My Favorite Restaurant in NYC...
is a tiny little Japanese place on the Upper East Side. I went there last night to celebrate a pretty big life accomplishment which I might blog about at some future date.
Anyway, when I say "tiny little" I mean "tiny little". The place has 6 tables - seating for 22 diners. When I called for a reservation for two on a Thursday night, my choices were 5:30pm or 8:15pm. I opted for 8:15pm and was seated by 8.
What makes this place so special really revolves around four things.
First, the intimacy. This tiny space with exposed brick walls and a picture window looking out onto a quiet Upper East Side street, makes for a leisurely dining experience, unlike many of the massive "best" restaurants around town.
Second, the service. There are 6 servers for 6 tables and all of them cater to the needs of each table equally. At one point or another last night, all 6 servers brought menus, plates, drinks, or food to our table.
Third, the menu. The menu is as diverse as it is intersting. All sorts of foods I've never tried before appear throughout the menu and I'm reaching the point where I'm willing to order many of the more esoteric choices, because...
Fourth, the food. The food is simply amazing. The sushi is always extremely fresh. They serve blue fin tuna and blue fin toro, which if you haven't had blue fin toro, you haven't had sushi. It's extremely expensive, but it melts in your mouth and has a simply remarkable taste. Other treats have included seared tuna, grilled squid, salmon and cucumber in spicy sauce, sauteed soft shelled crab, sauteed whole shrimp, broiled sea bass, and many other delights. And the sake and desserts as just as good.
This place truly is amazing.
Verdict: I'd tell you the name, but then it'd be even harder to get a reservation. Trust me, I'm not hurting them - they took their name out of zagat, because they'd gotten too busy.
Anyway, when I say "tiny little" I mean "tiny little". The place has 6 tables - seating for 22 diners. When I called for a reservation for two on a Thursday night, my choices were 5:30pm or 8:15pm. I opted for 8:15pm and was seated by 8.
What makes this place so special really revolves around four things.
First, the intimacy. This tiny space with exposed brick walls and a picture window looking out onto a quiet Upper East Side street, makes for a leisurely dining experience, unlike many of the massive "best" restaurants around town.
Second, the service. There are 6 servers for 6 tables and all of them cater to the needs of each table equally. At one point or another last night, all 6 servers brought menus, plates, drinks, or food to our table.
Third, the menu. The menu is as diverse as it is intersting. All sorts of foods I've never tried before appear throughout the menu and I'm reaching the point where I'm willing to order many of the more esoteric choices, because...
Fourth, the food. The food is simply amazing. The sushi is always extremely fresh. They serve blue fin tuna and blue fin toro, which if you haven't had blue fin toro, you haven't had sushi. It's extremely expensive, but it melts in your mouth and has a simply remarkable taste. Other treats have included seared tuna, grilled squid, salmon and cucumber in spicy sauce, sauteed soft shelled crab, sauteed whole shrimp, broiled sea bass, and many other delights. And the sake and desserts as just as good.
This place truly is amazing.
Verdict: I'd tell you the name, but then it'd be even harder to get a reservation. Trust me, I'm not hurting them - they took their name out of zagat, because they'd gotten too busy.
posted by Hairy Lime at 1:42 PM
3 Comments:
It is so fabulously uncool to tell us about this wonderful little sopt that I'd love to try and deprive us of the name... how bout a cross street or some such so I could have a little "find the restaurant" scavenger hunt?
I know about that place. They were forced to take their name from Zagat after several food poisoning incidents.
Fortunately, since I kept the name a secret, your defamation of their good name will go unnoticed.
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