatically seared to perfection – added with the sweet sourness of the vinaigrette sauce – OH! it was heaven to the palette! the tuna just melted in my mouth…i almost drooled all over as the table J the sashimi ceviche didn’t have too much fish in it, but had crab, shrimp, and mango that made it very tasty! as esploo put it, every appetizer was nicely lubricated with its own distinctive sauce that were very pleasing for the taste.

our fancy fans deal included choice of two fancy rolls with miso and salad. this deal was a great bargain for great sushi rolls! the portions were generous and the rolls were quite big. “drama” came with super white tuna, tempura eel, avocado, crunch wrapped with green soy paper. everyone agreed that it was just so yummy! we know it is a good roll when everyone started “grunting” (i.e. “yumh,” “oh yeah,” “nice”) after taking a bite. the salamander roll was prepared with shrimp tempura wrapped with spicy tuna and topped with king crab and caviar. pooh commented that the tempura was deliciously prepared with lots of tasty flower. needless to say, it was another mouth watering roll. getting the picture of the profusely drooling party of four? plooploo and esploo had the rainbow and gold medal rolls. the rainbow was crabstick, avocado, topped with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, and white fish – the fish on this roll was not so fresh though. the gold medal was tuna, white tuna, avocado, crunch, aioli wrapped with mango and topped with gold flakes. another very innovative roll that was just scrumptious! the sourness of the mango matched nicely with the sweetness of the tuna and white tuna fish. Oh yeah, the drool is still coming as i think about this great meal at aoki!

pros: great ambiance, awesome music, fusion appetizers, large portions, presentation so pretty you almost don’t want to eat it!

cons: wooden tables that wobble, almost causing some drink spills, inconsistent drink mixes

coolness: fancy fans deal for a great price, great giant green sumarai mural

would we return? it’s a keeper!

Mizu

2006-11-01T17:24:00.000-05:00

written by: hoodi

date visited: friday, october 28, 2006

address: 29 e. 20th street at broadway & park ave south

web: www.mizunyc.com

phone: you won’t be calling them anyway, but here it is 212.505.6688

ordered: shrimp tempura $7, green salad $3, spider roll $10, crystal roll $13, electric roll $13, the wild roll $12, and sashimi $11

what a horribly unpleasant and annoying dining experience we had at mizu! we had our sister-in-law all the way from san francisco to join us with our review this week and we had to pick this terrible restaurant! my sister-in-law (sil) and i were at century 21 department store, so pooh and i thought of trying this restaurant out since it was close by. first thing pooh noticed was that the lighting was too dimmed and the place felt cold and uninviting. there was a lot of wait staff, but no customers when we went in at 6:30pm, so the staff was just standing around, looking dumbfounded. it really did not create a friendly ambiance for customers. once our waitress came over, she literally threw the wet towelettes on our table, as if pissed off at something. i didn’t say anything about this to pooh or my sil, even though i noticed it. then, as we were eating, this same waitress was serving another couple close to our table and i noticed that she suddenly walked away from that table and pulled another waiter to a corner. she was clearly mouthing off something nasty about the table close to us, looking visibly upset, and telling the waiter to see what they wanted. her tone of voice with us and with the table close to use was just very irking and annoying. throughout the night, she never came to check if we needed more tea or water, we just had to keep asking the busboy for some more. to top this bad service off, when pooh paid the bill and gave a 12% tip, she had the nerve to ask, “was there anything wrong with the service?” and then proceeded to tell us that they normally get 18-20% tip for dinner and that pooh should leave at least 15% tip!!!! what kind of restaurant is this to ask for tip when they clearly did not meet the service standard?!?!?! ok, enough about this miserable waitress, on with the food review...

food wise, there wasn’t anything spectacular about it. granted, the shrimp tempura was good with lots of flower and very tasty batter. the dipping sauce was sweet, warm, and pleasant to the liking. but that was the extent of anything good about the food. ok, sil said the ginger dressing on her green salad was delicious too. our rolls and sashimi came on one plate, it was very squished in presentation. we had plenty of room on our table, but it seemed they were just trying to save the dishwashing staff some time. the sashimi was not fresh and even tasted bitter and gooey. come to think of it, the lighting was probably so dim to hide the smelly, unfresh fish that they served! some rolls were ok. the crystal roll was white tuna mixed with spicy sauce, tempura flakes, caviar, and scallion with soy bean wrap and topped with white tuna. the crystal roll was also topped with a gingery sesame sauce. pooh said that the taste reminded him of eating chinese dumplings, so he liked the roll. the electric roll had spicy salmon, avocado, flakes with seaweed topped with broiled eel and caviar. that was a good combination roll, pleasing to the palate again. the wild roll came with spicy scallop, avocado, caviar wrapped with soft seaweed and topped with spicy tuna and flake mix. this roll looked like it had red crap on top of it, the mixture did not look very pleasing to the eye. the taste was ok, the scallop was sweet though. then, the spider roll was just fried soft shell crab inside the rice roll – nothing special, as i keep mentioning. the spider roll did not have enough sauce on it for the taste. overall, mizu was just a very unpleasant dining experience, the worst we ever had in new york city!

pros: none whatsoever

cons: inattentive service, waitress was rude and had an attitude

coolness: if you call asking for tip cool: LOL!

would we return? not even if it was the last restaurant on the planet!

Hamachi

2006-10-28T21:21:00.000-04:00

written by: pooh

date visited: tuesday, 10/24

address: 34 e 20th st, btw park ave south & broadway

web: http://www.hamachisushi.com/

phone: 212-420-8608

ordered: spicy miso with mussel $4, rock shrimp $5.95, sashimi appetizer $8.95, chilean sea bass $11.95, wasabi roll $11.50, nutty salmon roll $8

i've actually been wanting to visit hamachi for a while now, and the reason being i remembered passing by a japanese restaurant (with a fish name) when we went to gramercy tavern (2 doors down) a long time ago. i spent some time on the web looking for this place, and at first i only found mizu (later reviewed), but when we stopped by mizu, we saw hamachi across the street and decided to check it out.

first glance of the place gave a very cozy feel. from the outside, the restaurant looks small, but once you go in, it's actually quite deep and can seat a lot. we went in around 6:30, so there weren't that many people. they used the kind of lamps covered by rice paper(?) which gave the restaurant a very nice ambiance. the place wasn't dark at all, but not bright either. it created just the right dining mood. as always, we try to pick out the special items of the place. the waitress handed us a fall special menu, and i immediately went for the spicy miso with mussels. since the rock shrimp was lightly fried, we agreed to forgo the usual tempura. both the spicy miso with mussels and rock shrimp were great choices. the spicy miso had the addiction of a spicy korean soup noodle. you know it's spicy but you keep on wanting to drink more because it tastes so good. the rock shrimp was lightly fried served with spicy sauce, which wasn't too spicy, and really helped bring out the sweet flavor of the rock shrimp. i personally thought the rock shrimp could've been fried a little bit more to give it more crispy taste, but hoodi thought it was just right. oh, an admission: i never knew rock shrimp was a member of the shrimp family. i always thought rock shrimp was another term for fried shrimp. :p

next came our sashimi appetizer. this we thought was such a great deal. the menu says 7 pieces of assorted fish, but we got more like 12 pieces. there wasn't a whole lot of variety, but the fishes were all very fresh! the nutty salmon roll was hoodi's choice. the menu had originally listed nutty tuna roll, which is crushed macadamia nuts with tuna and cucumber. hoodi doesn't like tuna so we asked for salmon instead. at first i didn't like the roll too much, but after eating more, i discovered why the roll was good. the macadamia nuts had a sweet aroma which helped enhanced the flavor of the fish. i think if a little avocado or some cream was added to smooth out the overly-crunchiness of the roll it would've been awesome. btw, this was the first time i had nuts in a sushi roll. the wasabi roll was an inside-out roll of spicy tuna, salmon, yellowtail, avocado, and wasabi tobiko on the outside. honestly, usually when you have this many combo of fishes together in one roll, it's hard to decipher what's what and sometimes tastes may cancel each other out. but i guess the freshness of the fish actually allowed each fish to preserve its own taste and be distinguished by my tongue. after we were done with the rolls, i was still hungry, so i asked for an order of the chilean sea bass appetizer. boy was it a good move. the sea bass was artfully presented and the sweet miso sauce was on the side, not on the fish itself, which was a very smart choice. some places apply too much miso on the sea bass and end up over-flavoring the fish. hamachi did a great job with this dish. at first we thought it was over-cooked, but as we ate more and more, we realized it was just the right texture. and the skin, ooohhh, the skin, it was cooked so right that the mouth watering aroma needed no miso sauce to help with the taste. oh...it was so satisfying.

after we asked for the check, we were pleasantly surprised with a free dessert dish. not sure if the hamachi people realized we were reviewing them (hope not), but they gave us free fried banana with green tea ice cream glazed with hot chocolate fudge. yum! overall this was a great experience, one of the best restaurants we've been to so far. you should definitely check it out for yourself!

pros: great appetizer dishes, fresh fish, good price.

cons: still working on it...

coolness: fish appetizer plates. free dessert. they have this hot early bird deal $3.50 for rolls from 5:00 to 7:30pm.

would we return: i'm already thinking about it for next week!

Momo

2006-10-23T22:59:00.000-04:00

written by: hoodi

date visited: thursday, october 19, 2006

address: 947 eighth avenue at 56th street

web: wouldn't do them any good

phone: 212.757.3502

ordered: shrimp tempura $6.95, oyster tempura $7.95, salmon tataki roll $16.95, volcano roll $10.50, and sashimi regular $15.95

the previous sunday, pooh and I went to a street fair on eighth avenue and walked down from 59th street to 42nd street in search of the candle cottage man who sells very aromatic candle jars. we specifically like these jar candles because they last a long time (about 65-70 hours) and also because they’re so delicious smelling. back to the subject of eating sushi…so we saw momo sushi when we were going down the street fair and decided that we would try it someday. on thursday, pooh’s company had a volleyball game very close to momo sushi’s location, so after the game, we decided to dine there. the décor was typical japanese, meaning it had rice paper panels and some paper lanterns that had the sake brand name imprinted on them. it was really nothing spectacular. the restaurant looked like a family-run business. we saw bulgoki as an entrée, which made us ask the question, "huh, isn't this a japanese restaurant?" a really minus to this place: the service was terrible! we had to ask for small plates and soy sauce dishes because our waiter did not think of giving us any when our food came. he was also not very attentive about hydrating us!

the shrimp tempura came with some pieces of vegetables. we noticed that the shrimp tempura had ok flower; the texture was good, and pooh liked the taste. however, the vegetable pieces were fried with katsu batter, no flower and very hard in texture. needless to say, it did not taste very good at all. however, the display of the shrimp tempura appetizer was quite a hoot! warning: pornographic connotations…BE FOREWARNED! (see picture) the oyster tempura was also too hard in texture and we thought some of the oysters were not fully cooked, or else it was just not fresh at all. personally, it tasted a little rotten to me. then came the rolls, they were huge, so portions were plentiful for the rolls! the salmon tataki was seared salmon, cucumber, masago, crab with spicy miso and sprinkled with tempura flakes. pooh liked the spicy miso taste, but i didn’t really think it was tasty at all. at least the salmon was decent. the volcano roll consisted of shrimp tempura, lettuce, avocado, cucumber, and roe on the inside, and spicy tuna on top with tempura flakes. the tempura flakes were very big and so that made it very difficult to get the roll slices into your mouth. if you go to momo for these rolls, make sure you have a wide and big mouth! pooh and i both agree that the volcano roll was tasteless. yeah, really, it had no taste! our sashimi regular was the best dish of the night. it was three pieces each of salmon, tuna, and white fish as well as two pieces of white tuna. fish was definitely fresh because the texture was shiny. It was delicious and as you bite into the fish, it melted in your mouth! the only thing was, for $15.95, we expected the pieces of fish to be much bigger… each piece was maybe one inch long and very narrow too. pooh stated that there was no yellowtail included in the sashimi, which is very atypical because yellowtail is such a basic raw fish in most japanese restaurants.

pros: fresh raw fish, huge servings for the rolls

cons: inattentive service, expensive prices

coolness: 10-inch asparagus display

would we return? not even if they were the last japanese restaurant around.

Hana

2006-10-13T00:01:00.002-04:00

written by: pooh

date visited: tuesday, 10/10/06, 8:45pm

address: 211 7th ave, btw w 22nd & 23rd st

web: they should get one

phone: 212-620-9950

ordered: scallop appetizer $6.95, tempura appetizer $6.95, 2 pieces of white tuna $5, 2 pieces of jumbo sweet shrimp (amaebi) $7, 1 piece of conch $2.50, dance roll $12, dynamite roll $11.95

first off, apologies for not having pictures for this review. we promise we'll try to have pictures for future posts. this week we happened to be in the chelsea area, and around 8:45 hoodi was getting hungry and didn't want to wait until we got back to uws, so we stopped in at hana.

first glance at hana gave a rather cozy feeling. the place is not big, fairly long, and held quite a few tables. it was pretty packed for a tuesday night, and packed with some good looking people i might add. we were seated right away and immediately we noticed there were 4 sushi chefs, which was a good sign that you wouldn't have to wait long for your food. as always, we ordered our usual. something interesting caught my eyes right before we ordered. it was the scallop appetizer. i asked our waitress how it was made, she said it was seared scallop topped with fake crab meat, mushrooms, and mayo sauce. sounded pretty enticing so we went with it. boy was it good. i have to say, this scallop dish is one of the best scallop dishes i've had in a long time. everything came together right. the texture, and the sauce, especially the sauce, was just magnificent. gosh, the sauce was so good that after we were done with the scallops, i licked the plate just to taste the sauce! next came our tempura appetizer. the serving size was very generous for the price. we got 3 shrimps and bunch of vegetables. the tempura was well made with nice flowers. the taste was ok though. i thought it was missing something...wasn't as sweet or "good smelling" as i expected. hoodi thought it was fine.

after that all our raw fish and rolls came. the raw fish pieces we ordered were NOT fresh. you can tell when white tuna is not fresh when you have to bite several times before you can sever it in half. usually fresh white tuna (or any fish in fact) severs or just melts with one bite. the jumbo sweet shrimp were thawed; they were not glossy and the texture was a bit mushy. fresh sweet shrimp has a glistening glow and the texture is somewhat tender or "q" as we say it in taiwanese. later on they brought us the fried heads of the jumbo sweet shrimp. note: they call it jumbo sweet shrimp not because of the body, but because of the head. our waitress took special care to tell us we can eat the part towards the torso, but not the head. we're like, that's not true. hoodi went ahead and chowed away on the head. the rolls weren't too bad. hoodi reminded me the contents of the dynamite roll. it had spicy tuna, spicy salmon with crunch on the inside, and the outside was wrapped with lobster salad. this roll tasted very good, the spicy tuna didn't overpower the rest, it actually helped bring out the sweetness of other ingredients. the dance roll was soft shell crab wrapped with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, and avocado. it was served plain with no sauce. we dipped it in traditional wasabi with soy sauce, didn't taste too good, somewhat dry. hoodi then asked the owner if we could have some teriyaki sauce. they gave us a steamy bowl of teriyaki sauce, and that brought the roll to life! word of advice, always make sure there's some kind of sweet sauce to go with soft shell crab. otherwise the soft shell crab is too dry by itself and drowns out the other fishes.

overall hana was a pleasant experience. i originally didn't think we'd turn it into a review since we didn't have a camera. but it's a new place for us, plus the food was pretty good, so we decided to share this experience. one special point i should mention is the patrons of the place. i guess it's chelsea that draws the pretty people, but there were 2 hot looking gay guys sitting 2 tables over from us. no, i'm not gay. i don't need to be gay to say if guys are hot or not. i asked if hoodi would do a 4 way with those 2 guys, she said, "sure, why not?" ooohhh...yea right. more like me in a 4 way with 3 girls! :p

pros: the scallop appetizer!!! attentive and accommodating service. pretty people to see.

cons: the bathroom sucked. it's a tiny short stairway downstairs, which has 6 feet ceiling. i knocked my head on my way back up.

coolness: hot gay guys to look at!

would we return? we would return if we were in the area again, but we wouldn't take the ride down to chelsea just for hana. i personally would take the ride just for the scallop appetizer!!!

Yuka

2006-10-13T00:01:00.001-04:00

note: this is actually not a review, rather just an intro for those who haven't been to yuka.

written by: pooh

date visited: many many times, never enough

address: 1557 2nd ave, btw e 80 & 81 st

web: probably don't need one yet

phone: 212-772-9675

ordered: all you can eat sushi $18.95/person

we were at yuka last saturday night enjoying one of the best ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI places in nyc. the price for one person is $18.95, and of course the usual rule of not leaving any rice or seaweed applies.

our experience with yuka started about 6 years ago when our volleyball friends introduced us to the place. we used to play beach volleyball all day at the jersey shores, then go to yuka to enjoy all you can eat sushi. the selection of fish is nothing extraordinary, you have your typical tuna, salmon, yellowtail, etc. rolls and hand rolls are also available. to order, you fill out a selection sheet per table, writing down number of pieces of the fish desired. we've developed a very efficient process over the years that i'll share with you. one person read down the list of fish and writes down the number, while everyone else stick out fingers for number of pieces they want. the sooner you figure out what you want, the sooner your order will arrive.

the quality and the freshness of the fish are the obvious reasons why we keep going back to yuka. i can only remember once or twice when the fish wasn't as fresh. i personally think the salmon is the clincher for this place. they always give you a big fat piece and the fish is always glistening with fish oil. other honorable mentions are yellowtail, mackerel, and the eel handroll. most of the time (not all the time) when the eel hand roll is done right, the eel is broiled so well that it's aroma will stirrr the hungerrrness out of your stomach, and the nori will stick to the inside of your lips. yummy!

again, this is not a review so i won't write too much. you just have to experience yuka yourself. the place can get crowded on weekends, and they don't take reservations. they also won't seat you until everyone in your party is present. expect to wait up to 45 minutes on weekends if you have a large party. but don't worry, it's absolutely worth it!

pros: fresh fish, decent serving size, good price

cons: crowded, possible long wait times, slow service at times

coolness: the owner is japanese, but he speaks english, chinese, and spanish as well. check him out!

would we return? ahh...yes? like, next week? hell yea! many more returns to come!

Hokkaido

2006-10-06T22:27:00.000-04:00

written by: hoodi

date visited: thursday, 10/5/06 8:15pm

address: 1817 2nd Ave @ e 94th st

web: http://www.hokkaidosushi.com/

phone: 212.289.1902

ordered: shrimp tempura appetizer $7.95, sashimi tirabito $11.95, sex on the beach roll $13.95, crazy roll $11.95, queen roll $11.95, & kamikaze roll $13.95

this week, we happened to be going to pooh's company vb game on the ues. it was a cold and windy night, the autumn season was definitely upon us...as we walked from the bus stop down to the gym, we came across hokkaido sushi. pooh said it used to be a coffee shop from when he lived on the ues. so, hokkaido caught our eye and we said we should try it after the game. we won the vb match 2-1. stitch (yes, stitch from lilo and stitch - he likes the animated character), pooh's cousin, came to the gym to meet up with us. our 1st impression was that the decor was traditional, yet modern. the restaurant used a lot of feng shui items, such as pebbles on the floor and walls to imitate the flow of water. there were bamboo coverings for lighting and even sake pots for lamps! we all agreed that it was a very pleasant place to dine.

ok, the food...it was awesome! the first thing pooh noticed was how flowery the tempura was! he immediately commented that the tempura was going to be good just based on the looks, and he was definitely right! it was crunchy on the outside, but the shrimp and vegetables retained its juicy flavors. the sashimi tirabito was a "chef's assortment of sashimi with special yuzu sauce." essentially, the sauce was tangy, just the way pooh and me like it, and very refreshing for the mouth. it was good, but could have been made better with fresh fish rather than the frozen ones we got. however, the portion was generous with large pieces of sashimi.

as for the rolls, sex on the beach was like fornicating on the warm beach... very titillating, steamy, and sexy... it was shrimp tempura, spicy tuna on the inside, topped with white tuna, avocado, & caviar. our taste buds were excited by the combination. as you bite into it, the very fresh white tuna tickled your palate, but then you're greeted by the crunchy and spicy inside of the roll... doesn't this remind you of your havana nights? the crazy roll was fried oysters, sliced avocado & mayo wrapped in maki, then rice topped with wasabi and caviar. we all went CRAZY for the crazy roll, it was excellent juicy oysters and the roll just brought out the flavor of the oysters very nicely. the queen roll consisted of yellowtail with crab meat, topped with avocado, salmon, tobiko and scallions in a special sauce. the special sauce for the queen roll was also tangy and enhanced the roll very well. the kamikaze roll used a lot of great ingredients, such as spicy king crab, scallop inside, topped with yellowtail, salmon, and masago. however, all the great ingredients "cancelled" out each other as stitch indicated. thus, we couldn't taste the specialness of the roll anymore. i guess all those great ingredients just made their sacrifices with each other. :)

we definitely had great service here, but it was a thursday night, thus the restaurant was not busy at all. hokkaido is definitely a nice place for a date and romantic dinner. we would for sure return with enthusiasm to tantalize our palates again! make sure you order sex on the beach, you won't be disappointed!

pros: feng shui decor, attentive service (always a full glass of water/green tea). AWESOME FOOD!

cons: they had a tv, but didn't have good reception for it. we were hoping to catch the mets game

coolness: chopsticks, soy sauce dishes and other knick knacks as front door decorations

would we return? absolutely for more sex! ..... on the beach roll, that is. :)

Haru East

2006-09-30T23:07:00.000-04:00

written by: pooh

date visited: saturday, 9/30/06 8:30pm

address: 1329 3rd ave @ e 75th st

web: http://www.harusushi.com/

phone: 212-452-2230

ordered: lobster mango ceviche $15, golden passion maki $11, phoenix roll $15.75, eel avocado roll $5.75, sashimi deluxe $22.50, salmon tartar $9, rock shrimp tempura $8, shrimp & vegetable tempura $9.50

ok, so this week we ordered more because we had a guest with us, stitch (my cousin). i was treating hoodi and stitch because earlier today they helped me clean up the garage so i can finally put my m5 inside! stitch drove us back to the city, and our methodology in picking a restaurant today was we'd drive to the east side (ues), and wherever we can find parking, we'd go to the closest japanese restaurant. we drove around for 20 minutes looking for parking, which is quite unusual because hoodi (knock on wood) has incredible parking karma. anytime hoodi's in the car, we'd find parking right away. so finally i mentioned to hoodi and said "i guess your karma's not working today." she replied "it's because i didn't let out my energy yet." 20 seconds later we got a spot and haru east was right in front of us.

the restaurant seemed busy, but we got a table right away. the decor looked really cool; modern and trendy were the first words that came up. there were some pretty people to be seen. the restaurant looked like one of those "fusion" type of places, so we set out to select non-traditional dishes. i have to say, the menu really looked like haru's trying to copy nobu and sushi samba. items like black cod miso, lobster ceviche, and rock shrimp tempura have all appeared on others' menu already.

the first dish to arrive was the rock shrimp tempura. i was really disappointed. whoever fried the tempura clearly does not know how to make good tempura. either the tempura's batter mixture had too little water or the tempura itself was over fried. the texture i thought was too hard for tempura. it was more like a corn dog's outside shell. the shrimp and vegetable tempura followed, and needless to say, it was the same. the only thing good about it was the tempura sauce. next came the salmon tartar. i originally wanted the red and white tuna tartar, but i was overruled by hoodi and stitch. the sauce that came with the tartar was very nice. light sesame oil with some vinegar and jalapeno. the texture wasn't too bad, although i still think a tuna tartar would've been better. at first i thought the tartar was missing something, perhaps some zesty taste. then we realized we forgot to add the lemon. oof...after the lemon was added, i was delighted! i think that's how good ceviches or tartars should be, need something zesty to bring out the flavor of the fish.

next came all the remaining dishes: sashimi deluxe, the makis, and the lobster mango ceviche. the presentation was really really nice, one of the best i've ever seen. the lobster ceviche looked like a dragon swimming on the plate. however, that's all the good stuff that could be said of the food. the sashimi deluxe did not have good variety, and the fishes did not look fresh at all. haru's lighting wasn't that bright, but we could still tell the fishes were just dark and not juicy at all. the only good thing to say about the sashimi was the serving portion. they were huge slices. i was really excited to take a bite at the roll i picked, the phoenix roll. it was spicy tuna with shrimp tempura. again, the shrimp tempura killed it. the texture was really bad and really hard, definitely not suitable for a roll. the spicy tuna part was also disappointing; i could not taste the spiciness at all. there was actually some bitterness coming from the roll. stitch's choice of the golden passion roll turned out to be the roll of the night. it was slightly seared white tuna with shiitake mushroom, cucumbers, and fake crab meat. hoodi thought i wouldn't like the roll because it had mushrooms, but i was pleasantly surprised by the good taste. lastly, the lobster mango ceviche was a disaster. think of it as someone cooking lobster and just throwing whatever they thought was fruity to make the dish sound enticing. well it wasn't. i could not taste the lobster, even though there was a sufficient amount. it was overpowered by the bell peppers and whatever other stuff that was thrown in. just not good.

overall, we were disappointed. we've been to other haru locations (uws, time square) and have never been disappointed like this. it seems haru is trying to get in the fusion market, however, the tastes and flavors were just not pleasing to the palate. i think haru's trying too hard to imitate others, they should be trying hard to create their own dishes.

pros: nice decor, very good service (we were constantly hydrated!)

cons: un-fresh fish, bad taste, BAD TEMPURA!

coolness: in the men's restroom, they had a sign that suggests you don't throw in the toilet paper towel, toilet paper, and tampons. yes, TAMPONS!

would we return? not this haru.

Miyako

2006-09-26T22:14:00.000-04:00

written by pooh

date visited: tuesday, 8/29/06

address: 642 amsterdam @ 91st

phone: 212-724-3448

ordered: tempura combo $6.75, chirashi sushi $14.95, tiger eye roll $7.50, christmas roll (?) $12.95

ok, so we went to miyako because i felt like having sushi that tuesday and i didn't want to walk far. we also went to miyako because we had already been to yuki, a japanese place closer to us. i know, doesn't make sense. just read on. miyako isn't huge, but not small either. the decor tries to have some asian tone to it with lots of bamboo settings, but i thought they were too fake and too red for my taste.

we ordered our usual standard items, tempura appetizer, a sampling of raw fish, and the special rolls. the tempura wasn't great, not enough flowers or flakes. the serving size was also a bit stingy. we only got 1 shrimp. usually you get at least 2. sauce for the tempura wasn't good either; a bit warm. the fish was not fresh at all. immediately you could tell it's been frozen for a while by the fact all the fishes looked DARK. however, as hoodi noted, the sushi rice was actually prepared the right way. you can tell that sushi rice was prepared correctly when it's fluffy and spongy, and there's just the right amount of vinegar for taste. our rolls were really the only good things we can say about the place. the tiger eye roll has no rice, it's basically eel wrapped in squid. never tried them together like that, but it worked out pretty well. i can't say much about the christmas roll, it was really just a bunch of fish stuffed together with rice, couldn't really taste what it was about.
bottomline, this is a typical neighborhood japanese restaurant with nothing special to it. i wouldn't say avoid it, but there are plenty of other japanese restaurants in the uws.

pros: decent price, attentive service

cons: UN-fresh fish, no flakes on tempura

coolness: still trying to refresh my memory

would we return? no

Morimoto

2006-09-24T20:21:00.000-04:00

written by pooh

ok, morimoto isn't your typical japanese restaurant, so obviously the usual methodologies are out!

date visited: tuesday, 9/5/06

web: http://www.morimotonyc.com/

address: 88 10th ave new york, ny 10011 (10th ave & 16th st)

phone: 212-989-8883

ordered: oysters foie gras $21, crispy rock shrimp tempura $16, toro tartare $28, japanese lobster fritters $12, ishi yaki buri bop $23, sea bass, $28?

i've been waiting for this for quite some time now. masaharu morimoto has always been one of my favorite chefs, ever since i started watching iron chef (the real japanese show) about 4 years ago. he wasn't the original iron chef japanese (rokusabaro michiba was), but after making it big at nobu (co-owned by robert deniro), morimoto was tapped to be the show's third iron chef japanese. after the show's huge success in america, morimoto opened up his first restaurant in america in philadelphia several years ago. it wasn't until this year (2006) that morimoto brought his famed cooking to nyc.

we went to the restaurant for a very special occasion, it was a birthday celebration for the lovely dr. hoodi. the place is located in the meatpacking district, so there really was no easy way of getting there by public transportation. we took the 1 to 14th, then took the m14 over to 10th. the restaurant's decor is very much to my liking. it was modern and very spacious. i guess it was fairly easy to get a reservation that night because it was a tuesday. we actually got there 20 minutes early, but they still sat us immediately. the tables i thought were a bit squished, i would've liked it more if we had more space between us and our neighbors. we actually had a couple ask us how much we thought serena williams weighed. go figure. (i said 170 - 180)

before i go further, i had told hoodi that if morimoto was in, i was going to get the omakase. however, when we got there, the hostess told us he was in a meeting, so we decided to go a la carte.

our waiter was fairly attentive, came over and greeted us right away, offering sparkling, flat, or tap water. not sure why we went with flat, because our water was ultimately blended in with tap as well. those not familiar with morimoto, here's one advice you'll thank me for: don't just order sushi or sashimi!!! order the fusion stuff, order the weird creations that morimoto's made. c'mon! that's what he was famous for! he came up with all these crazy fusion ideas, it'd be a waste to just get raw fish at his restaurant!

our food came rather quickly, which to me meant some of them were pre-prepared. wasn't too thrilled about that. the oysters foie gras came first. it was just 3, yes, THREE, oysters but they had foie gras and sea urchin and some sweet sauce on them. the first bite was incredible! even though it was a small portion, the taste just opened up my palate, it was like having a tongue orgasm! wow! the toro tartare came next. we were debating whether to get this or the yellowtail tartare, because hoodi doesn't like tuna. but i made the right choice. the tartare was served flattened on a board, almost like a paste, and it came with 6 different sauces or spices. can't remember all of them, but i definitely liked mixing the wasabi with seaweed. hoodi mixed them all in. however you did it, it was awesome. morimoto somehow has this talent of finding ways to stimulate your palette. next came the lobster fritters. not much to say about them, because they weren't that great. we had much better squid balls in flushing than the fritters. the last appetizer dish was the crispy rock shrimp tempura. this was the dish (i believe) that made morimoto famous at nobu, but it's much different and much better than nobu's. first of all, they serve you A LOT of shrimp. you get 2 choices, one side made with wasabi aioli (tastes like sweet mayo), the other spicy kochujan sauce (kinda like buffalo or tobasco sauce). all i can say is wow! the wasabi aioli ones are very similar to a shrimp dish i always order when we have family gatherings, and the spicy ones are just like good ol' buffalo wings, except they're nicely fried shrimp tempuras. by the time we finished the shrimp tempura, we were already full. it was really a surprise that they served so much rock shrimp tempura for $16.

next came our entrees. i ordered some kind of bass, which was just a mistake. it was overcooked and the sauce was way too salty. i don't think this was a morimoto creation, because we've had too many similar bass entrees at other restaurants, and none sucked like this one. hoodi had a really cool dish. it was basically a bim bim bop, except the main ingredient was raw yellowtail, and the waitor cooks the yellowtail in the pot (just like how you eat a bim bim bop) right in front of you. the sauce was perfectly made and the yellowtail was really fresh, which made the dish a great choice.

i can't remember too much about our dessert, guess it wasn't that intriguing. i was hoping to see items like lobster ice cream on the menu (iron chef inside joke), but that wasn't available. oh well. in any case, this was an incredible experience. morimoto certainly lives up to his name as iron chef japanese. he actually did eventually come out and was working in the kitchen. some lucky folks that night got his omakase. next time if i go and if he's there, i'm definitely going for the omakase. again, advice to all: order morimoto's original creations and not the dishes you already know.

pros: nice decor, awesome food, pretty people to look at

cons: price, public transportation a bit far

coolness: check out the toilets!!!

would we return? is the pope catholic???

Suma

2006-09-24T18:30:00.000-04:00

written by hoodi

date visited: Saturday, 9/23/06 – 8pm

address: 964 Amsterdam Ave (btw w 107th & w 108th streets)

phone: 212-280-5858

Ordered: Shrimp Tempura appetizer $7; Suma $12, Godzilla $8.50, & House Roll $9; Sashimi Plate $17.

Suma Sushi was a small place, but the décor was modern and clean cut. Suma seemed to be a family business, so there was only 1 waitress and 1 hostess. We had to ask our teas to be refilled and service can be a bit slow. However, we were pleasantly surprised with the generous food portions. The shrimp tempura came with 3 shrimps and 3 vegetable tempuras. It was very nicely fried and had a lot of tempura flakes which made the shrimp extra crispy. The dipping sauce was hot and sweet, just the way we liked it!

For our entrees, the sashimi was definitely fresh and mouth-watering! All the fish were glistening, which meant it would be extremely slippery going down the throat – and indeed it was! The sashimi also had a good variety, including yellowtail, tuna, albacore, white fish, salmon, stripe bass, and crabstick. All the rolls were very delicious, but the Suma roll was especially good because the shrimp tempura was so crispy which complimented the soft eel texture extremely well. We did not order sake, but apparently the sake is free (you might want to ask the waitresses first though). We would definitely go back to Suma Sushi and highly recommend the restaurant to any of our friends.

Bonne appetit!

pros: fresh fish, good rolls

cons: small, 1 waitress, not so great neighborhood

coolness: free sake?

would we return: yes

Haku

2006-09-24T18:27:00.000-04:00

written by hoodi

date visited: Sunday, 9/3/06 – 7:30pm

address: 2425 Broadway @ 89th Street

phone: 212-580-2566

Ordered: Shrimp and Vegetables appetizer $8.25, Tuna Tartar w/Quail egg $8.50; Chirashi sushi $18.50; Mission ’06 roll $14 and Spicy Mango Lobster roll $13.

Haku's décor was trendy and modern – a good place to bring a date, except for the prices. But you’ll have to get friendly with your neighbors as the tables are all lined up against one wall and quite close to each other. The food was innovative and very pleasing to the eyes. Everything looked so pretty, we almost didn’t want to eat it. The wait staff is quite conscientious and fills your tea or water consistently. The shrimp and vegetable tempura was mediocre, nothing special. However, the tuna tartar was excellent and very savory to the palate. The chirashi was not fresh at all and the seasoned rice tasted like it was a day old. Thankfully, the special rolls were delicious and definitely good priced menu items. Haku is on the expensive side for its portions and it's not the place to go if you're really hungry.

pros: cool rolls

cons: expensive, UN-fresh fish, small portions, ac blasting in hoodi's head

coolness: music?

would we return? nope