Of sushi, sake and a most memorable meal

A fond recollection of my dinner at Tanoshi Sushi in New York City, where I had one of my most memorable meals up to this day.

My friend Benoit was visiting me in New York during his birthday so we thought that we'd do something special together to celebrate. Benoit loves Japan and Japanese food so through my research I happened to stumble upon Tanoshi Sushi. From the reviews that I have read, this hole in the wall sushi bar, serves one of the best sushi in New York, which is a very bold claim in itself. After looking at reviews and pictures of the place and the food, we decided to hedge our bets and booked the restaurants special Hinoki Omakase at 90 USD per person.

When we arrived on a Monday evening, the place was packed with guests still finishing their food. As the restaurant is so small, they only can accommodate a very limited number of guests at any one point and they only had three seating every night. One at 6 p.m., another at 7:30 p.m. and a final one at 9:00 p.m. We managed to get two seats at the 7:30 p.m. slot and arrived a little bit early. When we arrived a lady popped out and checked our names from the list of reservations she had, she then promptly told us that the restaurant is BYOB (bring your own booze) and there's a wine shop located just across the street. Best news ever. With that we popped to the wine store which had quite a selection of Sake as well, and picked a bottle of sake to accompany our meal.

At 7:20 p.m. most of the previous guests have cleared out and we were ushered into our respective seats. We were seated at the sushi bar right in front of the chef who was attending to us that night. Each chef only caters to 4 people in one session, which I thought was very thoughtful of the restaurant and a very good sign for what was to come next.

After a brief introduction of the restaurant and the Omakase, the chef handed us the a la carte menu to ask if anyone would like any starters before we start the Omakase. Eager to get the show on the road, we skipped the starters and went straight for the Omakase. At this point I should drop a warning that I will be describing each and every single one of the nigiris I had that night in as much detail as I can muster. So, if you are either: hungry and will not get a chance to grab food anytime soon, lack the patience to scroll through copious amounts of (very large) pictures of raw fish on top of rice or just hate sushi (and therefore life) in general, I will advise you to stop and read another post instead.

If you're still here, then here goes.

The first piece of the Omakase was a Deep Sea Bream nigiri. This was a great opening act, with the delicate flavour of the white fish greatly complimented by the brush of the aged soy sauce and the sharp zing from the wasabi underneath. The rice was just perfectly seasoned and it was warm to the touch. The melting of the flesh of the fish to the warmth rice in your mouth was just delicious. The rice especially was something that I really enjoyed as I personally have had far too many experience with sub-par sushi made with cold, dry rice. If allowed,  I could gush all night about how much I loved the rice, though thank God for self control.

The next piece of the Omakase was the Big Eye Tuna nigiri with a drop of miso yuzu on the top. Again it was a beautiful (beautiful, beautiful) piece of fish which just melted away in our mouths. The tune tasted very fresh and the drop of miso yuzu accented the flavour in a way that was very unique and pleasant. Side note on the rice (again), Tanoshi does his sushi in the Edo-period style, which means warm and 'loose' seasoned rice that the chef recommended for us to eat with our hands rather than with chopsticks.

The next piece was the Spanish Mackerel nigiri with a bit of ginger and japanese scallion. I have encountered this fish in very different forms before in Indonesian cooking (in fishcakes and soups mainly), so it was very interesting to be able to taste the fish in its raw and unadulterated form. The taste was very delicate and the texture was also very soft. The Japanese scallion added that extra zing and a contrasting texture against the fish and the rice.

Next up was the Kyushu Island mackerel with ginger and pickled kelp. This was one of our favorites of the night. The mackerel had such a beautifully strong and full flavour without it being fishy. It was prepared in rice vinegar before which might explain why the taste was still strong but also much more delicate and rounded than expected. The pickled kelp and ginger was also surprisingly light in flavour but they gave a hint of sweetness to the bite that went so well with the fish. Very unique and (need I say it) delicious.

The next piece was the seared Salmon Belly topped with Ikura. This was also one of the more memorable pieces of the night. The salmon was just so soft and it melted away in our mouths like some delicious salmon butter. The Ikura had a savoury taste yet it's not at all fishy or briney. Further investigation on our part revealed that they were first marinated in soy, sake, mirin and honey, but then rinsed to leave just a hint of the flavor from the marinade. Who know such simple ingredients could be transformed into something absolutely divine!

What came next had to be the most interesting sushi that I have ever tasted. The Amberjack nigiri with pickled cherry blossom leaf. The Amberjack was a fish I have never had before. It had this rather chewy and very supple texture and was quite flavourful on its own. If a plain Amberjack sushi was delicious, the sliver of pickled cherry blossom leaf turned it into something that was extraordinary. The pickled leaf lent this rather bittersweet and aromatic flavour which married perfectly with the taste of the fish and the well seasoned rice.

Now, a short detour from sushi, before we had the Amberjack nigiri,  the chef gave each of us a piece of pickled cherry blossom leaf and asked us to smell it and put it in our sakes. He then told us to let it steep for 5 minutes and try the sake afterwards. We followed his instructions like the obedient customers we were and the result was a sake that was much more aromatic than it was originally. We ate the pickled leaf after it had steeped in the sake and it was delicious, aromatic and bittersweet.

Veering back to sushi avenue, what came next was the Bluefin Tuna nigiri topped with Tuna tartare and Japanese scallion. This was one of the more classic and traditional flavours we got during the night and I have to say the quality of the fish was just superb. It was so soft that once the sushi was in our mouths, it was like an explosion of tuna flavour accented by the freshness of the Japanese scallion. The tartare was done so finely that it was almost more like a tuna puree more than anything else. Drop dead delicious.

The next piece was the Botan Ebi topped with Uni. This was a first for me in relation to both ingredients so it was definitely a surprise when I discovered how sweet and springy the raw Botan Ebi was. I didn't even know that you could have prawns raw until then. The Uni on top made for a creamy and briney undertone to the mouthful; contrasting and elevating the texture and flavour of the Botan Ebi and the well seasoned (again) rice.

What came next was truly something out of this world, that we were surprised agent Scully and Muller have never done an episode on this place before (bad joke). The "XXX", a Gunkan Maki topped with Uni, Ikura and a perfect, glistening, quail egg yolk. As the name suggest this was R-rated food porn at its best. It was an explosion of creaminess from the uni and egg yolk with the briney taste of the sea highlighted by the savoury pops of the Ikura. It was like an orgasm of deliciousness happening in your palate.

Nearing the end of the Omakase, the chef decided to put on a show for us. By torching a piece of Kombu with something underneath it. What's being torched under that piece of Kombu? We wondered excitedly as the chef prepared the next nigiri.

The last nigiri of the night and the surprise under the torched Kombu was in fact a fat Rock Oyster nigiri. The oyster was not wet and was quite firm (but not cooked) due to being torched earlier. It was covered with sticky sweet sauce, like the one we usually find glazing a piece of Unagi. The oyster was delicious, briney, salty and creamy. The sweet sauce helped to complement the natural briney flavour of the oyster. Think about it now, it actually felt a bit like a sweet and savoury dessert.

After the nigiris, we were then presented with a trio of Maki rolls: Salmon with Yuzu, Mackerel with Miso and Spicy Tuna. Needless to say at this point that each one was superb. The flavours worked really well and the Nori was still slightly crisp instead of the usual soggy Nori you get in cheaper places. It makes you wonder how much a certain level of craft and quality ingredients can transform something as simple and humble as the Maki rolls into truly fine food.

Finally at the end of the Omakase, the chef handed each of us a Temaki. It didn't look like much from the outside, but inside it was filled with delicious morsels of grilled Salt Water Eel. The Temaki had a shelf life of seconds before the Nori starts to wilt, so after quickly snapping a picture we tried it and it was brilliant. The Nori still crunched and crackled to the bite, the rice was perfectly warm and the eel pieces were delicious with the delicate sweet flavor you come to expect from them.

After the Omakase the chef asked us if we'd like any additional items on top of what we've had. Although we were already quite full, being the greedy pigs we were,  we decided to go with the "Foie Gras of the Sea" which was the Monkfish liver served with ponzu sauce. Safe to say we didn't regret the order at all. The Monkfish liver was so tender, rich and buttery, and the citrusy kick of the ponzu gave great balance to the flavours.

Finally after all the food pictures above, I felt that I have to include a picture of the people who made it all happen, the great chefs of Tanoshi sushi.

They are true craftsmen whose attention to detail and passion for the food that they make is unparalleled by anyone I have encountered so far. A truly amazing meal made even better by the attentiveness and opennes of the chefs, explaining every single piece he handed to us and gladly answering any of our queries relating to each piece. After finishing the sake and paying the bill, we left the restaurant happy and satisfied knowing that this meal will rank as one of our top meals for a very long time.

I felt that what we had experienced was as much of a great meal as it was an eye opening experience of good food and a celebration of true craftsmanship.

Tanoshi Sushi NYC // 寿司屋の楽しい 
1372 York Ave, Manhattan, NY 10021
Mon – Sat // 6:00pm - 10:30pm

http://tanoshisushinyc.com/index.html