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NYC Sushi: Sushi Seki (Mar. 2013)
Author: Victor
Restaurant: Sushi Seki
Chef: Seki (I can’t find his first name on Google; we’ll just assume his first name is “Chef” ^_^.)
Date: March 9, 2013
Notes:
Sushi Seki is one of the more famous sushi places in the Upper East Side, and I’ve wanted to try it for a while now. It’s known for its inventive/fusion sushi, and in that respect it’s very similar to Sushi of Gari—both specialize in sosaku sushi, which involves using other ingredients, such as sauces, to complement and pair with the fish.
Seki’s actually quite a bit cheaper than Gari, so price is definitely something to keep in consideration if you’re choosing between the two. ALSO, the sushi bar is apparently open until 2:30 to 3:00 a.m. That… is… amazing. I kind of want to come back when I’m drunk. (Then again, good sushi would probably be wasted on me in that state. Still… I WANT TO TRY.)
Food-wise, both have great seafood, but the rice at Seki was a taaaaaaad bit too hard/grainy for my taste. (The temperature was about right, though!) I prefer the sushi rice at Gari (either at the Upper East Side or Upper West Side location) to that of Seki.
Unfortunately, a few of the sushi pieces are inspired by (or stolen from, depending on your viewpoint) Gari but were inferior in taste. Apparently, Seki trained at Sushi of Gari, and he utilizes (or copied) quite a few of Gari’s creations (for instance, the tuna with tofu sauce, freshwater eel with avocado, and salmon with sautéed tomato).
Seki also might have more variety than Gari does. Gari has about ~50 different combinations, while our sushi chef at Seki implied that they still had many more combinations available after we finished our meal. We actually took that as a challenge to eat more haha, but we decided it’d be better to eat less so that we could prepare for the massive amount of drinking later on in the night—four friends were celebrating their birthdays, which meant… SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS!!!
Food:
1. Chūtoro (medium-fatty tuna).
The fish was excellent, but the rice was a bit too hard.
NYC: Takashi (Feb. 2013)
Author: Victor
Restaurant: Takashi
Chef: Takashi Inoue
Website: http://takashinyc.com/
Date: February 25, 2013
Notes:
I’ve wanted to try Takashi for a few months now, ever since I heard about it from a friend. The NYTimes summarizes it pretty well in its review: “[Takashi] specializes in raw offal and Korean-style Japanese barbecue.” The menu has a bunch of bizarre dishes and cuts of meat to try, and this is one of the few restaurants where I can see that I want to try the entire menu. (You can check out the menu here.)
Pretty much EVERYTHING on the menu looks amazing. “Calf’s brain cream tube”? Bone marrow–and–crawfish dumplings? Beef heart chili? Beef tongue, stomach, and cheek? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and YES. I wanted to try EVERYTHING!
As for thoughts of the meal, I thought everything was pretty good. Generally, the ingredients were high-quality, and most of the stuff tasted fresh. As for subpar dishes, the gyutoro-temaki sushi, bone marrow–and–crawfish dumplings, and testicargot really weren’t that great.
The food’s kind of pricey, so you should be willing to spend if you really want to try a good variety of the dishes—and I highly suggest that you order a lot of dishes so that you can try a lot of them. They all look really interesting! Also, definitely make sure to bring some friends who are willing to be adventurous!
Lastly, there was a ridiculous moment in the meal when we were just happily enjoying our food and my friend, for reasons unknown, randomly asked, “Can you imagine if we lit a cow on fire? How amazing it would taste?”
…Yeah.
NYC Sushi: 15 East (Dec. 2012)
March 13, 2014 Note: We’re going to have a second update on this restaurant soon. We’ve come back at least five times since December, and right now it’s probably Monty’s, Steven’s, and my favorite sushi restaurant in the city. The rice is generally great, and the fish is always fresh.
Authors: Victor and Monty
Restaurant: 15 East
Chef: Masato Shimizu
Date: December 4, 2012
Victor’s Notes:
-The fish was great, though it was worse than Sasabune’s, Yasuda’s, or Masa’s.
-Temperature-wise, the rice was about right. Texture-wise, it was lacking at times; the rice would occasionally be too hard, while at other times it was just right. The fluctuation was bizarre.
-In terms of the whole experience, we really enjoyed it. The chef smiles and talks with you a lot, so it’s more enjoyable to eat here than at some other great sushi places.
Monte: The experience is definitely uplifted by the pleasant chef behind the counter who is so friendly to the diners. This place is super unpretentious while still maintaining excellent sushi.
Monte
Victor
tadv3
Happy Noms 