Don't you love it when dreams become reality? I just recently began discovering the luxury of sushi counters and piece-by-piece omakase courses. So expensive but so good...
Sushi Azabu
Sushi Azabu was my first sushi counter dining experience. We all ordered the middle-tier omakase menu (~$150 per person), which included a few cold and hot appetizers, an uni tasting flight, sashimi and nigiri. I've always found it harder to justify spending this much money on sushi, as I am much more accustomed to cheap(er) sushi on Seamless or medium-priced chirashi bowls in Seattle, and I usually save most of my "splurge" meals for the typical French or American-style establishments such as Eleven Madison Park or Barclay Prime (in Philly). That being said, I think the quality of the food and service definitely merits its two Michelin stars - thanks again to Jerry for getting us a reservation!
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| A few of our favorite courses were during the beginning of our meal... the uni flight of course, but also the oyster and the horse mackerel sashimi |
We were served the freshest oyster to start the meal... can't remember the sauce it was paired with, but malt vinegar/horseradish just doesn't compare. Next, we had a lightly seared trio of mackerel (I think) and a ridiculous amount Hokkaido and Santa Barbara uni :D Then, the sashimi courses - I had requested "no squid/octopus" during the order process when our waitress asked about preferences so was served abalone instead. I think I actually would have preferred the squid as I didn't enjoy the crunchiness of the texture as much... lesson learned haha.
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| The reason we came... omakase nigiri courses - everything was perfect! Too many favorites to even list or consider favorites... I liked them all! Unfortunately forgot to keep track of the type of fish each one was |
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| Just a few other photos from the night: my friend's grilled/hot appetizer dish, amazing miso soup our toro scallion hand roll at the end, and of course, dessert - sweet potato ice cream, which was very light /refreshing and the perfect way to end the meal |
Sushi Dojo
Omakase Experience #2: I took my brother to this East Village sushi counter the night after Thanksgiving - we both love sushi and Jiro's documentary, so it was a great bonding and culinary experience. We opted for the 15-piece sushi omakase for $80 each, as well as a $20 add-on for an uni tasting flight. We actually ended up getting 19 pieces of sushi including a toro scallion handroll at the end, so compared to other places that charge ~$120-150 for a 20 piece omakase menu, this was a great value. The quality/freshness of the fish was also of very high quality for the price point, although the uni was noticeably less sweet compared to a similar flight at Sushi Azabu.
