Filed under Japanese, Lower East Side · Print This Post
25 Clinton Street between Houston and Stanton
212/253.2900
$180 for four people with three carafes of sake and two beers, without tip
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I didn’t expect to save money during Japanese Restaurant Week. Every restaurant week promo I’ve managed to attend always sounded better than what I actually ended up experiencing. The discounted menus during restaurant week are usually subpar, with the least expensive ingredients being offered. I’ve been content with some of the prix fixes I’ve ordered, but what to drink with them? My bill just always adds up in the end. I booked a table at Sachiko’s to take advantage of the week-long event, but not once was I reminded by the restaurant’s staff. On my way out, I saw printed menus on the bar with a 10% coupon attached to them. Even if they told me about Japanese Restaurant Week, my discount would have been, at most, $18. I doubt I ordered anything that was eligible for the discount anyway.
For $20, you can get at least three slivers of seven types of fish–that’s a whole lot of fish! It was the better choice because nothing in the a la carte menu was different. The eel wrapped in rice paper was a bit boring, and the kushiage, breaded and deep-fried meat and seafood assortment, although lighter, was similar to anything I’ve eaten before that’s been breaded and deep-fried. My favorite was the soy and egg “soup” with uni, a delicate concoction of soft tofu, egg and sea urchin. Scooping up the tofu and having the uni softly collapse in my mouth were most pleasurable. At Sachiko’s, the sashimi was pretty good, the sake choices even better.
Filed under American, Lower East Side · Print This Post
50 Clinton Street between Stanton and Rivington Streets
212/477.2900
about $300 for two, with a bottle of wine, with tip
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Wylie Dufresne, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…
1. Pickled beef tongue with fried mayonnaise and onion streusel. I loved the beef tongue carpaccio style; you can barely remember it was pickled. And fried and cubed mayonnaise? It was worth ordering just to find out how the hell they would do it.
2. Octopus with celery pesto, pineapple and tiny bits of mojama, or dry tuna, and marcona almonds. Celery pesto is something I’ve never had before.
3. Corned duck, rye crisp, purple mustard and horseradish. Our waiter told us this is the mainstay on the wd-50 menu and that it was an absolute must-try. He was right. The mini parsleys were a nice touch.
4. Root vegetable “lasagna” with sweet and sour mushroom broth. I tasted carrots, parsnip and burdock in there. Perhaps beets were not in season. Lasagna is in quotes because the familiar layering technique was used. The mushrooms were a delight to eat, but I wish this came in a smaller portion.
5. Rack of lamb, sauerkraut spaetzle, swiss cheese consommé. We finished a bottle of wine from Piedmont and all I remember about the lamb was that it melted in my mouth. We ordered medium, but it was definitely rare. Divine.
6. Kumquat confit, carob ice cream, or St. John’s Bread, a pea pod that looks like cocoa but without the caffeine, with soy caramel. The kumquat was chewy, but I wondered if it would be any softer if cooked longer.
7. Caramelized banana, smoked chocolate ice cream and stout. I have no clue how one would smoke ice cream, but we paused after every spoonful and asked, Is that bacon I taste?
8. Thin crisps in a wooden box. I had to ask our waiter to take them away because I couldn’t stop picking from it.
A very expensive meal for two, but worth every penny.
