BlindBaker and I decided to go shopping before a dinner engagement we had, but needed to grab something to eat – fuel for shopping, you see?! – beforehand, so we headed over to Chikurin on 64th Avenue.  I remember going here when it first opened; I think it was even the first of the locations because I see now on their website that there are, holy crap, 9 locations.  Damn.  That’s a lot.  In any case, this location is right next to the subway station that I used growing up, and somewhat close to my mom’s house.  So I thought it would be nice to revisit. 

Of course, since we both dawdle a lot, by the time we met up, it was pretty close to dinner time, so I made the executive decision (sorry for being bossy!) that we should each pick a roll (to share, of course), and eat just that, so we’d have room for the large dinner we were having that night. 

We both picked from the special rolls menu.  I chose the Dynamite roll – the one on the right – which is salmon, tuna and tobiko.  There was nothing wrong with this roll, but both of us felt it could have benefited from something to contrast texturally, as the overall texture the way it was became just a bit uniform. 

BlindBaker smartly chose the Panther roll – salmon, eel, tobiko, all topped with tempura flakes or ‘crunch’.  The sweet meatiness of the eel + sauce against the creaminess of the salmon, and then the crunchiness of the topping… really good!  Texturally perfect and the flavor was spot-on, I really enjoyed this roll, as did BlindBaker.  I actually started dipping the other roll into the pieces of crunch that fell off the Panther… it helped quite a bit. 

Yvo says: Great neighborhood sushi joint.  No reason to not order from here when I’m craving just regular rolls, your local sushi joint… not the place for avant-garde or amazing sushi, but just your solid, local place, not destination dining… I’ll have to go back and check out the lunch specials and the cooked/hot foods as well and report back. 
recommended local sushi joint

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Post tags: Sushi

A while back, HB told me about a really good Japanese place near my school, and I’d tried to go to the restaurant… except it wound up not opening till 4pm every day!  Happily, this led to the discovery of Press 195, and as I <3 that place now, I can’t say I was that mad that Mickey’s was closed that fateful day in January.  However, I made it a point to try to get to Mickey’s sooner than later, so one day, when one of my evening classes was cancelled, I headed over to check out the wares…

My eyes lit up when I saw croquettes on the menu; deep fried mashed potatoes mixed with veggies (since the only choice was veggie; my favorite is the kind filled with creamed corn, nommm!).  These were fried perfectly; crisp on the outside, piping hot mashed potatoes on the inside, served alongside katsu sauce.  Yum. 

Next up was takoyaki, or fried balls of pancake-like dough stuffed with octopus bits.  If you’re new to octopus, this is the perfect gateway octopus food, since they are small nuggets hiding in each ball of slightly sweet dough/battery goodness (topped with a bit of sweet, a bit of savory sauces).  Chewy deliciousness; while these weren’t amazing (could be more crisp on the outside), they were still a solid entry. 

Grilled white tuna basted with miso!  So good… perfectly cooked, slightly salty, and elevated to new levels with a touch of lemon juice.  The acidity really brightened the dish and, though I’d never have thought to add lemon juice to miso, this was absolutely perfect.  Succulent. 

Because I was very hungry, I doubled up on some of my favorite sushi… from the lefthand side (orange with stripes) clockwise: salmon, octopus, eel, salmon roe, uni (sea urchin), and tuna.  The fish was all very fresh, though I might skip on the uni next time; I always forget that I prefer that mixed with rice or soba more than I do as a sushi   Otherwise, very yummy and fresh – I was happy. 

After I’d finished all that, I realized I was um, still a little bit hungry.  (They must’ve thought I was a monster!)  I ordered one of their special rolls, I believe the Christmas roll. 

Again, very fresh fish, prepared very deftly.  Very yummy, though the roll itself wasn’t particularly mind bogglingly innovative, it was still delicious.  Nommers! 

Yvo says: I’m thrilled to have a really good Japanese/sushi place so close to school, if a bit unhappy that it isn’t open for lunch!  I’ve a feeling I’ll be back sooner than later… the prices were pretty reasonable, too!  (Also, I discovered that this is the same place that, when I first moved back to Forest Hills, I read a ton of recommendations to go check out… unfortunately it had closed/moved from Forest Hills by the time I moved back… happy coincidence, though I do wish they were still in Forest Hills!!!) 
recommended

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Post tags: fish, Sushi

After a few drinks recently in Midtown, I headed over to meet up with HB and her BF for some quick sushi bites.  They introduced me to their neighborhood spot, a local place with some decent bites… Nomado. 

We started off with some tataki appetizers.  This was a special so unfortunately I don’t recall the exact name, but it was only alright. 

Tuna tataki – again, alright, nothing special but neither horrible, either. 

We opted to split a bunch of rolls – Christmas roll on the left, pressed rice with tuna, salmon, eel, avocado… was really good.  I liked the ‘pressed’ rice – it gave the pieces a different character, but they were a bit large, and HBBF said they were a bit unwieldy to eat.  But the flavor was great.  The other rolls – spicy mango shrimp – was good, but better if the mango was in season… and the banana tempura roll was awesome!  I’d thought it would be a lil weird, but it was quite tasty – the sweet banana, the crunch of tempura, and the spiciness of the tuna really worked well together.  The last roll was just a plain spicy tuna roll, pretty standard. 

And then, because we were sort of still hungry, we ordered spicy rock shrimp tempura, which was pretty good.  But not rock shrimp.  Tasty though.

Yvo says: Nomado isn’t a destination Japanese joint… it really is just a neighborhood place you swing by when you want a quick bite with your friends or for yourself.  I can’t say I’d go out of my way to return, but if you live in the area, they have some really interesting rolls and are reasonably priced.  (I have to say that I’ve yet to find MY neighborhood Japanese joint, so I’m kind of envious!) 
recommended neighborhood place… don’t go out of your way though

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Post tags: Sushi

Astute observers, close followers, creepy stalkers – whatever you want to call it – people who read this blog and pay very careful attention – will know that I hang out in the St. Mark’s Place area quite a lot.  It’s an area near and dear to my heart – my stomping grounds since ‘99 thereabouts.  However, as many times as I’ve tromped up and down 8 & 9th Streets, crossing Stuyvesant St., up and down 3rd Avenue… I never really noticed Hasaki.  It’s right next to quite a number of places I’ve frequented, and a bunch that I’ve even reviewed, but its below-sidewalk entrance and very muted sign (see above pic!) just meant I never gave it a second glance – until Spicy Ninja & I went out after work for drinks one night, and he said he really liked the sushi/sashimi there so we have to go, like, right now.  So we did.  And then he insisted we order the omakase… so we did.  Yeah, someone pushier & bossier than me who bullied me into things!  Who’d have thought that was possible? 

I was intrigued by the miso soup as it was darker than I’m used to, and the flavor was much more robust… so I asked the server who informed us that it was red miso.  Very interesting.  I’m not sure I like it more than white miso or if it was just a nice change from the normal, but it was tasty. 

The sashimi course came quickly – a TON of sweet shrimp, fluke?, arctic char, toro, ? (I should have taken better notes, but I’d been drinking), and mackerel.  I was happy with the selection and the portion size – that’s a lot of fish! – and toro?  Considering the price of the omakase, I didn’t think it would include four nice, big slices of toro.  Yumm.  Very fresh and delicious. 

I was already nearly full when this came out – the sushi course.  Tuna (top left), egg, freshwater eel, uni, mackeral sushi, surf clam I think? and then the rolls were tuna, pickled… something… I really should have written this down when I got home, but I totally forgot. 

Yvo says: This omakase was $60/person, which I felt was pretty reasonable for what we received.  I really enjoyed the selection of very fresh fish, the service was great… Good stuff.  I’d go back.
recommended

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Post tags: omakase, sashimi, Sushi

As you might already know, I visit San Francisco about once a year.  It’s my favorite domestic city (after New York City, of course), and really, it’s my second home.  I seriously feel at home there… which is no easy feat for me.  In any case, among the reasons I love SF is the bento shopping!  One of my favorite places to hit is Daiso in Serramonte Center over in Daly City.  It’s HUGE, it has its own parking lot that is ALWAYS empty, and the goodies are just incredible!!!  (Aside from bento goodies, I stocked up on fingerless gloves – which I adore, a pink raincoat for Keywee (!!!), and a pink scarf/shawl that has gotten a lot of compliments already and suits me very well while being cheap enough that I don’t care if I mess it up.  The fingerless gloves were $1.50-2 a pop, the raincoat $4, and the shawl/scarf?  Also $4.  Come on!!!  How can you not love this store?) 

Anyway, after my flight and checking into the hotel, getting showered and ready to face the day, I went shopping but then realized I was kind of hungry.  Not sure I could wait until dinner, I peered around Serramonte Center and noticed that way over on the other side of the huge parking lot were a few restaurants.  All chain places, but hell, I just needed a bite to calm my crying tummy. 

Though I’m extremely wary of chain Japanese places, the other places didn’t exactly beckon to me.  Plus Barracuda had a sign that said “Happy Hour, half price appetizers” – sold. 

The happy hour menu wasn’t extensive but it wasn’t complete crap, either.  I opted out of the $2 sake because I was driving. 

I started off with the rock & roll without asking what was in it.  Lucky for me, it was eel and avocado, which I like.  The roll was standard, not particularly interesting or awful.  I could have stopped there but with such inexpensive dishes, I felt stupid just ordering one. 

The kara-age or Japanese fried chicken was fried properly, but lacked flavor.  A little bit of salt sprinkled on top would have been nice, or seasoned dredge instead of whatever they used.  The lemon was nice but I needed something to balance the acidity from that… so I wound up dipping most of the chicken in the sauce of my next dish.  (Yes, I ordered 3 dishes and subsequently went out for dinner shortly after… hehe)

My last dish was yakitori.  The menu didn’t say what kind, but I wasn’t surprised when chicken came out.  I was surprised, however, that it was literally drowning in a sweet soy sauce glaze-ish type of sauce.  This dish was alright but really, way too much sauce. 

Yvo says: With a very generous tip, the above came out to $14.  Not bad for so many dishes, right?  The food wasn’t amazing or wonderful, but the price is right and it filled the need to get food in my belly before I passed out.  I’d probably go back if I was at Daiso and REALLY needed food again.  (Which has happened in the past… lol) 
better than expected, not bad

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