A Full Belly

Pigs' Feet and more at Hakata Tonton

"Leaving the restaurant after my first visit, a waitress followed my friends and me outside and presented me with a sealed envelope that contained the restaurant’s card and a quarter to pay me back for calling to make a reservation (which I had found necessary). Then she pulled out a Mr. Incredible PEZ dispenser and offered each of us a candy to freshen our breath before sending us off into the night."

* Hakata Tonton website

nyc bread scene

All hail the new upper crust. Regina Schrambling in the LA Times on how bread-loving New Yorkers are more spoiled than ever: "This city has always had an embarrassment of yeasty riches, especially with the rise of artisanal bakeries in the last 10 years, but now the bread scene feels extraordinary. While most of the rest of the country has to settle for squishy Italian or "baked on premises" La Brea in supermarkets, here, in what is virtually a European satellite, we can walk into Dean & Deluca and take our pick from no fewer than 17 bakeries. Or we can sit down in a good restaurant and face more choices in bread than water." [via The Morning News]

N.B. I love Schrambling's Gastropoda. On its best day Gawker would be lucky to be half as tart.

Dinner at Aki on West 4th

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

Cookies and Couscous for sale

West Village restaurant, Cookies and Couscous, for sale on Ebay.

(Via Rachelleb)

Quick Review: Westville

We enjoyed a meal at the very cozy Westville last night. Located in the West Village, Westville serves polished comfort food like smoky mac n'cheese, corn-on-the cob, burgers, and hot dogs. Some of my favorites from last night's table were the crab cakes with green salad; corn-on-the-cob served with lime, cumin, and cotija cheese; crisp french fries; and from the "westville market", a daily selection of vegetables, grains and salads -- lemon-grilled asparagus.

Dessert is not to be skipped at Westville. Magic Chocolate Cake served with a scope of Bassetts vanilla ice cream, homemade oreo cookie, carrot cake, and butterscotch pudding were all excellent. And you don't have to take my word for it -- as we were finishing our dessert, Leonardo DiCaprio strolled in and ordered the carrot cake and oreo cookie to go -- a moment captured by David's dexterous moblogging skills.

Westville
210 W. 10th St. (@ Bleecker)
212-741-7971

Other reviews: Digital City, CitySearch, NYMetro