my week in NYC: Japanese at 15 East

One of the highlights of my trip was seeing my friend Julie, whom I’ve known for almost two decades now, and every single time we get together, whether in NYC or California, we’ve always eaten sushi. Therefore, it wasn’t unusual that our first meal together this trip was — SUSHI!

Jules made reservations at 15 East, an upscale sushi place next door to another Japanese place she often frequents. When we arrived at 8pm, the restaurant was packed but we were seated a few minutes upon arrival — reservations are a MUST in NYC! — and got right down to it. An amuse bouche of marinated tofu starts off our meal.

It wasn’t difficult to choose our menu for the night. We began with some specialty beers from Japan. Hitachino Nest Ale ($9) either a white or red rice ale. We chose the latter. This had an interesting taste, although, nothing that blew our minds.

We also selected the Echigo Koshihikari Rice Beer ($16) to try. It was just like any other beers we’ve tasted so I don’t suggest you waste the added dollars to get this one.

Yellowtail Sashimi Three Ways ($29) hamachi, kampachi, shimaaji was definitely fresh and filled with umami — not difficult to acquire in OC — but what set this apart from my experiences with sashimi was that they served a different dipping sauce with each of the fish. With the kanpachi, a yuzu daikon soy, the shimaaji came with a sudachi (a citrus used in ponzu) soy and the hamachi was accompanied by a grilled scallion soy. Our only complaints were that the soy sauce was too heavy and the infused flavors too subtle.

Since we wanted to take into account dessert elsewhere later on in the evening, we selected several sushi from the a la carte menu. Definite stand-outs included the zuwaigani, or snow crab, so sweet and succulent.

Two types of uni — one from Santa Barbara and the other, from Kyushi, Japan was also creamy and decadent.

The aoyagi, or orange clam and hotate, live scallop were also incredible.

The 15 East Handmade Noodles and Handcut Soba Noodles sounded great on paper but our choice, the Matsutake Mushroom Soba ($16), a bowl of fragrant hot broth with sliced matsutake and hand-made soba was mediocre.

The accompanying grated daikon and fresh lime added flavor to the broth — which was the star of the show. The soba was a huge disappointment being overcooked and on the mushy side.

Yes I love Japanese food, and yes I’ve always thought Japanese food in NYC was better than elsewhere, but this time around I’ve come to realize, sushi and sashimi is equally good in southern California if not better at the higher end establishments. Although we had a delicious meal, it wasn’t anything I’d make an extra effort to frequent the next time I’m in town.

15 East
15 E 15th Street
New York, NY 10003
Tel: 212-647-0015

Shimbashi offers upscale izakaya dining with a killer view

I don’t get down south too often, but I’m glad I did when I visited  Shimbashi Izakaya in Del Mar. We were lucky that it was a gorgeous day because the restaurant is located in an ideal spot overlooking a glorious view of the ocean. The view alone is enough, but this izakaya offers some really delicious fare definitely worthy of the drive down.

The restaurant’s interior is also trendy and chic. It reminds me of izakayas I’ve been to in San Francisco, where the atmosphere also is in perfect alignment with the food.

Tako Wasabi ($4) is always a favorite of mine. I don’t know what it is about the slippery feel of the fresh tako (octopus) in my mouth that makes me crave it bite after bite. My friends didn’t appreciate this as much as I did so I had no problem polishing it off all on my own.

Yellowtail with Jalapeno ($18) was a lovely start to our meal. The ponzu marinade was a perfectly tart start while the jalapeno added a little kick to the mix.

If you love mushrooms, try the Mix Mushroom Saute in Butter Sauce ($8) — so delicious with a blend of shimeiji, shitake and oyster mushrooms. It’s the perfect izakaya dish to go with some sake or beer.

Shiobuta ($8) grilled salted pork belly was recommended by our server and is flavorful. I’m not a big fan of pork belly but one of my dining companions absolutely LOVED it.

And who doesn’t love Chicken Kara-age ($7.50), tender pieces of fried chicken which you squeeze some fresh lemon juice over. I would’ve liked the chicken to have been cut a little smaller so they were a little more ‘bite-sized’ but still, it was SO good.

We ordered the Assorted Sushi Platter ($15) for one of the less adventurous palates in our party and all the fish was so fresh and filled with umami. I ended up eating a few pieces off this and it was excellent if all you wanted was sushi. 

La Fresca Roll ($19) is Shimbashi’s signature sushi roll with spicy tuna, avocado, cilantro topped with yellowtail, pico de gallo, garlic oil, sesame seeds and ponzu sauce. Although I’m generally not a fan of rolls, I loved this because it was simple, fresh and didn’t possess mayo which I find absolutely offensive in sushi. Rice and mayo just do not go well together.

When I saw Nasu Miso Itame ($9) on the menu, I just HAD to order it. I’m a huge fan of eggplant and I always order nasu miso when I see it. The addition of blue lake beans gave it an added crunch.

I really enjoyed the Grilled Beef Tongue ($9), albeit it was cut just a tad too thick so was a bit too chewy for my friends, but I liked it. Served with two dipping sauces — a salt and sesame oil, and a umami-filled soy based sauce.

It is sad for me that in order to find a quality izakaya, I have to drive all the way to Del Mar. There isn’t one in Orange County I would say that comes even close to this. So if you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and enjoy some drinks and some delicious plates. I suggest going during the day or just around sunset to REALLY soak in everything the restaurant has to offer.

Shimbashi Izakaya
1555 Camino Del Mar
Suite 201
Del Mar, CA 92014
Tel: 858-523-0479

Omakase & happy hour at Hamamori

Generally, a restaurant inside a mall doesn’t always deliver the way I’d like them to, but when it comes to Hamamori, one must overlook its location to see and taste how delightful and innovative the menu is. Chef James Hamamori has brought together his Japanese heritage and married it with some modern day influences to produce eclectic and tasty dishes everyone will enjoy.

I’ve been here a few times, including omakase and happy hour, YES, happy hour. Between 5pm and 6.30pm. drinks and small plates are discounted, and you can relish in signature dishes such as asparagus and Asahi on tap.

Omakase is a prix fixe meal decided by the chef depending on freshness and availability. Lunch is $35 and started with tofu steak with fresh tomato and fried julienned shiso.

Sashimi salad was next with ebi, salmon, taco and scallop on top of a bed of baby greens drizzled with a ponzu vinaigrette. Refreshingly delicious and mouth-puckering tart at the same time. Just lovely!

Next came the asparagus wrapped in okaki, a crispy rice snack similar to arare. When you order it during happy hour, there are three jumbo asparagus in one order served with togarashi salt. So crunchy and delicious — addictive!

Course four was three pieces of nigiri sushi and a small mound of pickled ginger. I would’ve been happy with 10 pieces of this and nothing else.

When it came time for entrees, you had a choice of fish or beef. Everyone at the table ordered beef which was a filet mignon topped with asparagus and mushrooms including shimeiji and King oyster. Tender beef in a succulent au jus is not only satisfying but so flavorful.

Dessert was ice cream and there are a few flavors to choose from. My red bean was perfect to finish the meal off with.

If you visit for happy hour, my other suggestions include Shiitake Mushroom Frites ($6) topped with fried salsify.

Or, alternatively, Salmon Skin Rolls are only $7 during happy hour and is rather good with a beer or sake.

No matter what time of day you decide to visit, Hamamori is good for a leisurely meal or a special occasion. Don’t let the fact that it is situated inside a mall deter you from visiting.

Hamamori
3333 Bear Street
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Tel: 714-850-0880

I shoulda Gatten Sushi elsewhere

The kid loves sushi and naturally, being a kid means the revolving kind is more exciting than the ones you order straight from the sushi chef.

My child’s favorite sushi place is Sushilicious where he can select whatever he wants off the conveyor belt and eat at his own pace. So when he was home with me recently, I decided to take him to try the new kaiten (revolving) sushi opened at UCI campus.

We get to the door of Gatten Sushi and before I even walked in, I could hear “customer coming” and then a tirade of “IRASHAIMASE” bellowing at us.

After we’re seated, the entire staff faces our direction, bows and then shouts “IRASHAIMASE” again. It was really loud! I hadn’t even settled into my seat yet when someone comes over and bombards us with questions “have you been here before? NO? have you been to revolving sushi before? well let me tell you…….”

Finally, our eyes are fixated on the belt as we watched plates go by and my son selects a few items to start eating. I take the fish off the rice and ate them au naturel. The first thing I noticed was how thin the slices of fish was and secondly, the salmon had a slight fishiness to it.

The second was a white fish — seared tilapia — and it was dry. DRY? We arrived when they opened at 11am, how does the fish get dry? How long ago was this made? I then tried the rice and I’m glad I didn’t eat it earlier with the fish. It was hard and very cold — nasty.

Throughout our meal, we were subjected to “IRASHAIMASE” screaming match every time a customer would walk in the door. If it wasn’t that, someone would stop by the table and ask if we wanted to order something. We were there 30 mins and four people stopped by to ask if we wanted to order something interspersed with about 5 very loud “IRASHAIMASE”.

When you order the more ‘elaborate’ types of fish, such as otoro salmon (which incidentally, was the best item I tried), it comes only one piece to a plate (like Kula).

Amaebi is available but they put the fried shrimp head ON the shrimp and it taints the taste of the shrimp — well, in this case, the shrimp was tasteless, so …….

Chicken karaage was served with no mayo and no lemon wedge and my son spat some fatty bits out on to his plate and then tells me he didn’t want any more and then asks me why the plate was SO small. I asked him why he cared since he didn’t want any more.

I ended up eating the edamame, something my son usually devours. It was cold and tasteless, no salt, nothing.

After 9 plates of mainly me picking the fish OFF and eating it sans rice, we were done. When my child tells me he doesn’t want to eat here anymore and can we go to Sushilicious, I knew it was time to get the hell out.

$2 for most of the plates and some $3 plates may sound reasonable, but when the fish is thin, dry and tasteless, it’s not worth the bad taste in my mouth. The more expensive items such as amaebi was $2 but you only get one piece — similar to Kula. The only item which was good was the “otoro salmon” which was also one piece on a plate.

Then my son asks “mom have you realized that it’s the same music playing over and over again?” but it wasn’t the repetitiveness of it that thumped in my head but the techo rhythm too early in the morning.Yeah, it was time to go.

If you like Kula and its pricing, you might like this place. Yeah cheap may be good for some, but you get what you pay for essentially and this place isn’t worth it. On top of that, the constant yelling (every time they place some sushi on the belt the entire staff yells “YUMMY” at the top of their lungs) and the maniacal music made it a very stressful experience overall.

Gatten Sushi
4517 Campus Drive
Irvine, CA 92612
Tel: 949-679-8322

Ohshima — omakase of surprising caliber

I’m a sushi snob — there I said it! I’m not a fan of rolls — I’ll eat it if out with a bunch of friend — but other than that, it’s pretty much omakase, all the way with me. Omakase literally means “it’s up to you”, leaving your entire meal up to the chef’s discretion.

There are a few Orange County favorites I regularly frequent but are rather pricey averaging around $100 per person so I don’t go as often as I’d like.

My friend Quinn recently introduced me to Ohshima’s omakase which she informs me is very reasonable. I’d been to Ohshima a long time ago but only had a bowl of chirashi and remembered it to be good, but that’s the extent of my experience with the restaurant.

We met at 1pm to avoid the lunch crowd and it was nice to find only two people sitting at the sushi bar and another table finishing up. After we sit down, the chef asked our likes and dislikes before starting the omakase.

Our meal started off with sea bream, a white fish with a firmer texture than the more common varieties of fish available on the nigiri sushi menu.

Some Himalayan pink salt is grated over the top to finish, bringing out its natural taste. This is mild, a little chewy but very pleasantly so.

When presented with our second fish I was intrigued as I’d never had Gold Stripe before and asked what sort of fish it falls under.

I’m told it is from the yellowtail family –that’s why it was not only familiar but something I enjoyed a lot! I love yellowtail and this unique variety is flavorful but slightly different. Seasoned with a brush of special soy, it was absolutely delicious.

Cherry Salmon is a lot richer and concentrated in taste than your regular salmon, and melted in my mouth.

It was a heavenly moment because I am not a huge fan of salmon (except when it comes to sashimi) and I surprised myself at how much I loved its flavor and texture. I really wanted another but there was a lot more to come.

Bluefin tuna is one of the prized cuts when it comes to sashimi and here, the chef adds a touch of shoyu (Japanese soy sauce) to it, lending it a subtle saltiness which might have been ruined had you dipped it uncontrollably into a plate of soy on your own.

Our next item was something I love — scallops — and these were Japanese scallops (pre-earthquake/tsunami mind you). A plump succulent mollusk, so tender and succulent, was filled with umami that you get a burst of the ocean in your mouth. This was one of my favorites.

When the chef asked me what some of my favorite fish were, one of my mentions was amberjack. He made sure to include it into our meal.

A member of the mackerel family, the fish is a little more pungent than the others but I love its slightly sharp fishiness but never off-putting.

I’d never had Red fish as sashimi before and here, it is served with a touch of yuzu, an aromatic Japanese citrus fruit.

The fish is a touch chewy but flavorful enough that I overlooked its texture. The yuzu adds a flavor burst to this otherwise mild fish.

Who doesn’t love Black cod? When I lived in Hawaii, I ate this fish three times a week. Here, it is slightly torched and the char enhances the fattiness of the fish even more so by giving it both the cooked and raw contrast in one mouthful.

Those who know me will tell you that I have a weakness for Uni (sea urchin) and the mounds of sea urchin on the morsel of rice [resented to me was unbelievably tantalizing.

Frankly, I can eat uni on its own with some rice. I’m not fussy. Uni any which way is good in my book as long as it is fresh. Do not eat uni if it is not bright in color. If there is any “grayness” to it, it is old!

Sea Bass with ponzu sauce should’ve been served before the uni because usually, after I eat uni, no other fish can compare. However our meal ended delightfully with the scallions and citrusy ponzu topping cleansing my palate, tying everything together.

Our 10-piece meal came to $42 with tax and tip — not too shabby at all. I’m not sure if dinner prices are the same — I doubt it — so go for lunch, check it out. If it is what you like, then go back for dinner! You won’t regret it.

Ohshima Japanese Cuisine
1956 N Tustin Street
Orange, CA 92865
Tel: 714-998-0098

RA Sushi introduces new menu items

RA Sushi is well known for its happy hour. In fact, the happy hour draws in such huge crowds more often than not, I’ve had to leave feeling rather frustrated because it was virtually impossible to get a chair to sit on.

If you don’t want that clubby feel, go at lunch time. The mood is relaxed and whether you dine in the main room or in the bar area, it never feels rushed or stressed in any shape or form.

RA has an impressive array of cocktails and we ordered two of the new concoctions to try. Red Lotus martini ($9) is a pretty pink drink borrowing its color from pink grapefruit juice and Absolut Ruby Red vodka. I found this too strong for me.

Emperor’s Cucumberita ($8) on the other hand was so rejuvenating I didn’t even feel like I was drinking alcohol. This version of a margarita uses Patron silver and Citronge shaken with lime juice, Yuzu sour and cucumber slices making it taste like a spa refresher but a cocktail nonetheless.

A new menu implemented a few months ago was what brought us here. Otoko Salad with chicken ($9.50) or beef ($11.50) offers mixed greens, grilled red and green peppers, onions and asparagus in a rice wine vinaigrette.

Dressing is light, refreshing and fried ramen noodles added a good crunchy texture. The beef was a bit overcooked, the chicken, definitely a better choice. Both grilled meats, supposedly tossed in a spicy yuzu dressing, had neither spice nor the aromatic freshness of the yuzu fruit. Even so, the salad appealed to all of us ad we would order them again.

Vegetable Tempura Roll ($7.25) comprised of battered asparagus, sweet potato and Japanese eggplant rolled and topped with tenkasu (crunchy tempura bits).

Sweet eel sauce is drizzled on top giving it a slightly sweet finish. I liked the different textural components although the roll definitely needed a touch of soy sauce to taste. The sweet sauce alone wasn’t enough flavor-wise.

On paper, Pacific Roll ($9.25) should have been a hit with me seeing it’s a roll with a mix of spicy albacore, cilantro, jalapeno and cucumber.

However, I didn’t taste any cilantro, or jalapeno, but I was surprised that the accompanying mango salsa added a pleasantly sweet/tart element. I didn’t, however, enjoy the mayo in the avocado as it took away from the already creamy freshness of the fruit.

“RA”ckin’ Roll ($12.50), another new item, mixes kani kama crab and cream cheese as a filling for the sushi. It is lightly battered, topped with guacamole and “RA”ckin’ shrimp.

A creamy ginger teriyaki dipping sauce is drizzled over the top with bits of beet tempura and shichimi, a Japanese seven-flavored chili powder, sometimes known as togarashi. I did not like the cream cheese at all but the “RA”ckin’ shrimp was good.

Tropical Roll ($8.25) doesn’t look like much. A square of rice with masago (green roe) on the outside is rolled with cucumber, mango and avocado topped with spicy shrimp. A mango salsa accompanies not on the sushi but on the plate. I like that because I can control how much or how little sauce I’d like on my roll.

From the entrees we tried Lobster with garlic sugar snap peas ($18). Bits of lobster is sautéed with garlic, sugar snap peas, shiitake mushrooms in an excruciatingly salty Asian seasoning. We sent back the unpalatable plate and were served another. It was slightly better, but still too salty for me.

My favorite items came from the newly installed RA Tapas Menu (all items are $5 during happy hour). Shishito peppers ($6.25) are absolutely delightful.

These mild peppers are tossed in a salty sweet sauce sprinkled with shichimi. They were so flavorful and delicious we couldn’t stop eating them. The sweetness paired with the slight spicy shichimi worked wonderfully together. Loved it!

We also enjoyed Garlic citrus yellowtail ($7.25), slices of hamachi sashimi with a salty, tart dressing. Make sure you take a little of the spicy microgreen mix when you pop a slice of fish into your mouth. It adds a nice element to every bite.

Salmon Carpaccio ($7.25) was another favorite. Salmon sashimi is seasoned with a slightly sweet, tart dressing dotted with pickled mustard greens. The flavor reminds me of Taiwanese-style pickles served with pork chop rice, bringing me a flash of nostalgia — I couldn’t stop eating the bits of pickled veggies.

Our meal ended with Sweet Mochi Trio ($7.50) a plate of mochi ice cream — mango, strawberry and vanilla — served with kiwifruit, strawberries and a dollop of whip cream. I liked the mango best.

RA makes no excuses for itself. They do not sell themselves as a Japanese restaurant, but rather, an unabashed fusion establishment. Fans of fusion fare will love RA’s selections, and those who aren’t, well, there is a nigiri menu to choose from. Either way, RA is hip, trendy and a great place to grab a drink with friends.

RA Sushi
2401 Park Avenue
Tustin, CA 92782
714-566-1700