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)