Ichiban Sushi

Woohoo! I had a chance to visit my peeps last month so it was a wonderful weekend filled with great eats. First stop was Ms. G's lovely neighborhood in Bowie. We went to the town center to enjoy a variety of Asian cuisine that they serve at Ichiban. After a great sushi experience in Miami Ms. G is ready to try most things. We still decided not to get too adventurous so we started with a Rainbow Roll.

Pretty, right? Salmon, tuna, yellowtail layered on a roll filled with crabmeat, avocado, cucumber,  & asparagus. YUM! The asparagus was a welcome surprise, because most places don’t put asparagus in that roll.  We were quite happy with our sushi but we decided we also needed something hot.  We ordered Broccoli brown sauce with chicken.

Another great dish! The portion was large which made my stomach smile. The broccoli was fresh and they didn't overcook it so I could still get a crunch each time I bit into it. After all that you'd think we were done but we still had some room left so we ordered another roll.

This Salmon and Avocado roll disappeared quickly and we were finally full. The portions at Ichiban are perfect for sharing but you may still find yourself ordering more than you anticipated. The menu isn't particularly creative but each dish was well executed. I recommend stopping in after shopping in the town centre. It'll be perfect for refueling.

Hungry yet?

Matsuri NYC

Bestie is back!!! She arrived just in time for us to celebrate her birthday. We decided on Matsuri because the menu looked amazing and the Blackboard Eats deal was too good to pass up! Matsuri is a beautiful restaurant and I highly recommend you get a seat downstairs in the main dining room rather than upstairs in the lounge area.  We arrived promptly for our 7:30 reservation. To maximize our dining experience, we decided to order only a couple of dishes at a time.

We started with the Yellowtail which was very thinly sliced sashimi and served with a yuzu-green pepper sauce.

Wowee! What a great way to start our meal. The Yellowtail was so fresh it tasted like it was alive a few minutes before it arrived on the table. The sauce gave a nice kick to the dish. Next up the Crabmeat shumai.

Yummers! The shumai was filled with chunks of crab, ginger and edamame. Each ingredient was obvious but the crab was dominant. Since we were feeling that crab dish, we figured we should try our chances with the Soft Shell Crab.

Holy smokes! It was hot! I don't mean spicy, I'm talking about the temperature. It was served with ponzu sauce, but truthfully we didn't need it because the crab was so flavorful. We then had Grilled Scallops.

They were served on a bed of asparagus and accompanied by cherry tomatoes. The scallops were good but I think grilling was not the ideal way to prepare it. The scallops lost their delicacy and I lost my interest. Luckily, the Young Sea Bass, which I ordered on a whim came out soon after.

This was my absolute favorite dish! The waiter described the sauce as a Japanese cilantro - the menu called it a red yuzu pepper vinaigrette. Whatever it was, it was for sure amazing. We tore it up! We then moved to the sushi portion of our meal.

The Toro-cucumber roll was the least exciting item on our long list of dishes. It tasted like mushy pre-made store bought sushi. Perhaps my pallet is not refined enough but I think we would have been better ordering toro in sushi or sashimi form.  The Zuke Tuna was really good.

Tuna sauteed in sake and soy sauce. Yea I could dig it. The Sashimi Appetizer of tuna, yellowtail and salmon was even better.

The Shrimp tempura roll was also quite tasty.

Unlike so many other restaurants, it was very lightly battered so I could actually taste the shrimp! Bestie also ordered  Salmon sushi which she loved. Since it was her birthday, our server provided us with complimentary plum wine granite.

It was very sweet and reminded me of frozen icees in the summer! For dessert, Bestie ordered the Sakura Panna Cotta.

It was surrounded by cherries and kiwi. She really enjoyed it and although I wanted to sample, I cohort tear myself away from my Warm Chocolate Cake.

What a perfect way to end the meal! The atmosphere was perfect and the meal as spectacular. Although the toro wad disappointing, everything else was amazing or pretty close. It was the perfect way to celebrate Bestie's return! I highly recommend Matsuri. If you're gonna do it, go for the three hour experience with slow ordering multiple dishes like we did. It's worth your time and your money.

Hungry yet?

KOI New York

As always on a Friday few things make me happier than a great meal! I know not that different from other days ;-)

A few Fridays ago, KOI was the location of the great meal. I must admit I wasn't thaaaat excited because I had heard that the NY location doesn't live up to the LA location's hype. Regardless, I figured it'd be a fun dining experience.  Our server tried to push Edamame on us before we evaluated the menu.  Never one to be suckered, I had no problem saying no.  Instead we ordered the Edamame Dumplings.

Delicious little pockets filled with edamame and served with a mix of black truffle, lobster and lemon-thyme sake butter.  (Apologies for the pictures still figuring out the settings on the new camera.)  We also happily ordered the Creamy Rock Shrimp Tempura.

I initially saw creamy and hesitated but the slightly spicy sauce was perfect. It worked well with the crispiness of the tempura and the freshness of the shrimp.  I was a little suspicious when the Crispy Rice with tuna arrived at the table.

However, one bite and I was hooked! Tightly packed rice deep-fried for a nice crispy shell but moist inside. Of course the spicy tuna was the star of the show topped with a small slice of jalapeno.  YUM!  It was definitely my favorite, but the Baked Crab came in a close second.

Warm pieces of crab with rice…I mean what could go wrong? Absolutely nothing. It was sensational.  The crab was well flavored and the warmth was a pleasant surprise.  The biggest disappointment of the night was the Koi Dragon Roll.

It looks messy which was my first clue that I wouldn’t like it.  Allegedly there was shrimp tempura and eel inside that big pile of rubbish.  However, all I experienced was bits of tempura dumped all over the roll. GROSS.  I had one piece and asked for a do over.  We were already full though so we ended up just moving on to dessert, which was much more pleasant. The Warm Chocolate Brownie Banana Sundae with Vanilla Ice Cream (sans Banana) was spectacular.

Quite the presentation and it tasted incredible.  The brownie was chocolate heaven and a bite of ice cream made it that much better.  Wowee. I also had to sample the Warm Molten Chocolate Cake.

The presentation was even better than the chocolate cake. I liked the cake, but was happier with the brownie. I think I’ve had a little too much cake these days ;-)

Overall Koi was a good dining experience but nothing spectacular.  Although none of the entrées really wowed me, I’d come back for a bite of the Crispy Rice and the Rock Shrimp Tempura.  The dragon roll was so disappointing the bad taste stayed with me for longer than I would like.  If you must go to Koi, skip the Dragon Roll and double up on the Crispy Rice. The desserts were great, but not enough for a return trip. The company was of course fabulous and totally made the dinner worth it :)

Hungry yet? 

East Japanese

After Friday night’s homemade deliciousness, VBRAT et. al. def needed to go out for eats.  (Although they did have a fabulous brunch at Caffe Latte where they saw Marcus Samuelsson!!)

We really wanted to go to a fantastic sushi place that I LOVE, but we couldn’t get reservations.  We figured we would go to a different sushi place.  Good, but not great but it’s really about the experience.

I chose East Japanese because of the conveyor belt service! 

The sushi rolls around on colored plates with a few pieces.  You pick a plate eat up, stack and go on to the next. Dining in this way is fantastic! So many options rolling by you really get to experience a lot of different things.  It’s like a sushi buffet but you never have to get up!

Unfortunately, we showed up right as they were closing so we had to place all our orders right away. We started off with edamame which was rather delicious.  

We then ordered a whole lot of sushi and it came out on two GIANT plates.  The sushi lover’s special for two contained lots of fabulous treats.

We also ordered a bunch of different rolls.

By far the favorite was the pepper shrimp roll.  Shrimp tempura with black pepper on the outside.  A nice kick that leaves a lingering taste of spice.  Remarkable.

The Mexican roll with tuna, cucumber and fried flour is coated with dried chili, but not nearly as tasty as was expected.

East Japanese is a good sushi restaurant.  Not the best I’ve been to, but good enough to go again. The best part is snatching plates off the conveyor belt which we didn’t rally get a chance to do.

Hungry yet?

Totto Ramen!!

Since it opened almost two months ago, I have been dying to try Totto Ramen.  I finally found a willing and available person to join me today!  Ms. B, our newest employee, was as excited for Ramen as I was.  We arrived and I was thrilled that there was no line outside.  We put our name on the list and waited a short while for two seats to open.

We sat at the counter where we were able to get a great view of the chefs at work.  I ordered the Totto Spicy Ramen.  The soup is chicken based which isn't always the case at these ramen joints so I was thrilled.  I watched as they poured the spicy oil into my bowl and spooned some broth into my bowl.  They added homemade noodles, onion and scallions with one sheet of nori (seaweed).  I also asked for a seasoned boiled egg.

Look at that beauty!  I was practically drooling when I dipped in my spoon and mixed everything together.

Ms. B was also kind enough to let me sample some of her Spicy Bamboo Shoot.

Yup they're as spicy as they look, but totally edible.  The chefs were impressed at her tolerance for spicy food.

I LOVED Totto Ramen.  It is a delicious lunchtime treat that is quite filling.  The portions are large, but not overwhelming.  The noodles are fresh, the broth is delicious and you have options to add (or remove) items on the menu.  I will definitely be going back and can see myself eating here multiple times during the winter.  Only thing is with only 16 seats, it's a bit unpredictable how long you'll wait to taste the goodness.

Hungry yet?

Natsumi

You may recall my dinner at Natsumi back in April.  I haven't been back since, so I was excited that it was chosen as the spot for lunch today.  I was bummed that I forgot my camera in the office.  Apologies for the low quality photos.

I kept it simple with the bento lunch box.  Natsumi's lunch box is one of the most impressive ones that I've experienced.  I ordered Spicy Garlic Shrimp.

The shrimp is fantastic (pictured up top).  They give you 6 pieces which is solid considering it's a lunch portion.  The lunch box is served with seafood tempura, shumai, miso soup or house salad and a choice of tuna roll or california roll.

I'm not a big fan of the seafood tempura.  You know me and fried things, sometimes it just doesn't look that tasty.  And doesn't it look just a little too funky?

They served the miso soup first.

Cute little bowl right? I want a set of bowls like that.  Miso soup is pretty standard and almost always tastes the same.

The tuna roll was tasty.  and you know me and rice, just can't go wrong.  I had an unfortunate incident with the shumai (shrimp and chicken dumpling).

It dropped into the sauce and left a few stains on my dress.  Luckily, one of my coworkers has a Tide pen in his office and let me borrow it.

So that's Natsumi. Quality lunch, large portions, and great prices.

Hungry yet?

Happy Birthday Ms. S!

Although her birthday was much earlier this month, Ms. S was stuck at work on the day she planned to celebrate.  We finally got around to meeting up for what turned out to be a very delicious meal at Benihana.  I'm a big fan of hibachi.  There's something about watching them make my food that gives me great comfort.

I selected the Hibachi Shrimp which was served with onion soup, salad, shrimp appetizer, hibachi vegetables, dipping sauces and steamed rice.  I was feeling indulgent so I substituted the steamed rice for chicken fried rice.

The onion soup and salad were pretty standard fare.  I was really hungry so I wasn't in the mood for these paltry appetizers.  On any other day though, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it.  Although I prefer miso soup, the onion soup was pretty good.  The salad had that delicious ginger dressing so It was pretty yummy.

Soon after the soup and salad, our chef arrived.  Pedro knew exactly what he was doing.  I have a video but I'm having a tough time uploading it.

He grilled the shrimp appetizer to perfection.  He also mixed up a teriyaki butter sauce, at the request of Ms. S.  While I was initially reluctant, the teriyaki butter sauce was quite delicious and I dipped many pieces of food in it.  Upon revisiting these pictures though, I realize just how much oil he used and kinda wish I had abstained from the teriyaki butter sauce.  eeep!

After the shrimp appetizer, I felt that I was ready to really focus on my meal. Pedro layed out several rows of shrimp and lobster.  The shrimp on the left side was used for chicken & shrimp combo meals, the shrimp on the right would eventually be my dinner!

But first, Pedro had to make the chicken fried rice.  It was a multi-step process.  My favorite step was when he made the rice look like this

That's the teriyaki butter sauce pictured below the rice.  Pedro mixed it all up and served me a nice bowl of chicken fried rice.

Last, but cetainly not least, he added my shrimp to my plate.

I was so happy to see that much shrimp on my plate.  I got pretty tired though and couldn't finish the shrimp and rice.  Yesss leftovers!!  Overall quite the delicious meal and hibachi is always a fun experience.  I hope I can get the video uploaded at some point so you can see Pedro's skills.