Japanese/ Sushi – Page 4

Hirohisa

There were 4 new Japanese restaurants made their first appearance on the 2016 Michelin (New York): Tempura Matsui is new to New York, we have yet able to convince ourselves to drop $200 on tempura; Sushi Yasuda is not unfamiliar to anyone; we visited Cagen late last year and were amazed by the variety of fishes, the last of four is Hirohisa. The 2.5 years old restaurant by Chef Hirohisa Hayashi (Former Sushi Samba) is located on a quiet block of Soho. The place can go easily unnoticed. All white facade with only a small rectangle window peeking in and a small square bamboo plate by the door that indicates its present. I must have passed by the place a million times without knowing its existence.

We came to this zen place on a chilled evening in January. Step inside, the minimalist place is even more quiet, but I was a little overwhelmed, by the aroma of miso. The open kitchen hides nothing, everything is in display, for sight, and for smell. Hirohisa serves refined “seasonal” cuisine. The menu is simple with very few items, mostly traditional cooked dishes. But the Omakase part is confusing. And we were even more confused after talking to the staff. We wanted to know what the 7 course vs 9 course are consists of, mainly we want to know if there were sushi within the course. We are all sushi addicts. Apparently the waitress is new (we think). She did not know what the courses are, we turned to Chef Hirohisa for help. And here are the 9 course, plate by plate…

Lobster ball with sake leek soup
Very blend… the soup is a lot more “clearer: than it looks.

Snow crab winter green and ikura

Scallop, sesame tofu, black truffle
There was only a hint of sesame. Scallop is very nicely done. But is the broth necessary?

Wagyu wrapped sushi and uni
Now this is what I’m talking about. Sweet juicy wagyu beef, one from Japanese, one is american, both topped with Maine uni. Hmm hmm hmm …
and look at that dish they came in, that is one beautiful tableware.

Sashimi: Shima Aji, tuna, Kinmedai

Red rock fish
Skin is very crispy and tasty but fish body is just ok. Very well cook but not much taste. Need seasoning…

Washu beef stew with sweet potato ball
Washu beef is very nicely done, tender and falling off on its own, but too much sauce, and very salty. This could be a very nice dish over a bowl of rice. But as rice was not present, the melty Washu beef is drowning.

Sushi, pressed (from top left): Maine uni, Santa Barbara uni, Arctic char, and mackerel. We opted out of the eel over rice as main course, instead we got 2 extra pieces of uni, one from Santa Barbara and one from Maine. We gonna need more…

Miso soup
Light, las light as water. There was no taste at all. I would like to call it… dish water soup… I only took a sip.

Mochi wrapped strawberry and green tea syrup
We observed the dessert chef took the mochi paper out from a box piece by piece. Then meticulously scarped off the extra white power off each mochi paper. It took him about 15 minutes. Strawberry and the red bean paste balance off each other, but the green tea syrup was too sweet for me.

There you have it, 9 courses Omakase. Everything was decent, sophisticated but not memorable. Nothing really stands out. The beef wrapped sushi topped with uni was the only highlight of the night, thanks to the very fresh ingredients. Chef seems very focus on technique, but could careless about customer interaction. We were the only diners at the counter that night, while we can appreciate the process and preparation Chef Hirohisa to the food, we felt no connection. Staffs are nice, warm, but attention to details is not… we asked for tea when we sat down, then shortly after, we ordered sake, however, the tea never came. True, I forgot about it too, perhaps is my bad that I didn’t ask for it again.

Hirohisa | 73 Thompson St | Jan, 2016

Cagen

It has been a little over 2 years since Cagen opened at the old Kajitsu’s location in East Village. It remains a neighborhood hidden gem until this year’s Michelin list revealed. Cagen is run by Chef Toshio Tomita, who was the corporate managing chef for Nobu. At Cagen, the Tokyo born chef got his first star under his name. This newly found “stardom” has yet fill seats, I didn’t have any trouble getting a reservation. But at Cagen, keeping a reservation is the key! We were told that the cancellation policy is 72 hours prior because all the fished are ordered and flown in from Japan. Diner would be charged full price if reservation is a no show. Moreover, we need to inform Cagen which one of the two Omakase we would be having, so the most premium freshest ingredients would be prepared diners.

On the night we were there, there are very few staffs at sight. Only Chef Tomita, sous chef and two other staffs. We arrived almost 40 minutes late at the semi-basement level restaurant on a quiet evening. The staffs were very patient and accommodating. The only other party at Cagen had already sat in front of Chef Tomita, and began their course. Since we were late, we can’t be chooser. We sat on the other end of the 10 seats counter sushi bar. The space is zen… actually almost the same as the old Kajitsu. Take a closer look, we found Totoro everywhere. That might be the only thing that Chef Tomita had done to this place in terms of deco. Fan of Hayao Miyazaki? Me too!!

Dassai sake flight is only $35. No brainer!!!

Chawanmushi with radish and squash
We started our Omakase with chawanmushi. A couple dices of winter squash in it. Perfect! Simple but to the point. And the simpleness really bring out the freshness of the ingredient. Not that those chawanmushi with truffle and uni are not good, but sometimes it clouded the dish, and made it far too complicated. Sometimes, less is more.

Before us is a slab of fine polished wood which Sushi and ginger were presented on. Ginger, such a simple thing, a common thing to overlook at sushi places. Here at Cagen, they take it seriously. To our surprise, there were 2 kinds of pickled ginger. I absolutely love the thick cut! So fresh, and so perfectly balanced!

Also look at the wasabi, still hydrogenating in water, keeping it fresh!

Since we were told fishes were flown in from Japan and it’s hash cancellation policy, we were excited for what were about to have. And let me just say this first, the varieties of fish did not disappointed. Some of the names, we have not even heard before. Here it is, piece by piece.

Hadai (Japanese snapper) with Yuzu, sea salt and a drop of plum paste sauce.
The combination is genius! The balance with sour, sweet, and salty paying a little wake up call to our taste bud, and it brought out the sweetness of Hadai without overpowering it.

Hirame (Japanese fluke) with ponzu and jalapeño
White fish usually tend to be a bit blend, but Hirame is in season.? Hirame is thinly sliced but double stacked. It enhanced the texture, almost crunchy.

Akayagara (cornet fish)
Very sweet and tender???

Tsumuburi (Rainbow runner)
A member of the yellowtail family. Much like Amberjacks, it’s soft and fatty. This one with a drop of honey mustard. So tender and buttery. Almost like Toro.

Menuke (Japanese red perch) aka Red Rockfish.
The fish looks a lot like Kinmedai, texture is similar too. Menuke is a deep sea, winter fish. Fatty, and extremely tender. The Menuke here at Cagen was smoked. Adding very unique smoky favor. Love it!!!

Japanese octopus With a drop of yuzu

Nodoguro (blackthroat sea perch) with a hint of smoky flavor ??

Japanese butterfish
Crisp, fatty

Mahegari
A very rare silver skin small fish in Japanese deep sea and it is in season. Smoky, tender, and buttery???? I think I’m in love

Kumamoto oyster with sea salt and couple drops of yuzu. Just beautiful.

Smoked squid with yuzu garlic oil
Squid was marinated and lightly warmed to add texture. It is… al dente. ??

Tachiuo (Belt-fish)
From the family of hair-tail fish. Usually it is slightly cooked. This one was smoked, and it added a great aroma and flavor to this already rich piece.

Matsusaka beef
This gorgeous cut is lightly grilled. Chef also used a paper to gently absorb the extra oil, and added with sea salt and house-made crispy chilli pepper. OMG!!! could be the best chili sauce we have had. The crispness and the tenderness of the beef make the perfect couple.

Toro
Look at this beauty, need I say more?!

Chu Toro
Chu toro was marinated for 5 min and serve on a square cut of nori. We were told the nori was made with a special kind of salt.

Hokkaido uni
Up until this point, we were petty happy with our dinner. Sushi are fresh, unique, preparations are excellent. It is certainly worth that one Michelin star. But it was until Uni is served…
Hokkaido uni is served with nori. Nori was very crispy, enough to hear the cracking when chef was folding it. But the rice was a bit too warm and the moisture of it soften the crunch before it hits out mouth. And that is a big square of nori, in my book, too big for this. First bite, I could only got nori. When I finally got to the uni, nori was too strong, it overpowered uni. I must be kidding right? We are talking about uni. The rich, distinguish, velvety goodness got overpower by seaweed?! But have a look at it. One single tiny little scoop of uni atop a chunk of rice with oversize nori. Call me greedy, but I don’t think Hokkaido uni is that expensive that we can only afford this pathetic little one. And what bothered me the most is, when chef was making the uni sushi, he clearly put more uni on one of the pieces at first, but when he realized the portion of our pieces are uneven. He went and took out uni from that one that was slightly bigger. Well, chef, we were sitting right there at the sushi counter in front of you. Action is in full display here. …

Eel “sandwich”
There is a piece of foie gras wrapped inside the eel. Rich x Rich!!!.

Fatty tuna and Japanese pickles hand roll
The fatty tuna was a bit cold, and the rice was a bit warm. One thing I noticed was, the sushi rice here at Cagen are mixed in small portion. During our dinner, Chef had made 3 different bundle of rice. So temperature, and sweetness varies. For this hand roll, it was a bit too warm.

Tomago
This might be the first time I had Tomago wrapped in nori and with wasabi, and it works. The Tomago itself is very good. A different texture than the one from Nakasawa or 15 East. This is more custard-like, while the other are more sponge cake-like. Also, the Tomago was given a creme brulee treatment. It was layered with powdered sugar and torched 3 times. And I do like the wasabi with it.

So, as it turns out, sushi Omakase is not only sushi. Is it a bonus, or is it an attempt to fill us up. Either way, I am glad I had the house-made soba .
The broth was great! Rich but clear. Very comforting. The duck was good, and the scallion was even better. Soba is house-made fresh by Chef Tomita himself from hand-ground wheat. Excellent texture. Better than a lot of soba places in town.

Yuzu sorbet
There were two choices of dessert, green tea ice cream or yuzu sorbet. Of course, the always refreshing yuzu sorbet. Yuzu sorbet is served with pomegranate mandarin grape Asia pear and grape and olive oil. That’s right! Not olive oil sorbet, but actually pouring olive oil over yuzu sorbet. It was amazing. The olive oil helps make the sorbet creamy and gives it a smooth texture. I could have a bucket of this.

(Dec, 2015)

Domodomo

The first and only hand roll bar in New York, Domodomo opened about half a year ago, operated at the old location of Ushiwakamaru. It is the same space, but somehow felt deeper and a lot narrower. Now it became a long stretch of sushi bar, with just a handful of tables in the front. The set up feels a little like Neta, but with a much more affordable price tag.

Sake list is not extensive, prices are very reasonable. We were surprise to spot sparkling sake on the list.
The laminated 1 page menu looks simple enough, a la carte section is meant both for appetizers and main course; miso soup, salad and pasta, udon are all in the same category….. Sushi by piece are really affordable, ranging from $4 scallop to $9 Chu Toro. Then there comes their proud specialities- Hand Rolls. The combo/ course/ Domokase, on the other hand, would require some studying. They all seems great, which makes it hard to choose from. And we did the math, the courses are a more economic way to go.

I really appreciate the patient of our waiter. After several rounds of questions, we ended up picking a sushi course and a hand roll course. We learned that we can substitute a few things, all we need to do is ask.

OYSTER SAMPLER $19
-Jumbo oyster with scallop, yuzu foam, ikura; Kumamoto with momijo oroshi; Blue point with mango salsa

Of course we had to have the oyster sampler. It came with 5 oysters: a jumbo oyster with scallop, ikura, in yuzu foam, 2 Kumamoto, and 2 Blue Point. While it does look good in all the instagram posts, the jumbo oyster fell short to impress. It wasn’t jumbo at all. The yuzu foam on top was way excessive, only to cover up that inside only holds a tiny little piece of oyster. Out of the 2 little bite we had, we felt the scallop and the squid by it’s texture, but the oyster was way too tiny to taste. Again, the yuzu form totally overpower the oyster, the whole thing…. where is the “jumbo” oyster?compare to that truly huge giant oyster at Saikai, this one may be it’s great, great, grandkid. The Kumamoto and the blue point were refreshing with their respective garnish.

CHAWANMUSHI $6 – Egg custard, black truffle sauce

Shrimp apple salad $12 – Arugula, candied apple, sweet chili shrimp

SUSHI COURSE $52
The sushi course comes with edamame, 8 pieces of sushi, a blue carb hand roll and an unagi hand roll. We don’t really care about the edamame, so we opt for the chawanmushi; and we chose to have a yellowtail hand roll instead of unagi.
The sushi are good, fishes are fresh. A fair comparison would be Saikai, but cheaper. The sushi comes in no specific order. The fact that blue fin tuna is served first have us wonder. But they are decent. I only wish that the marinated botan ebi didn’t come with the caviar. Yes, it may seems extravagant, but totally unnecessary. In my opinion, them two don’t go together, they contradict each other. The Botan Ebi can do better without it.

Hon Maguro Blue fin

Fluke

Sea beam

Yellowtail

Branzino

Madai

Smoked Kanpachi – surprisingly good, really smoky favor.

Scallop

Marinated Botan ebi with Caviar

Hand rolls came after sushi. Don’t expect the snow-cone shape hand roll you are used to. While the nori are perfectly crisp, my disappointment was the fish. The fishes in the hand roll were way too cold. So cold that we cannot taste it’s flavor. We expressed our concern to the chef. But he said that the “box” fridge’s is set to a certain temperature and can’t be changed. That’s odd, cause the temperature of fishes for the sushi were fine. We later found out that sushi didn’t have the same issue is because it was let out for a while before they were made into sushi and served. We only know that because we ordered some more sushi later, and they were too cold as well.
Blue crab hand roll

UNI HAND ROLL– Uni, chive
We also had an extra uni hand roll. Well, roll it is not. Seriously, it is just a piece of sushi on a piece of nori. Uni was good, but how could this be a hand roll?
A piece of uni sushi is $8, the hand roll is $12. So a piece of nori is $4??

UNAGI HAND ROLL-House smoked eel, chocolate kabayaki sauce
Again, it is a piece unagi sushi on nori…… but, to credit DomoDomo, Unagi is house smoked, and very flavorful.

UNI PASTA $17 – Squid ink pasta, cheddar dashi, caviar
Uni pasta was another disappointment. Squid ink pasta was blend, certainly not house made, and a overcooked too. It didn’t have the texture nor the tasted. The cheddar dashi did not help either. It was to watery to be carried by the pasta.

HOJICHA PUDDING

A hand roll bar, is an interesting idea. However, for our night here, sushi seems to have be a better choice because of the temperature. But like any new idea, it needs time to refine. For it’s price, Domodomo do have good quality fish. Perhaps we will be back. They do have good nori.
(November, 2015)

SaiKai Dining Bar

Opened late last year, Saikai is a modern izakaya in west village. Although also operated by two Masa Vets, unlike Neta or Shuko, Saikai is not as hyped, nor “publicized”. the only publicity it has gotten so far, was a mention on the Forbes as one of the 5 must try new restaurants. Thanks to the friends at Neuro Dining, on a weekday evening, we paid a visit to this sleek Japanese pub/ restaurant, and it did not disappointed.
There are two bars in this place. The one out front is the sake bar; the other is all the way in the back, but it is not a sushi counter, since sushi is not made there, and there isn’t a refrigeration unit at the counter. There is a grill behind the counter, we suspect that it is for yakitori. However, throughout the night we were there, no action is seen. We chose to sit at the counter. There are a few booths for more somewhat “Private” cozy sitting. Dim lite, dark but warm. There were only a couple other tables besides us.

We were so excited! So many uni items on the menu. I read it somewhere that earlier this year, they offered Uni 6 ways as a tasting menu. We totally missed out. Therefore our strategy is to order everything that has Uni in it.

Oyster Ceviche (special)
– Huge, giant oyster. incredibly sweet. There are also scallop in the mix, and of course UNI!!!! And cherry tomato. So light and refreshing, and plenty to pick at. We love it so much, we had two of them! 🙂

Uni Toast– Sea urchin, botan ebi on a lightly toasted milk bread. The dressing with ebi felt unnecessary. When you have ingredients this fresh, they shouldn’t be hiding in dressing…

Uni Yuba– Sea urchin atop grilled pressed tofu skin, aka yuba. The green stuff is edamame puree, crispy yuba, thick creamy edamame puree, and the sweetness of the uni. Take is in one bite. It’s a great contrast combination.

Sushi Tasting– from left to right: Toro, Tai, Akami, Hamachi belly, Botan Ebi, Kanpachi, Giant Clam, Uni, Mackerel
$48 for 9 pieces of chef selection sushi. Yes, we didn’t have any the sushi counter action here, nor did we have any interaction with sushi chef. Nevertheless Good quality sushi. Of course we cannot compare to other high end sushi places. At this price range, we are happy.

King Crab DoNabe with Uni– You can get this without uni, but why would you?? Served in a hot stone pot, this rice dish is excellent. Lots of crab meat, uni are lightly torched, and sprinkled with tobiko. Hearty, comfort food. Nice portion too. Great food are meant to be shared.

Shiso Ice cream and Yuzu Sorbet
We love, love the yuzu sorbet!!!!! not overly sour, just right amount of sweetness and sour. And there’s pop rocks on top!!! one bite, I was in love! Every spoon is a dance party in my mouth. We were so happy and excited!!! why couldn’t people think of this sooner? Pop rocks ice cream, where have you been all my life!?!

We are very satisfy with our night at Saikai. It is quiet. Sophisticated but not intimidating. Service is warm and attentive. Not cheap but affordable, and decent quality. We have long for something in the mid-price range, and now we have it. Saikai is still petty new and lesser known, and frankly, for my sake, I’d like to keep it this way.

Category: <span>Japanese/ Sushi</span>

Hirohisa

Cagen

Domodomo

SaiKai Dining Bar