Personally, I like Megu and Nobu as a preppy japanese restaurants..., butat the same time I don't think it worth that much....well if you wanna just go there for preppy mood, then go ahead. if you want real japanese, its not the place. come on, have you seen so many japanese people eating out there? if you want Japanese Japanese food, go to Japanese restaurants where actually Japanese people flocks.
after I started living in NYC, I went to soooo many, and my two tops are ;
Basta Pasta
37 West 17th Street
New York, NY 10011-5503, United States
New York, NY 10011-5503, United States
(212) 366-0888
EN Japanese Brasserie
435 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014
at Leroy St.
at Leroy St.
212-647-9196
Now, if you are looking for sushi, please go to Ushiwakamaru or Sushi Yasuda. i do not listen to any non-japanese ppl say about sushi in NY(no Offence!), BC California roll or spicy tuna roll does not exist in japan. well you can make it and sell in Japan, but you will lose a lot of money...! I had terrible dinner at Take sushi...the service was worse than maybe McDonald's, food were not as good as the price....I would say go to Village yokocho instead to have fun and cheap yet good japanese food.
Back to the subject!! Basta pasta is not Japanese cuisine, its italian... i know, some ppl were like even disgusted by the combination, Japanese cooking Italian. Some clearly said ew. I was sooooo offended.....go to basta pasta and talk. please. mussels there is aaaaaaaaawesome! and the best thing is you can order whatever you feel like!! I LOVE ragu, but oftentimes, they serve it with linguini or something. I LOVE it with Pappardelle. so I always tell them to switch the pasta. easy step!!! but surprisingly, at many restaurants, for many reasons, they dont serve in a way you like. they dont want to put that much effort in your dish. sad. but the fact. here, be selfish, you want caprese w/o tomato? go ahead and order!!! they will do ir for you. the service is one of the BEST!!!!!!!!! plus, their pastas are ....omg....AAAAAmazing!!! just right aldente.
for the pure Japanese dishes....En....! the other night, I went there for the first time... the interior is nice...and thought oh, another NOBU type of restaurant. Im not saying its bad, but I thought it wont be something very Japanese. Surprisingly, all the dishes are finely flavored, and not too salty like many asian restaurants' dishes are. It was the first impression. and because im very skeptical about Japanese restaurants in US, I thought it was just the first dish. the second dish may not be this good. I was wrong. It was GOOD!!!! very GOOD! Amazing. hmm lets see....I had 'HOTATE and YUBA salad'. its a little sour because of the vinegarret, but its got such a refreshing taste accompanied with this unique texture in your mouth. Yuba is a soy-bean sheet kinda thing, and its got this very unique texture, but its addicting!! ahhhh....I wanna have it again...mixed with some seaweed and makes the splendid combination in your mouth...its very light yet appetizing to start full dinner with someone special...:) then something heavier...I had Yama-imo isobe age and omg, even though its fried, its not greasy at all. AT ALL!!!!! I had it by myself...god, it was so good too...slightly flavored with seaweed(nori), and fried. very simple. but again, the texture was super sensitive. very sensitive. its not something you can just make it at home..its a taste of ocean extasy..
What else did I have?? stone grilled washu-gyu, and sake kasu pork shoulder. for those two, it was finely flavored, but since it was very juicy, It was a little heavy for me...well I had 5 pieces of those huge isobe age, so of course...but the meat was very good quality. at the end, I had cha-soba cream brulee or something...cant be sure about the name...but it was also Maaaaarrrrvelous! so good. couldnt stop it though i was super full.
im sorry, i dont have any photos available for those, but ill continue this subject and will update more Japanese good restaurantsss:)
good night folks!!!
