Just Hungry's Maki Itoh has started a guide to where to shop for Japanese food around the world and is soliciting readers' help. Go and add your favorite Japanese grocery store if it's not already there. I'll be referring to the Japanese grocery stores in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and California lists.
2 related lists worth checking out, also by Maki:
Thanks, Maki!
Sakaya, a shop specializing in sake, will be a welcome addition to the East Village. From their blog: "...Sakaya, will focus on acquainting, educating, and familiarizing patrons with the pleasures of drinking sake, and pairing them with food. We hope to offer a learning experience that not only creates an appreciation for sake but also for the Japanese culture from which it originates."
Bookmark this: Maki's excellent essentials of a Japanese pantry organized by must haves, good to haves, and not essential at all.
How to judge a good sushi restaurant. "While it's possible to have inexpensive Japanese food, sushi is by nature expensive because the fish is expensive, and it's also very labor-intensive. So, in my opinion there is really no such thing as a cheap sushi restaurant. You can have acceptable sushi at a reasonable price in a city with a lot of sushi places, but you can't have good and cheap sushi."
My friend Selva had some fugu in Seattle and lived to blog about it. I didn't even know fugu was legal in the US but apparently there are 17 restaurants with fugu licenses, 11 of which are in NYC! My birthday is coming up later this month, maybe I'll have some then.
The Japanese Tradition: Sushi. Great video primer on sushi and sushi customs and etiquette. [via FP]
kiplog reviews Nobu 57's Omakase, with photos. The good: "Every dish was perfection." The bad: " But if I'm going to pay a hundred dollars for a meal, a dish should NEVER arrive before I'm done with the one I'm eating. And it happened with every course, a staff member either holding my next plate in full, impatient view, feet away, or rushing in to get me to move my current dish aside." Poor service will leave a bad taste in your mouth after the best of meals.
Strawberry Milk Sausages. "The texture and flavor of the sausages are reportedly close to those of regular fish-meat sausages, with the exception that the aftertaste of strawberries remains. "It's an unexpected combination, but a taste that children will like," a Nissui official said. "Strawberries go well with minced fish." I'm highly skeptical but hey, then again I think green mangos and fermented shrimp paste are an unbeatable combination, so. Anyone in the NYC area find these at a Japanese grocery, please let me know!
SF His humor and language are not for the easily offended, to be sure, but Skot's totally gonzo account of his recent meal at a particular Japanese restaurant in the Mission cracked me up. It's an incredible intimate jewel of a restaurant, responsible for the best meal I've ever had in the Bay Area (thank you to J.Z. for bringing me there!), but yeah, the service is slow. Food is well worth the wait though, as attested by the number of their long-time regulars.
Another wonderful set of photos from Rion Nakaya: Tsukiji Fish Market. I love the one of the octopi!
New York photoblogger Rion Nakaya has started posting lovely sets of photos from her recent trip to Japan, and A Full Belly readers will likely get a kick out of scenes from a Japanese Supermarket and shots of food cases at Tokyu Foodshow. I'm getting hungry just writing about them!
SF Ramen Life: "The evening's theme was ramen meets fashion, club-going hispters, and mirror balls." So sad I missed this event.
If you've been to SFO recently, you probably noticed that almost all the terminals are in the midst of major renovations and construction in their food service areas (part of the airport's "food and beverage upgrade program"), which means the pickings are slimmer than ever. Your best bet for pre-security checkpoint eats is the International Terminal North Food Court, conveniently located between the BART/AirTrain connection and the United domestic terminal. Some of the restaurants located in the food court include Lori's Diner, Fung Lum (Chinese), Willow Street Woodfired Pizza, and Ebisu (Japanese).
Pictured above is a bowl of kimchi ramen I recently enjoyed at Ebisu's SFO location. Ebisu's original location at 9th Avenue and Irving is one of the more popular sushi restaurants in the city, known for its fresh fish and inventive rolls. The SFO location has a small sushi bar and a full menu of your standard Japanese fare. Certainly worth considering if you're at SFO and find yourself hungry and eager for something other than your typical airport food.
Ebisu
1283 Ninth Avenue
415-566-1770
Ebisu, SFO International Terminal
650-588-2549
Sapporo East
245 E. 10th St.
212-260-1330
We've walked by Sapporo East many times, noting it's almost always full dining room and many Japanese patrons. Last night we decided to duck in and check it out for ourselves.
Last night we were wandering around the West Village looking for a place to have dinner, when we came across Aki on West 4th, a Japanese sushi restaurant often praised on the Chowhound boards. Inside, we found 2 seats at the sushi bar waiting for us. Chef-owner "Siggy" was behind the bar, moving to a perceptible beat as he deftly prepared sushi for a full-house plus a stream of takeout orders.
We decided to share Omakase B, which included our choice of 3 appetizers, chef's choice of sushi, and dessert. "Omakase" roughly translates to "Chef, I'm in your hands." For our appetizers, we chose Uni mousse (uni mousse with junsai (thread-like water plant) in yuzu-flavored gelée), hamachi steak (sake lees marinated yellowtail, baby bok choy, enoki-mushroom ginger sauce), and tuna mille-feuille (pictured above; tuna, fuji apple, avocado, shiso and tobiko with white balsamic sauce).
When fresh and properly prepared, uni (sea urchin roe) is delightful -- sweet and melt-in-your-mouth good. Under any other circumstances, uni can be a less than an enjoyable experience and is not recommended. Thankfully and as expected, the uni mousse was excellent -- slightly sweet with a citrus undertone.
The tuna mille-feuille was beautifully prepared, and we found the combination of tuna, fuji apple and avocado very pleasing.
Chef-owner "Siggy" once worked as the private chef to the Japanese Ambassador to the West Indies, and the Jamaican influence was evident in the tuna with fried plantain roll served as part of our sushi selection.
For dessert, we had the green tea tiramisu and tofu panna cotta. Also on the dessert menu was a lychee liqueur gelatin with mixed fruit, which according to our sushi bar neighbor, was also very good.
Overall, a fantastic meal and attentive service, all reasonably price. We will definitely be back soon.
Aki on West 4th
181 West 4th Street
Btwn 6th & 7th Avenues
212-989-5440
Reviews: Citysearch, NYMetro
Lunch at Choga: Spicy tofu custard stew, kimchee, beef teriyaki combination box.
(145 Bleecker St., between Laguardia Place And Thompson Sts.)
Review: Citysearch
We decided to pay a visit to the recently opened Minado tonight. Though I had read the reviews, it was not enough to prepare me for the scale of the restaurant, one more appropriate to Las Vegas than midtown Manhattan -- a seemingly endless buffet and an airy dining room large enough to seat 500. The seafood is fresh and plentiful, and service friendly and attentive. Obviously not the best sushi available in the city, but it's also far from the worst. Minado is definitely worth experiencing at least once.
photos: dining room, poster
Minado is located at 6 east 32nd St (Between 5th and Madison)
phone: 212-725-1333
$23.95 for dinner, and $13.95 for lunch ($2 more on weekends)
As part of the ongoing River to River Festival, Unity Restaurant serves a free sushi buffet along with $2.50 drafts every Thursday night to anyone living or working in the Downtown area. Looks like this is good through the end of September.
Details:
Sushi-'nsanity
Time: 5:00 - 8:00 PM
Location: Unity Restaurant (Vesey & North End, at Embassy Suites)
Price: Free
Phone: 646-769-4200
Has anyone been? If so, I'd love to hear about it.
