Brooklyn’s Best Kept Secret: Iron Chef House – Japanese Cuisine

Iron Chef House
92 Clark St
(near Henry St, and Pace University’s St George Dorm)
(718) 858-8517

If you think the best Japanese restaurants are in Manhattan, think again. There are exceptions with such restaurants as ‘Masa’, ‘Morimoto’, or ‘Sugiyama’ where they offer top notch sushi for the highest dollar. BUT, if you’re looking for delicious sushi at an unbeatable price, come to Brooklyn. That’s right Brooklyn. Under the brooklyn bridge, there’s an up and coming neighborhood, aka Brooklyn Heights, which is becoming a highly attractive and trendy place.

The reason why I came here was because my mother had come to this place before and she’s an avid sushi lover. She insisted that I had to come here because she believes it is the best sushi that she has ever tasted in Brooklyn, but I have my doubts coming from a woman who’s content with any kind of food, including my home cooking. Haha. She knew some people who worked there and had hookups to a table there on a busy friday night for me, my brother, bf, and of course her. When we finally made it there, I noticed how small it was. It was like the size of a studio, but it looked cozy as hell. All the sushi chefs huddled in the back putting their skills to the test, while we sat right in front of them. Yes that’s how small it is. So expect to wait when you get there even if you make a reservation.

I’m really glad that this place has Japanese sushi chefs making my sushi. I have to admit, I have been to sushi places that has been prepared by non-Japanese chefs and they always lack something. Sometimes I don’t need to see who’s making it and can tell just by looking at the sushi. Like sometimes my sushi rolls aren’t decorative or the chef skimps out on ingredients like rice, fish, or avocado, or they don’t use fresh ingredients. I really hate that. Also, instead of using crab meat, they use fake crab meat which I really don’t like, but apparently it’s acceptable in NYC. Try going to LA’s Japan town. I guarantee they don’t use that fake sheit.

Now check this out:

On your right you have your Monkey Roll, which has shrimp tempura, avocado on top and inside, crab meat and topped off with several different kinds of spicy sauce with sesame. If you’re not a fan of raw sushi, this is the roll for you. The marriage between the soft and creamy avocado with the crunchy shrimp tempura really creates the perfect balance in your mouth. I have never had such a roll before and I am definitely glad that I’ve tasted something so incredible. Excellent.

This house special roll is only $9.95. Look how much they’re giving you!! You really can’t beat that.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
My Rating: 5/5

The other one is the Spicy Yellow Dragon Roll. In it contains tuna, salmon, yellow tail, crab meat, mixed veggies topped with fish flakes, sesame, and a spice sauce. Now I’m not a fan of raw food, but luckily the waitress had it half cooked so it maintained the seafood freshness and it was easy to eat because it’s not as slimy which I loved. I have to admit, this was the best dragon roll I ever had. This roll had a hint of spiciness and it went well with the whole array of textures — smooth, soft, and crunchy.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
My Rating: 5/5

The next dish the waitress served to us is the Tuna Tataki. This is half seared tuna topped with sesame, sliced seaweed, and topped with the chef’s special sauce.
Price: $7.50

With a good piece of seafood, you are never supposed to taste the “fishy-ness.” This very moist half pan-seared tuna taste smooth and succulent. As a first time having tuna like this, I am actually very impressed with this dish.

Recommended
My Rating: 5/5

Grilled Rice Ball
Price $4.50

Look how artistically done this rice ball is. The rice is moist, unlike most riceballs, and it is drizzled with soy sauce. The inside of this contains dried shredded pork with the chef’s special sauce to make it moist. You’d be surprised at how one can really fill you up.

Recommended
My Rating: 5/5

Green Seaweed Salad
Price: $4.50

This by far is the best seaweed salad I have ever have. I’m serious. Usually with most seaweed salads you’ll have seaweed that looks like it’s fished right out of the ocean and right onto your plate. Here they cut it into thin slices, mix it in with some thin clear rice noodles, and toss it with some salt, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. I am quite impressed by this dish and would definitely reorder this when I come back.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
My Rating: 5/5

Grilled Spicy Crispy Salmon Salad with spinach, sliced carrots caviar, and spicy wine sauce.
Price: $7.00

This is an impressive looking salad, but I personally didn’t like it only because I don’t like seafood in my salad. But the Salmon is very fresh and flavorful and I would recommend this to those who likes salmon and salad.

My rating: 4/5

Seafood Sauteed Lo Mein Noodles
Price: $14.00

The sauteed lo mein noodles remains very moist and flavorful. With the mix of the sesame seeds and the fish, it’s a delectable delight. I usually never have seafood with lo mein noodles, but surprisingly this is very good to eat. Not bad.

Recommended.
My Rating: 4/5

Grilled Chilean Sea Bass!
Price: $16.00

This has got to be the best sea bass I have ever tasted in my whole entire life. The presentation of the dish is actually the reflection of how delicious it is. The sea bass is seasoned very well with ground pepper, salt, sesame seeds, and parsley bits, and it is grilled to perfection. Words itself cannot describe how incredible this dish is.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
My Rating: 5/5

Last but not least,

FRIED ICE CREAM!
(Red bean, vanilla, green tea)
Price: $3.75

Fried ice cream can never go wrong. Of course sometimes chefs might add a little too much flour, but this isn’t the case with this one. After a long hearty meal here, the best way to end the night is with a big cup of fried ice cream. My part had the vanilla and the red bean. We finished every last drop.

I really recommend this place because the price is right and the food is very authentic and flavorful. When you’re in the neighborhood, drop on by and try it out!

Curious on what their health inspection report is? I leave you with this:

IRON CHEF HOUSE
92 CLARK STREET, BROOKLYN 11201
718-858-8517

Current violation points: 17/28

Inspection Date: 02/05/2007

Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.

1.) Non-food contact surface improperly constructed. Unacceptable material used. Non-food contact surface or equipment improperly maintained.
2.) Lighting inadequate. Fixture not shielded.
3.) Plumbing not properly installed or maintained; anti-siphonage or backflow prevention device not provided where required; equipment or floor not properly drained; sewage disposal system in disrepair or not functioning properly.
4.) Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
5.) Personal cleanliness inadequate. Clean outer garments, effective hair restraint not worn.

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Northern BBQ & Sushi Buffet

Northern [Korean] BBQ & Sushi Buffet
157-26 Northern Blvd
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 886-8880

WARNING: THIS WILL BE THE MEATIEST EXPERIENCE YOU WILL EVER HAVE. VEGETARIANS/VEGANS BEWARE.

If you’re coming with a large party, especially on a Saturday night, be sure to make reservations! My party of 10 had to wait about 45mins before being seated.  The people in here are mostly Korean, in fact you’ll be greeted by the staff in the Korean language.  They’re really friendly and cute!

The atmosphere in the restaurant is very relaxing despite having a buffet environment.  It’s definitely better when you bring a crew of your friends to dine out.

I really love the environment here.  When you are seated, feel free to get up and get some food.  I started off grabbing some hot food and sushi:

There’s my cali rolls, my potato croquet (god i love it), fried rice, chicken wings, and stir fried string beans. Yum.

Now, grab a plate full of meat to grill on your table.  That’s right, it’s a BBQ and you do it yourself.  It’s just the best way to do it.

Ask the server to start up the grill for you, otherwise you’ll play with the gas knob all night and wondering how the hell does it work.  When you first work the grill, please drizzle some oil on it.  It makes the cooking process faster.  I’m sure you all know, but just a reminder especially if you’re a newbie like me.  Usually the server do it for me, but here, you actually do it yourself.  And seldom a server will come by if s/he isn’t busy and do it for you too.

The beef brisket, shown above, could be marinated a little more.  What I highly recommend are the ribs.  OH MY GOSH, it’s the juiciest, tastiest, most succulent piece of meat I ever had.  Let me show you:

It just so so good! Use the scissors that they provide you to cut up the meat.  Cut it after when it’s done cooking.  This is the best piece of meat I had all night and I loved it!! There are other meats like steak, sausage, pork, intestines (ew, but still cool), etc etc, but this by far was the best I have had for the night.  It’s all you can eat buffet, so try everything!

Sometimes when you finish a plate, the server might not see that your plate needs to be changed so call them over and they’ll gladly do it for you. =)

My only gripe about this place was that they had a poor dessert and fruit section.  For the fruit section they only had grapes and cherries and ran out of cantaloupe and honeydew.  For dessert they have jello, I think that was it and it wasn’t even that great.

I highly recommend this place!

Price: $25/person ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT!

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Yakitori Taisho

Yakitori Taisho
5 ST MARKS PLACE
Manhattan, NY
(212) 228-5086

YAKITORI!!!! This is not your typically Japanese restaurant. No they don’t serve sushi or ramen or any typical japanese food. But they’re totally cool because they are all about sticking meat and all sorts of stuff on their skewers! Mmm, I like cooked food and bbq meat!

If you’ve been down on St Mark Place, you’ve definitely seen this restaurant before. It’s next to the infamous beat up Barney that sells tourist goods and jewelry, and it’s the first Japanese restaurant on the block if you’re heading towards 1st avenue. Usually I’m really deterred from eating at this place because it’s always, 100% of the time packed. Every time I come here, there’s always a line forming outside of the door. Luckily for me and my bf this time, there was no line. At 6pm, wow, I guess people come a little bit later?

Well to my surprise, this place was awfully packed! My god! It is a really small joint here! Btw, be careful when you walk down the steps, you can trip and accidentally fall. Oh no, don’t think I fell. You know, I’m just saying because I saw a woman fall. =P Anyways, the first thing you’ll see when you enter is a couple of single tables for couples and a bar, as you can kinda see with my picture. After that there are a few more bigger tables and that seems to look like that’s it. The waitress asked me if me and my partner wanted to sit at the bar, and of course I said hell no because, #1 I’m claustrophobic, and #2 I wanted my own table and my own space. Apparently, that’s a little hard considering how small this place is!

To my surprise, the waitress offered us a table in the back room. Holy crap, I didn’t think this place can be bigger, but it is. Just pass the bathroom there is a little room inside with a few tables. Wow, hey, at least this is better than to sit at the bar. So yeah, there’s probably like 6 tables in there. Believe me, it’s a very tiny room so it’s a tough squeeze.

After settling down from all the chaos out there, I was ready to order. I already had something in mind to eat after viewing a post on this restaurant by blogger feistyfoodie. I knew I wanted the cod fries that they have here. I am a big fan of fries and I was dying to try it and the sauce that comes with it. Mmm. My bf was having a hard time trying to decide what he wanted because there is so much to choose from! Look at the cool menu! I just had to take a picture of this because it’s so graphic!!

Ahh so beautiful. Each page is more colorful than the last. Mm…if these pictures doesn’t make you drool, then I don’t know what will!

Appetizer!

Mentai Potato french fries with spicy cod roe & mayo sauce
Price: $4.50

My god, honestly, these fries taste better than the Pomme Frites ones around the block! It’s freshly cook and it’s nice and plumped, just the way I love it. My bf thinks it needs a little more salt, but I think it’s perfect. The mayo sauce taste good with the fries for a few dips, but then afterwards it gets disgusting to eat. I love these fries soo soo much! Everyone else in that room ordered this too, so you should go and get these too!! They’re a big hit!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Rating: 5/5

Entrees

Yakitori Tei – Scallions, shrimp, chicken meat ball, beef, and chicken
Price: $8.50

I never had a chicken meat ball before and had confused it with a crab meatball because of it’s soft texture. Oh let me tell you how each and every skewer taste like — perfectly salted and grilled. My god, the chicken and beef are so juicy and delicious. My boyfriend couldn’t finish this because it is so filling. My goodness, this is really good.

Recommended
Rating: 4/5

Taishodon chicken meat balls, chicken chunks and beef over rice with kimchee served with miso soup
Price: $6.95

As I said before, the skewers of meats are amazing. It went really well with the kimchi rice, but I wasn’t fond of the ginger that you see on the top right. At first I thought it was carrot, but I was wrong. It’s definitely ginger and I did not like it one bit. But other than that, this is a very good bowl of rice and it’s incredibly filling!

Recommended!
Rating: 4/5

Overall I had an incredible time coming here. I would definitely come back here for the fries! Yumm, definitely!

Alright, health inspection results of this place!

YAKITORI TAISHO
5 ST MARKS PLACE, MANHATTAN 10003
212-228-5086

Current violation points: 12/28

Inspection Date: 10/24/2006

Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.

1.) Food contact surface not properly maintained.
2.) Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to vermin exist.
3.) Evidence of flying insects or live flying insects present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
4.) Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.

Menkui-Tei Noodle Restaurant

Menkui-Tei
63 Cooper Square
(Btw 7th St & Astor Place)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 228-4152

You probably have passed this place a million times when you’re walking down to St Mark’s place or down on Cooper Square. I know I’ve been around here a trillion times and never noticed that right on the block where the pizzaria is and the hotel is that there lies on the middle of the block, a ramen shop that screams of a real japanese ramen like you would see in Japan.

It looks pretty small on the outside, but wait until you get inside. I had this preconceived notion that there was going to be a ramen bar, a few tables and that will be it, like how I see it in Japanese anime, like Naruto, lol, and on tv. But whoops, I am wrong. Inside the restaurant, there are tables that you can see by the window, and then there is a short hall leading into the back of the restaurant with more tables! Yeah!
Just know that this place is pretty spacious. If you’ve been to the other Japanese restaurants around the neighborhood, especially on St. Mark’s place, then you know what I mean.

I came by here around 5:30 and it was pretty quiet. By the time it hit 6:00, more and more people started to come, which I’m sure is a very good sign. The restaurant played very mellow Japanese music, which my bf absolutely loves, then followed by Evanescence, which wasn’t that cool. We both preferred it if they stick to mellow Japanese music, that way it makes the dining experience that much more pleasant. Now let’s start with the appetizers!

APPETIZERS!

A)

B)

C)

If you guessed Edamame, Gyoza, and Mabo Tofu you are correct!!! These are our favorite appetizers and we had to try it at least once to see if it’s better or worse than the others I have tasted. After trying all 3 dishes, if you think they’re nothing out of the ordinary, baby, you’re wrong. Wrongg!! Maybe except for the edamame. But I’ll tell you why.

Edamame – Lightly salted & boiled soy beans
Price: $3.25

I always say, the saltier the better. Here, they weren’t generous enough with the salt, which made it pretty darn bland. I’ve had edamame better at Gobo, the vegetarian restaurant, than here. But I must say, if you’re a fan of edamame, go for it. You can’t go wrong for the price and you can eat it like you do with peanuts

Not Recommended
Rating: 2/5

Gyoza – Fried pork dumplings (6 pieces)
Price: $4.00

My god!! These are the best gyozas I have ever had! The pork was nice, tender, and surprisingly juicy! I loved the skin, it wasn’t too thick and doughy and is cooked just right.

Recommended!
Rating: 5/5

Mabo Tofu Sauteed Spicy Ground Pork & Tofu
Price: $6.00

THE BEST MABO TOFU I HAVE EVER HAD! Straight up. The Chinese invented this dish, but the Japanese makes it better. No hatin’, no hatin.’ The tofu is fresh, rich and creamy like the kind of tofu that I had at Kyotofu. If you’ve been to Kyotofu, you’ll know what I mean. And also the good thing about this dish is that it’s not overwhelmingly spicy, like how I had it in the past in Chinese restaurants.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Rating: 5/5

RAMEN!! NOODLES!

Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen rich pork bone broth & soy sauce flavored noodle soup
Price: $7.50

 

The pork bone broth needs more salt, but at least it’s not loaded up with MSG. Honestly I’ve had my share of pork bone soups and broth and they’re pretty much bland. This however wasn’t bland and does have flavor, just that to me I didn’t think there was enough salt. The ramen is soft and delicious and it goes very well with the broth. The piece of pork is honestly bland and it was a little tough to chew, but it was alright. The ramen is really about the noodles and its broth.

Recommended
Rating: 4/5 – Very Good

Char- Shu Men Soy Sauce Flavored Noodle Soup Topped w/ Extra Pcs of Roast Pork
Price: $8.75

After stealing a bite from my bf, the only thing I can say about this is that it is very enjoyable to eat. As you can see, there are the same pieces of pork that you saw with my noodles and some bamboo shoots. I am not a fan of soy sauce soup, but it compliments well with the pork, which is probably why my pork tasted bland and hard. My bf is a hardcore ramen eater and he loved this.

Recommended
Rating: 4/5

There are just so many things to try at this restaurant. I definitely would love to come back here and eat.

Now I leave with you with the NYC Health Inspection report!

MENKUITEI
63 COOPER SQUARE, MANHATTAN 10003

 

Current violation points: 4/28

 

Inspection Date: 07/24/2006

No violations that present a threat to the public health or relate directly to factors which lead to foodborne illness were recorded at the time of this inspection.

1.) “Choking first aid” poster not posted.”Alcohol and Pregnancy” Warning sign not posted. “Wash hands” sign not posted at hand wash facility. Resuscitation equipment: exhaled air resuscitation masks(adult & pediatric), latex gloves, sign not posted. Inspection report sign not posted.
2.) Non-food contact surface improperly constructed. Unacceptable material used. Non-food contact surface or equipment improperly maintained.

Kyotofu

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Kyotofu
705 9th Ave
(Btw 48th & 49th St)
New York, NY
(212) 974-6012

Have you ever thought that tofu can ever be a dessert? Well I did, but I didn’t know there was more than one way of doing it! The only tofu dessert that I’ve seen is Chinese tofu, or Tofu Flower, look that up in google, which I see being sold on the streets of Chinatown. Tofu flower is essentially steamed tofu served with black melted sugar. It’s quite a tame sugary treat. But anyways, I believe the same concept of making tofu is used here at Kyotofu, but I had to investigate to find out for myself.

A little bit of history, Kyotofu opened last November and there has been a lot of rave reviews, especially by New York mag, which is my bible of restaurant reviews. Located in the trendy neighborhood in the Hell’s Kitchen district, Kyotofu fits perfectly well here, which you will see. A pair of two recently graduated students are the entrepreneurs of this lovely dessert boutique, and their youthful style are reflected within the restaurant.

After months of stalling to take my trip to the neighborhood, I finally made reservations during Japanese restaurant week and decided to take my group of closest friends with me. And btw, I believe you can only make reservations if you have a party of 4 or more and you cannot be more than 10 mins late because then your reservation will be given away due to the small capacity of the restaurant.

As I arrived with my team of 6 at 9:30pm on Friday, I told guy standing in a casual suit that I had a reservation and he told me to give him 10 mins because the people at the table was getting ready to leave. So as I was waiting, I noticed that that was a bunch of barstools sitting in front of the restaurant, as you can see with the above picture. People were already having delicious treats, like this gorgeous parfait! I’ve always had great experience with a Japanese parfait and two pocky sticks in it. Ahh nice. The people here looked very trendy and it looked like the place to go socialize with a friend or go out ona date. But anyways, during the wait, the room between the door and the kitchen grew incredibly small because more people came to wait. Me and my gang were packed in so tight that we grew uncomfortable and impatient. Believe me, regardless of reservations, you’ll have to wait because this place is really really small. At least we were entertained as we were waiting because the female Japanese chef was making desserts right in front of our eyes! She was pouring this black substance, we thought it was chocolate, but it was too thin to be chocolate and later saw her put it over a muffin. Mm…interesting. But yeah, after that we were all set to go. Woo!!

If you haven’t seen the picture of the inside of Kyotofu on the NY mag website, then you can see it now, but not as wide and detailed like theirs are. The theme of the restaurant is pure and clean — white on the outside and white on the inside. Since bright white isn’t all that sexy, there are fluorescent light bulbs and candles all around which produces this night golden look. I like it.

For drinks, Amy ordered:

Harajuku Martini whole lychee/green apple puree/shochu

Amy, correct me if I’m wrong since I’m no expert on alcohol, but yeah I had a little sip and it was very strong with a hint of sweetness. I believe this drink costs $12. And then my boyfriend ordered Soju, which I’m even going to put a picture up because it looks like ice water with a slice of lemon hanging on the edge of the cup. That soju was incredible strong and bitter. Yuck, I’m just not a fan of soju.

Alright on with the desserts!

First came the Toasted Walnut Tahitian Vanilla Parfait, that contains maple soy mascarpone mousse and caramel apricot sauce, and some pomegranate for decoration, which Judy and Queenie ordered:

Price: $8

Sorry I didn’t get a better shot at the toasted almond part, but nonetheless, it looks good. When I swiped a taste of this delicious treat, I thought it was ice cream. It truly tastes like vanilla ice cream, but it was missing something that makes it vanilla — it was the soy and mascarpone mousse. My goodness, you do not realize how delicious this treat is! Very very delicious! I absolutely loved it.

Next came Chi’s treat:

Warm Chestnut Mochi Chocolate Cake green tea-anko cream, fig yokan
Price: $10

I took a bite into this and it tastes like the best muffin I have ever had! Oh gosh, it was nice and soft, sweet, and there’s a surprise in the middle. Take a guess on what’s inside? I really like this, but it’s a little overpriced, but it tastes pretty good. I enjoyed this.

Next, my boyfriend’s treat:

Black Sesame Sweet Tofu (Tofu Flower), with hoji-cha tea syrup, white sesame tuille, goji berry
Price: $8

Wow, when I saw this I thought to myself, how artistic the presentation is. Growing up with the Tofu dessert in chinatown, it was just poured into a plastic container with the syrup and that was it. This, this is nice! You see it right? And how does it compare with the chinese version? Well, this is much more richer — you can literally taste the pureness of the tofu. Very clean and pure. That’s what I tasted, and don’t forget to pour some of that syrup on it. This syrup is much stronger than I one I had in chinatown, and my god, it tastes very very smooth and delicious. It’s not too different, but it’s not too similar too. I loved this.

Kyotofu Kaisaki Prix Nfixe zensai, dessert sampler, petitis fours
Price: $15

And here comes my first course:

I believe this is the zensai, which basically is a sample of the black sesame black tofu. I prefer having this sample because it looks cuter without me having to have so much tofu. If you like a variety, I suggest the sampler. It’s simply the best. And the rest of the pictures that I’m going to show you are samples of what my friends had.

Second course:

Top left clockwise, toasted walnut vanilla parfait, warm chestnut chocolate cake, peanut butter dipping, and lastly ginger infused Japanese rice okayu (rice pudding).

Green tea chocolate, sample of cookie gift box

I’m not a green tea lover, but after a bite of this, it actually did not taste bad. In fact, it was quite sweet, which was why I liked this. I actually wanted the cookie box to go, but then again I was so full and I wasn’t going to save it for the next day because I wanted it fresh. And because it’s $23 for this cookie box. Check their website, you’ll get a good picture of it.

And lastly, Amy ordered another cocktail since she’s such a cocktail-thirsty kinda gal:

Doki Doki Saketini melon puree/junmai sake/champagne

Again I could be wrong because I couldn’t remember what she ordered, but I believe this is the one. One sip, and it was already so strong and bitter in my mouth. Even though it looks incredibly fruity, it packs a powerful punch.

Overall it was a fabulous dining experience. The desserts came out really quickly and it tasted as good as it looks! And the waitress was very friendly to us. She took my boyfriend not to confuse the soju with water because it could get him very drunk which was funny. Then later on she came by and asked if one of us was a blogger, and of course I said yes, and then she said that she lost a bet. This bet was between her and the man who I thought was a waiter, Mike, but turns out to be the co-owner of this restaurant. Haha was my face red. After we paid, I asked for a picture with her and Mike.

Yeah, it turns out that this girl is also one of the co-owners as well instead of the waitress. Ah, it was one fun night. But yes, this is the first time that I’ve ever encountered seeing an owner at any restaurant. Plus they were friendly, professional, and speedy. Like I said to them, I will recommend all my friends to come here because this is such a unique place to come to. The dessert might be a little more than what you would expect, but it’s well worth it. See and taste this place at least once! I promise you that you will not regret it.

Alright, time for the NYC Health Inspection results of this place:

KYOTOFU
705 9 AVENUE, MANHATTAN 10019
212-974-6012

Current violation points: 7 – PASSED
Inspection Date: 10/24/2006

No violations that present a threat to the public health or relate directly to factors which lead to food borne illness were recorded at the time of this inspection.
1.) Mechanical dishwasher not operated as per manufacturer’s specifications (time/temperature/chemical concentration); machine defective.
2.) Non-food contact surface improperly constructed. Unacceptable material used. Non-food contact surface or equipment improperly maintained.

Japonica

Japonica
100 University Pl
(Btw E 12 and E 13th St)
212-243-7752

I honestly have never heard of this restaurant until it was listed as one of the participating restaurants for Japanese restaurant week, which was from March 4th – 10th, even though I pass by it like a million times. But of all the restaurants that I opted to chose, this was the one that I wanted to go because it has rave reviews, despite it’s steep price. If you do your research, you’re going to read that this place has one of the freshest sushis around and that it’s expensive. But for the week, they had a special which I had to take advantage — $29.95 for a Japonica Box that includes a variety of raw fishes, sushis, and rice bowls, and dessert. For that price, how can I go wrong! But yes, getting an impression that it’s like a mid-high scale restaurant, I knew I should at least try it once.

If you’re interested in going, call to make reservations. Now you might read that this place doesn’t take reservations, but they do. Just call to make a regular reservation because they might assume that it’s a special reservation where they put you in their small private traditional Japanese room with pillows on the floor for you knees. That room is a min of $300, so yeah, that’s something for you to know. Reservations help because it gets extremely packed at night, since it’s located 2 blocks away from Union Square, and the restaurant is pretty small — smaller than what I thought because the picture on the website gives me this vision that it’s big.

As I walked into the restaurant around 6:30, the place was already packed. Luckily I made reservations ahead of them because there were a lot of people waiting on line as well. After a few minutes of waiting, our tables were set up for my party of 6, and we were greeted very nicely by the waiters.

Like I said, the place isn’t that big, but it gets packed. There are Japanese waiters all around if you need assistance, which I thought was pretty good since they’re so helpful and efficient.

We sat towards the back, next to the private room, which has a long couch in the back with pillows that had nice floral designs, which was very comfy. And after a few minutes of settling down, the waiter came to ask what we wanted to drink and then got it right away. Very nice hospitality. It made me feel like I was in a Japanese home.

Alright time for food! As I said, I came to take advantage of the special on the Japonica Box, which contains:

JAPONICA BOX – $29.94 (reg. $34)

1) Begin with Miso soup or Edamame.

2) Box entrée:

- Salad, Tempura, and Fried sweet potato and broccoli
- Sashimi assorted(tuna, yellow tail and salmon)
- Spicy tuna crunch roll, Yellow Tail with Jalapeno roll, Hot Alaskan roll
OR
- Eel Don(Eel on Seasoned rice, in bowl) or Alaska-Don(seasoned rice mixed with crispy salmon skin, topped by salmon caviar).
- And choice of chicken Yakitori or beef Negimaki.

3) Finish with a scoop of scoop of sherbet or ice cream.

I opted for the sushi rolls instead of the rice bowls because I heard very good things about the hot Alaskan roll, so I couldn’t wait on that. My friends all had a mix of everything.

Here are the pictures!

I know, I have a million edamame pictures, but I’m so addicted to it. But this one, it’s lacking some more salt, but it’s very rich in soy. But just some more salt would do the trick, to me anyways, since I’ve tried a lot better in the Japanese towns in California.

Yakko-Tofu – $6.00

This fried tofu over soup is a delectable treat that has the combination of saltiness and sweetness. The tofu absorbs some of that soy sauce soup which gives the tofu and extra kick. For the price, it is a little overpriced but it tastes alright.

Here is my box!

I’m usually not too much of a fan of raw fish or raw anything, but my Alaskan roll that has raw salmon, cucumber, and avocado taste really smooth and tasty. I did not detect any strong hints of fishiness, which is always a good thing to me, and even my boyfriend who hates seafood, loved this roll. Excellent, just like how the other reviewers said it. The only thing I wished was better was the presentation of the roll. I know, they’re probably churning out a couple of hundred rolls a day and the chefs are tired, but a little rice would be nice on the rolls, because then it starts falling apart, like the ones I had.

The beef negimaki is best eaten with it’s still hot. After when it cooled down, it was pretty hard and the taste isnt really there any more. In the rolled up negimake is scallions inside, which I usually don’t eat, but I made an exception. It’s not bad, although I wish I could have accompanied it with a bowl of rice.

I did not have the fishes and gave it to my friends, who really enjoyed it. They tell me that it tastes very fresh and that it did not disappoint. I figure all 4 of them couldn’t go wrong since they were all in consensus. But yes, this seems like a good place to go if you love sushi!

Alright the rest of the pictures are a slight variation of what I ordered:

As you can see, the food looks pretty good and I could tell when my friends are having such a good time eating it.

If you’re not a sushi fan, I really do not recommend you to come here because everything is just ridiculously priced and it’s not worth it. My friend ordered udon noodles, and that cost about $20! Very expensive, and that bowl you can really get anywhere else.

And my boyfriend ordered the Sukiyaki – $24: 

It has vermicelli on the bottom, and everything else that you see here.  It’s actually an unique combination and it tastes pretty good.  The beef was nice and tendered since you can see it’s not overcooked, but yes, I’d definitely recommend this.

For dessert, you get a choice of red bean, vanilla, and green bean ice cream. I’m a fan of red bean, so I had that.

The ice cream reminds me of mochi ice cream, which I really liked. I wish there was more of the ice cream, but this was good enough.

As we were leaving, I learn that you can’t joke around with the Japanese, seriously. My friend wanted to see if the pillows were for free. Take a guess at who! She seriously asked the waiter the manager there if she could take it home and they gave her this awkward look, and at this time I interrupted and said, “She’s kidding.” When we left, they mumbled something in Japanese, and I figure, oh man, she shouldn’t have said that! You don’t kid at a mid-scale restaurant like this one!

Overall, it was a good experience. Dress code is casual, atmosphere is great for groups because it does get pretty noisy when it’s crowded, but it’s a tad expensive for my taste. Go here for the sushi at least once. You’ll learn to like it.

HEALTH INSPECTION RESULTS

JAPONICA RESTAURANT
100 UNIVERSITY PLACE, MANHATTAN 10003
212-243-7752

Current violation points: 19 – PASSED
Inspection Date: 11/27/2006

Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.

1.) Non-food contact surface improperly constructed. Unacceptable material used. Non-food contact surface or equipment improperly maintained.
2.) Toilet facility not maintained and provided with toilet paper, waste receptacle and self-closing door.
3.) Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
4.) Cold food held above 41°F (smoked fish above 38°F) except during necessary preparation.

Mochi Ice Cream

For more and newer posts, please visit the new site at http://finechinagirl.com! More posts for Mochi are on the new site.

MOCHI!!!!!

For those of you who don’t know what Mochi ice cream is, mochi ice cream is a glutinous rice cake that has ice cream inside, like vanilla which is shown in the above picture. This is not your ordinary ice cream and is definitely worth a try. If you never had mochi before, you can try going to a Japanese market or a Chinese bakery and ask for it. Remember it’s just the mochi itself and it may contain things like peanuts or red bean. Try and ask it when you’re around the neighborhood. It is a delicious treat and it tastes even better when combined with ice cream.

You can usually find this in chinatown like in Dynasty Supermarket for $4.68 for 6 pieces. This particular brand carries six flavors: vanilla, strawberry, green tea, coffee, mango, and red bean.

I’ve only tried Vanilla and Red Bean so far, and I really like the vanilla. Plain ol’ vanilla. I have coffee at home since mom bought the wrong one and will try to give it a shot. But for now check it out. Wholefoods sell this as well and some more expensive and higher class mochis, like Bubbies Ice Cream recommended by softrice and by Oprah herself!

Taste: Very sweet and soft with a doughy texture that is at first foreign to the mouth, but then followed by a familar pleasure that begs your mouth to have more. Try it!

Ninja New York

Ninja New York
25 Hudson St
btw Duane and Reade St
New York, NY
(212) 274-8500

Reservations: Definitely, so the people can make the proper arrangements for you and your party.

For some of you who don’t know, Ninja is a themed restaurant with of course your ninjas in a ninja-like setting. This was one of softrice recommended places to go to and I thought it was the perfect place for me to take my boyfriend for his birthday since he loves ninjas. Let me stress that even through it is a theme restaurant, you shouldn’t take the quality of the food less seriously than it’s other similar counter parts, like, Mars 2112. And of course it might not be the best japanese food as well because it’s a theme restaurant.

Ninja is hidden in lower manhattan, a few blocks away from City Hall. The reason why I probably didn’t see this restaurant is because Ninja does not have fancy flags with its logo waving around and from far away, it looks like another apartment, to me anyways. The lamp gave it away because it has their initials and the paperwork on display behind the glass are their menus. Not bad.

Once you step pass that door, you’ll be in a dimly lit room that looks like a cave cause the walls are rocky, and there’s one woman standing behind a computer that will look you up on their reservation list. That is it for the whole room, including an elevator. When I went there it was pretty quiet, but later on more people started to come in, mostly the older adult crowd – early 30s and up. Anyhoos, my bf and I were the first to go in, and the lady pressed up to the second floor. Based on what I heard from my friends who went, I was on alert mode! I held onto my bf’s hand and he stepped out first where a ninja yelled a quick, “HIYA!” Scared the sheit out of me. Then afterwards, we had to climb down the stairs in complete darkness, where I almost fell down the stairs if it weren’t for my boyfriend.

My flash is pretty dam powerful don’t you think? And when we got to the end of it, another ninja popped out and said the same thing. Whoa, nearly had a heart attack, haha. We decided to check our coats there since they did it which was nice, but that part wasn’t even part of the restaurant. There’s was more to go an I was already out of breath from all that flinching. Man…I am so paranoid. When we stepped into the restaurant, wow, it looked like a little hidden Japanese town. Luckily there were no more ninjas to scare us, it really depends on which ninja is free, so we were guided by one ninja to take us to our table.

The people here really encourage you to take pictures here. They actually like it, so I’m already giving them points for that, haha. On the left is my little “private” booth to sit in. And yes, you do sit on chairs and use tables to eat off of.

My super nice ninja/waitress because she’s willing to pose for me. Extra points again. That scroll is my menu!

All your different menus combined into one scroll. Cute.

Ahh what a pretty little area to sit in. We can see others eating in their own booth, but it was far away enough that I can’t hear their conversation which is perfect.

Drink for the night:

Toh sweet champagne with one lychee
Price: $12

Verdict: I decided to go with champagne because it was good for the occasion. It’s probably not I would get next time because it’s just regular champagne with one lychee in it, but it was alright. Very sweet.

Recommended: No, unless you’re celebrating something.

Dawen doesn’t like alcohol so he chose Coke instead, but they didn’t have that – only Pepsi which is even better. Haha. There are no free refills here and it costs $5 for a cup of soda.

Cold Appetizer

Tamate Bako* treasure box, us prime beef tartar topped with boiled egg yolk and white, served with minced shallot, tomato, chive and caper on the top

Price: $14

This is the ninja that served me my box.

Verdict: I will probably never order a cold dish again. It is my fault for not knowing that the meat is completely raw! Uggh, I thought it was tomato because I was under dim lighting and it tastes weird to me. This is only because my mind is not opened to raw foods. But even then, I don’t think anyone should eat raw meat like this. Well, at least my appendix will start to work on this.

Recommended: Definitely not. You’re better off with something else. It’s a cool concept, but it’s not that tasty. Maybe if it’s just with the tomatoes. But otherwise, yeesh.

Sushi Rolls

Summer Roll shrimp tempura and avocado wrapped with saffron rice and rice paper, served with sesame sauce

Price: $12

Verdict: Holy crap, this is the best summer roll I have ever, ever tasted before. I’ve had viet and thai ones, but this japanese one, oh my god, it’s so good. This is very soft and seasoned to perfection. Unlike the other rolls, this roll is not wrapped like a burrito and it is more tasty than the others.

 

Recommended: I highly recommend it, especially if you’re not a fan of raw sushi.

 

Korean BBQ Roll grilled beef and pickled daikon kimchi wrapped in rice and sesame
Price: $12

 

Verdict: This roll isn’t that special, but it was still a treat to me because I was starving. It’s essentially just meat wrapped up with rice and seaweed. But I do like this because the roll is big and it is packed with rice, just the way I like it.

 

Recommended: Sure! But for you hardcore sushi lovers, you might want to avoid it.

This is how it looks like when you’re being served with more than one sushi roll. I thought the presentation is very cute.

Main Course

Sukiyaki Ninja Pan fried sliced Wagyu Beef seasoned with Sukiyaki Sauce, Grilled Tokyo Negi (scallion), Pan fried Tofu Lightly deep fried Half steamed Whole Egg wrapped with Pate Filo
Price: $35

I had to order this with rice because I just can’t eat a chunk of meat at a japanese restaurant without my rice. That and I felt that I got so little because I was starving.

Japanese Rice: $5

It comes in a very cute orb, haha whoa.

Anyways to continue, the wagyu beef is very tender and sweet — even sweeter if you dip it more with the sauce it comes with. The waiter told me to cut the egg right down the center so that that egg yolk will come spilling down the center onto the meat. Well I didn’t have such luck, and probably I didn’t want it to be like that, but here’s how it looks like:

I’m impressed on how they make the egg, very interesting.

Verdict: The wagyu beef is definitely good. Everything else doesn’t taste anything special, but I would get it just with the beef.

Recommended: Yes, also get a bowl of rice to eat with it. It definitely fills you up without eating more.

Ninja T-bone Steak us prime t-bone steak prepared in your choice of garlic, wasabi or teriyaki sauce served with fried and marinated cucumber, bell pepper and eggplant
Price: $35

Garlic was chosen for this one:

 

Verdict: This medium slab of meat is jam-packed with flavor. It tastes especially good when it’s hot because then it’ll lose flavor and it’ll become hard when it’s cold. The potatoes are great, feels like I’m eating it with butter, but then again it’s my favorite vegetable. This steak looks bigger than the one softrice had at STK and I really liked it.

Recommended: Keep in mind that you’re at a japanese restaurant, so you might as well try something else. There’s nothing wrong with this steak, but I think you might get more for your money with something else.

Magic Trick

After your main course, you’ll have a magic that will pop into your room to show you some cheesy magic tricks. I guess I was slightly buzzed from my champagne that everything and anything entertained me. The first trick was with playing cards, where you pick a card and your card will automatically appear on the first deck. I see him hiding a card on his curve palm. Haha kinda lame.

The second trick was with rings and him using a light blue rope to magically get the rope to be untied. Eh….

And the last trick was with two different dollar bills. I held one $10 bill and he held the other $1 bill. he told me to hold his wrist and then magically both my bills where in my hands. Which was cute. Dawen watched the whole thing so he knows how it works. We ended up tipping him $10 because he was standing there for a while looking at us like we’re supposed to tip him. I guess that’s what his bills of money in his pockets are from!

Dessert

Bon Sai tiramisu with a twisted sugar
Price: $12

Verdict: This tiramisu is very bitter. You have to poke your spoon all the way to the bottom of the bowl to get to the creamy part. Even then it was still nasty. The branches are alright, tasted like crossants, but it was nothing special. Nice presentation, sub par taste.

 

Recommended: No

Rating: 4.5/5

Food: 0.85
Decor/Atmosphere: 1
Service: 1
Speed: 1
Price: 0.70

Now how clean is this restaurant? Well NYC Dept of Hygiene says this:

NINJA RESTAURANT
25 HUDSON STREET, MANHATTAN 10013
212-274-8500

Current violation points: 23

Inspection Date: 10/18/2006

Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.

1) Milk or milk product undated, improperly dated or expired.
2) Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used
or stored.
3) Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
4) Hot food not held at or above 140°F.

Now you know!

P.S. Don’t forget to ask for several keychains if you want it!

Water Lounge

Water Lounge
54 Spring St
(btw Spring & Mulberry St)
(212) 965-9838

Price: Moderate ($$$)

Reservations: Highly recommended, unless you’re just going to hang out in the bar/lounge area. When you call for reservations, ask for Hanna, I think she’ll be the one talking anyways. I had to make the reservation online because no one was picking up at the lounge and it worked for me. You can give that a shot.

Located right outside of soho’s shopping neighborhood and right across from the Gatsby Bar, this trendy little hotspot fits perfectly well to its stylish counterpart a few blocks away. And it’s zagat rated, like every other place in town. I don’t even know how reliable zagat is now. They probably pay a fee to get the zagat rated sign. Anyways, let me continue.

Oh that sign says happy hour until 8pm. Beers are $3, sakes $4, $5 for selected mixed drinks, and $15 for all the beer and sakes you wanna drink. Not bad huh? There’s a nice bar. Unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of it because my kids were flashing nonstop that night, so I was embarassed for all of us. But let me show you what I can.

That’s the wall in front of the bar. Sorry I didn’t take a picture of the bar, but the wall was worth taking. It looks incredible.

The lounge is not all that big. Actually it is a combination of bar/lounge/restaurant. Let me tell you, the pictures on the website was totally misleading. I thought it was a huge lounge with a nice waterfall on the wall, somewhere in the middle of the lounge, and private rooms. This lounge has no private rooms, and in fact is just a very long space with the bar in the front, lounge in the middle, and restaurant in the back. The picture above with our very own softrice is the lounge area. That’s it. Just a couple of leather couches and tanks of fishes embedded in the wall which I thought was pretty dam cool. The point is, pictures can be very deceiving.

This is the back where the restaurant part there. There’s a sushi bar with chinese people working there, and you know how I feel about that, and that so-called waterfall that I saw on the website. Yeah enough said, it’s not all that impressive so expect that.

Nonetheless, I didn’t anticipate the food to be great when I stepped into the lounge. I figure since it’s a lounge/bar, they’ll probably only have snack foods, nothing special and I’m right.

Okay let’s start off with drinks:

Cocktails

Phoenix
Price: $10

Verdict: This drink is not worth $10 even if it came in a tall glass and the paper of the straw was curled pretty in an amazing fashion. This beverage has a hint of apricot, mango, and orange and of course vodka, which tastes pretty sweet.

Recommended: Yes, it is a decadent drink and it has the colors of the phoenix. Very nice. Although this gave me a killer buzz because I drank on an empty stomach.

Shanghai
Price: $10

Verdict: This definitely is not worth $10 and it tastes like spiked ginger ale. That’s all I can say.

Recommended: No.

Too bad the rest of the crew didn’t try a beautiful cocktail. Instead one had green tea, mainly miss eggrolls, who complained that it wasn’t bitter enough, and another two with soda. Bah, we didn’t come here for soda, pfft! =P

Appetizers:

Crab cake alaskan crab meat served with chef special sauce
Price: $7.95

Verdict: This doesn’t taste too bad because it’s very crispy so the taste is lost in the process. I thought the special sauce taste horrible, very tangy like bbq sauce so I did without it. It wasn’t too bad, but definitely not worth the $7.95. This kinda taste like the filet o fish from McDonalds, but not quite. Man it was hard to eat without a knife. They should have given me one instead of me drilling into this thing.

Recommended: No, this isn’t great for drinking because it’s not bite size. This doesn’t taste anything special. Junk food, that’s all it is.

Crispy Calamari w/spicy mayo
Price: $5.95

Doesn’t this looks like cheese doodles? It looks very cute and delish, buttt….

Verdict: The spiciness of the mayo overpowered the calamari. I felt like I was eating the mayo except with a hard texture that squid has.

Recommended: Seafood and alcohol does not mix. Don’t press your luck on this. But for $6, you can if you want, just that it’s not anything spectacular.

Gyoza japanese fried dumplings
Price: $3.95

Verdict: I think the dumplings were fried a little too much, but nonetheless it was alright. This doesn’t taste anything special, but it’s great to go with when drinking.

Recommended: Yes

California Roll & Tuna Roll
Price: $3.95 & $4.95

Verdict: I wish the chef puts more rice onto the rolls. I wasn’t impressed with either rolls, but the Cali roll goes very well for drinks.

Recommended: When you’re drinking, this is a good choice. If not, don’t bother.

House Salad w/ginger dressing
Price: $3.95

Verdict: I personally did not have this salad, but my friend Kim did and she cleaned up the plate. I’ve had a house salad like this in the past before in another jap place and it wasn’t too good to me. Who knows.

Recommended: No, unless you really love japanese salads. For that price, you should get rolls instead.

Kani Tobiko Salad crab stick mixed with spicy mayo, crunch, scallion, tobiko

Price $5.95

Verdict: Vicky tried this and cleaned up her plate. She’s quite the picky eater and she has managed to clean it up. That has to be a good sign?

Recommended: Yes. For the price, why not?

Entrees

Chicken Katsu
Price: $5.95

Verdict: This chicken katsu did not taste any different from the ones I’ve had in the other restaurants. The sauce was very strong, as expected and I didn’t like it.

Recommended: Unless you really love chicken cutlet, get it. Otherwise, don’t.

Chicken Teriyaki
Price: $5.95

Verdict: I did not like this one bit. The chicken is dried and tasteless, the sauce tastes like bbq sauce, which I’m not a fan of. Not appetizing at all. It looks nice, but it doesn’t taste all that great. I should have had the chicken fried.

Recommended: No.

Ribeye Steak chargrilled ribeye steak loin served with steamed asian greens

Price: $17.95

Verdict: This isn’t the best steak I have ever had that’s for sure. Dawen seems to be okay with it, but I think it’s a waste of money.

Recommended: No

Soho White Flamed Roll
Spicy salmon w/peanuts wrapped with white tuna

Price: $11.50

Verdict: So softrice tells me that this roll can’t keep it together because everything slides out. Hm…I’m guessing that’s not a good sign?

Recommended: No.

So guys there you have it. The lounge is a great place to chat among with your friends, drink, and really have fun. Don’t expect a giant place or good quality food. It’s not too entirely bad. The service was great, the food’s kinda subpar, but it was still a delightful experience.

Recommended? Yes, try it out. I will probably come back here for drinks. =)

Shima Restaurant

Shima Restaurant (Japanese Cuisine)
188 2nd Ave
New York, NY
(On the corner for E.12th St and bet E. 11th St)
(212) 260-6303

The above is a link to menu pages because this restaurant does not have its own website.

*Man, I have got to work on my photography skills. I think my food pics are better.

Reservation: No

Groups: No, but it’s great for very small groups and a great place for a date.

I’ve been to this restaurant twice, first for a date and the second is with friends and both times has been a different experience.

After an unpleasant experience while visiting The Grand Sichuan on St Mark’s Place next to Chipotle there, my friends and I decided not to go because the menu seems to be very touristy, people arguing outside of the restaurant, and this woman blowing smoke in our face. Man, never again will I step foot in that place unless I’m really craving for bad chinese food. I don’t know if it’s bad, but I have a hunch about these things. Who knows, maybe one day.

Anyways back to Shima. When you walk into Shima, you’ll be quickly greeted by a waitress that works there who will accompany your party to a comfortable spot to dine on. We took our sweet time choosing our dishes and the waiter that was assigned to us was very understanding about it. He didn’t rush us and in fact was very encouraging for us to take our time, whch I thought was nice because a lot of places just want you to hand down your cash and get the hell out.

For once this place has Japanese people, yes. I usually see Chinese or Mexican people in the kitchen making sushi. If I wanted Chinese or Mexican, I’d go there for that food. But if I’m going to Japanese, I want a Japanese chef making me their food. Basic logic right?

Drinks: We started off with a sweet filtered sake which name has slipped my mind. You’ll know what it is because it’s the only sake that says “sweeten.” I generally don’t like sake because of it’s strong taste, like rubbing alcohol if that’s how it tasted like, but Shima did keep it’s promised and made this sake a little sweet. You can definitely taste the pinch of sweetness and it’s pureness. I’d definitely recommend this for the hardcore sake drinkers. It definitely will not disappoint you.

Price: $20 large, $10 small. We opted for the large which can fill up to 11 shot glasses.

Appetizers:

Edamame: Steamed salted soy beans
Price: $4.50

Verdict: This is very good. The best I had was when I was in San Francisco in Japan Town. This comes very close to it because it’s actually warm and finely salted so I had no complaints.

Recommended: Yes, you can’t go wrong with this snack. Goes well with your drink.

California Roll
Price: $5.50

Verdict: I was disappointed that these rolls are smaller because the first time when I had it, there was more rice and it was more fluffier and bigger. Nonetheless this tastes better than any of the Cali rolls that I had in New York.

Man, I wish NYC cali rolls looked more like a real cali roll straight from cali.

Recommended: Yes! It’s still very good.

Sashimi Salad Tuna, salmon, white fish, octopus and organic green salad with honey dijon mustard dressing.
Price $9.50

I didn’t try this, but my friend liked it, cleaned up the plate. Although she was still very hungry afterwards. It looks kinda disgusting to me, lol.
Free Miso soup that comes with my bento box

It’s miso soup. The flavor wasn’t any different or same to me. Remember to drink not with a spoon, but with your hands to hold it because it’s the japanese way.

Shima Deluxe Bento Box Tuna and salmon sashimi, deep fried shrimp and vegetable tempura, poached spinach, hijiki and choose one of teriyaki chicken, salmon or tofu

Price: $19.50

I choose teriyaki chicken of course because I was in that mood for that. This of course came with a bowl of delicious Japanese rice that I totally love. Alright from top left clockwise, you have the shumai in [BOX 1], fried broccoli, fried mushroom, tempura and some ginger in [BOX 2], raw tuna and salmon w/carrot and wasabi, hijiki and poached spinach (in black) in [BOX 3], and finally teriyaki.

Duh.

Anyways, I mainly ate just box 1, 2, and 4. I gave my fishes away because I’m not a fan of raw fish. My friend says it tastes delicious and fresh, so I guess I’ll take her word for it.

Verdict: This box isn’t anything special. Everything tastes practically the same everywhere, except on the West Coast.

Recommended: Well, it’s not worth the $20 but if you like junk jap food try it. I’d rather have the udon instead because it tastes really good.

Tempura Udon or Soba ( Hot ) Shrimp or vegetable
Price: $11.25

My friend had this, but I also had this before too. The udon is nice and soft, and flavored nicely with it’s lightly salted soup. Very good.

Recommended: Yes.

On a cold winter day, a nice bowl of warm udon really warms the soul.

I love the service and the food here. I will definitely come back.