1/13/2024 0 Comments Murasaki nyackAnd while there was nothing wrong with the mashed potatoes and baby bok choy, I would have expected this kitchen to take a more thoughtful or refined approach to balancing each plate. On two occasions, we noted that all the cooked entrées appeared to be served with the same sides. A chicken tempura with wasabi sauce thrilled our seafood-eschewing diner, though a perfectly nice pan-seared duck breast was accompanied by an unremarkable sweet chili sauce with a touch of heat. Not all the items on the menu are fish, though the best dishes seemed to be. Soba, the warm, nutty Japanese noodles, formed a foundation for a lively cacophony of flavors and textures that resulted in a beguiling dish: thin, gingery-hot strips of striped bass tempura lay entwined with the noodles, proving that opposites truly do attract. This clever interpretation harmonized with some of the richer and more intensely flavored dishes we sampled. Knowing the “raw roll” contained “seared tuna, carrot, cucumber, and avocado” did not prepare us for this refreshingly crunchy version of a summer roll with a cucumber wrap. This dish managed to one-up the original Nobu version, thanks to a pile of spicy pickled daikon that proved to be the perfect complement to lusciously fatty fish. But ingredient descriptions alone couldn’t set our expectations high enough for the rich, velvety black cod. The menu clearly explains what is in each of the more creative dishes. Servers were not particularly helpful in this regard, although in general, service was adequate. Some dishes, like the calamari, were quite generously portioned, while others were not. It’s hard to be sure how much food to order at Wasabi. By the time we had made our way that far down the pile, it was time to move on anyway otherwise we wouldn’t have had room for the flurry of food that followed. We were saved from overeating this enormous pile of haunting coronas by the cloyingly sweet hoisin-based sauce that corrupted the flavor and texture of the rings that sat directly in it. But firm is a relative term here: the calamari was remarkably tender. The fried coating on the wasabi calamari was, appropriately, more dense than on the tuna, which helped it stand up to the inherently firmer texture of the calamari. In this dish, the juxtaposition of sensation came from a cool, creamy, and mild wasabi aioli. Tuna Millennium, slices of raw tuna wrapped in seaweed and encrusted with an ethereal fried tempura batter that lent just a whisper of crunch, was also served fanned around the perimeter of a martini glass. Portion sizes vary widely, but entrées are the largest plates. Ignore the confusing categories on the menu and order whatever mix of cooked and raw foods appeals to you. While its barely lit, lime-green-and-black interior and post-modern menu- both of which stem from an appealing Japanese sensibility-may seem at odds with the pounding techno-music, the overall effect is hot and edgy, though the fare is somewhat more restrained than the ambience. (Recently spotted: Rosie O’Donnell, Bill Murray, Stephen and Alec Baldwin, and Elizabeth Shue.) Celebrity spotting is a bona fide sport here, and those who play to win work the room. More recently, though, the restaurant scene has become competitive and sophis-ticated-to diners’ advantage. It felt like a sleepy town of antiques and craft stores, casual coffee shops, and low-key restaurants. Was its off-beat, somewhat time-warped character. Newcomer Wasabi spices up a once-sleepy town
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