Revisit: Taka Taka in New York, NY

Taka Taka characterizes itself as a Mexican Sushi and Japanese Tacos joint. I guess you understand: this is a Mexican / Japanese fusion restaurant with a very interesting menu, branching out to these two distinct cuisines. It is not our first time there (previous review here) and we were looking for an original place, close to the heart of Tribeca, to celebrate my cousin Sandrine's visit.

Another originality of this place is its conveyor belt or kaiten sushi. It is like a fun way to eat: dishes with a number will pass in front of you and you decide to pick them or not. The number refers to the menu on the table set, so it quickly becomes a game. First you will look at what is passing by and then quickly try to know what it is, and then, it will be the reverse: you will be waiting for that number 5 to come. But do not worry: if you really want a roll, you can just ask them and they will make it for you.

Each plate has a color that corresponds to a price, so be careful: it can be a fun game, a pricey game...

To start our dinner, we decided to order some mocktails. Sandrine and Jodi got  Kiiro that is tangerine juice, basil and a touch of lime.

I ordered the Gogo, a mango frappé with macerated blackberries:

Wasabi Sushi and Bento, Times Square, NYC, NY

Please note that the meal was complimentary. However, the opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own!

I was recently invited to Wasabi Sushi and Bento, the outpost of a fast casual Japanese grab and go restaurant popular in London that opened in February in Times Square. It is always exciting to try a new place, trying to find what makes them different and stand out. For sure, Japanese cuisine is fairly popular here, between the Japanese restaurants, the non Japanese restaurants serving sushi like Rue 57 or 5 Napkin Burger, the supermarket or deli offering sushi boxes to grab. I admit that I would never order sushi in a burger joint or grab a box made who knows when from a supermarket or deli. 

So let's see what Wasabi Sushi and Bento is! Before talking about food, let's talk about the place. It all started in 2003 in London, when its owner, Mr Kim, a Korean born immigrant, got the idea to  offer high quality Japanese classics for takeout at reasonable prices. He now has opened 36 locations across the UK and is branching out to the US with this first location that is of a nice size, with impressive high ceilings, white walls and floors that are immaculate, the main color standing out being the green from the stools.

In the back is the open kitchen where you can observe the crew preparing some food cooked all day long, making sure that what you eat is fresh.

At Wasabi, you can pick either sushi, salads or hot food (photo below), including soups. 

It is grab and go, that is nothing extraordinary, except for sushi: you can grab individual pieces rather than a sushi set, allowing you to compose your meal at a reasonable price.

So I decided to compose my dinner with a bit of everything:

I grabbed different pieces of sushi:

• hosomaki (thin rolls),
• nigiri (thinly sliced fish over rice),
• Maki (large rolls made with two or more fillings wrapped in rice and nori).

Here is some of what I tried:

Tuna Nigiri:

The Gotham West Market - Part 1/5: Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop

The part of Hell's Kitchen that is on 11th avenue is clearly not the best to satisfy an appetite. Or should I say was not, since the Gotham West Market is definitely changing everything! Some say that this place was created to lure renters to the Gotham West building, but they definitely did not stop there, as people start to know this place. We went on few occasions and, on the week end, it gets crazy crowded and it is difficult to find a spot to sit. 

It is like a food court where you can either sit at the counter of the restaurant or take your food and eat it on one of the tables in the common area(s).

There, you have plenty of choices: Ivan ramen for some delicious Japanese dishes (ramen or donburi), The Cannibal for the carnivores or The Sandwich Shop for...sandwiches.

So, when we went there, we tried quite few restaurants that will be featured in the coming days posts:

Ivan Ramen:

We went to Ivan Ramen couple of time after Jodi's cousin, Jessica, recommended it. The stakes for ramen restaurants are high considering the number of places that are present in the City, some successful, others just average. Adding to that that the owner, Ivan Orkin, is not Japanese, I was definitely curious. His story is fairly interesting: originally from Long Island, he discovered Japanese culture and cuisine at age 15, when working as a dishwasher in...a Japanese restaurant. After majoring in Japanese culture and literature, he lived in Japan and opened a restaurant there, before opening the location at The Gotham West Market, perfecting his soup recipe and testing it on his Japanese wife!

The menu is fairly straight forward, with three non vegetarian ramen and two vegetarian. If soups are not your thing, they also propose rice balls calls donburi with either fish or pork, as well as curry rice with rib-eye. We decided to try their ramen.

Shio Ramen (left) - Vegetarian Shoyu (right)

You first order at the counter, give your name, and, shortly after, they will call back your name giving you your order.

Ramen Setagaya in the East Village, NYC, New York

It has been a while since I wanted to try Ramen Setagaya, not just because I love ramen and hope to try all the ramen places in the City, but also because it is always packed and I was thinking that there is probably a reason for it.

So we decided to go on a Sunday at the opening time, to make sure we would be the first there. We showed up at 12pm and, as planned, were there first. I should mention that it was the day of the Superbowl and so there were not that many people roaming in the street of New York.

Chef Maejima opened Ramen Setagaya in 2000 in Tokyo and few years ago in New York and Fort Lee (NJ). The restaurant in NYC is not a big place, probably sitting 25 people. with a communal table in the middle. According to them, they serve 300 ramen daily.

Their menu offers ramen with meat or vegetarian, as well as cold noodles called Tsukemen. If you are hungry, they also propose appetizers and side dishes. But if you are a fan of pork buns like me, you will be disappointed because they do not have them on the menu. Not that it is a deal breaker though!

Jodi ordered the vegetarian miso ramen:

It was made with soft tofu, a half salt tasted egg, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, cabbage, scallion and onion. When it came, it had this incredible smell that was very appetizing. The broth was good, but had a tad too much garlic.

Nipponista event at Maison O in Soho, NYC, New York

Last Wednesday, I was invited to Nipponista, an event organized by Tabélog US, the largest Japanese restaurant review website and hosted by Isetan, the largest department store in Japan at Maison O in Soho. The purpose is to showcase Japanese fashion, art, food, lifestyle and craftsmanship. 

The dinner, prepared for the occasion by Chef Tadashi Ono, the former executive chef of Matsuri (above) was paired with Mizubasho sake presented by Mr Shoichi Nagai (below), the chairman of Nagai Sake Inc. who made each sake presentation interesting.

He greeted us with a glass of Mizubasho Sparkling Sake:

I never had sparkling sake before and did not even know it existed! 

The evening continued with a presentation by Kanso groceries of dashi and an explanation about umami,  the fifth taste sensation after sweet, sour, bitter and salty. To show us how dashi enhances flavors, they made us taste some miso with water (left) and some miso with dashi (right).

We could definitely taste the difference, the first one being tasteless and the second one being flavorful. They proceeded to explain to us how to make it, using dried bonito:

and Hana-Kombu (kelp):

You let both elements infuse like you would make tea, et voila! 

Then, we had some amuse bouche. The first one was Dashikarikori-kan with black truffle:

Ramen Misoya in the East Village, NYC, New York

I will always be amazed by the number of ramen places in New York, serving different types of this delicious soup where slurping is not impolite. I were a kid, I would definitely listen to my Mom if she wanted me to eat this kind of soup, over a vegetable one I had in my childhood. 

Ramen Misoya is located in an area where there are plenty of Ramen places, but trust me, they have no problem getting customers. Or I should say that their only problem is the size of the restaurant.

It has probably 20 seats and, contrary to a lot of restaurants of that sort, the kitchen is in the back, separate from the dining room, so you cannot sit at the counter and observe the Chef do his magic.

We went there on a Saturday night, at 6pm, and it was packed from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. 

The restaurant serves three types of miso:

• Kome miso ramen, that they describe as: "made of rice, the standard miso. Intense flavor with rich aroma".
• Mame miso ramen: "made of beans, dark-colored miso. Among the three miso, it has the sweetest and richest texture". 
• Shiro miso ramen: "Compared to Kome Miso, Shiro Miso is less intense in flavor and sweeter. A light-colored miso".

If you look at the menu, there is no vegetarian option, all the soups being made with at least ground beef. In fact, they have a separate vegetarian menu that they will bring if you ask them. I am not sure though why they do not include the vegetarian options in the regular menu!

Jodi went for the vegetarian Shiro miso ramen:

It was composed of fried tofu, an egg, bean sprouts, bamboo shoot, cabbage and noodles.

Lunch at Sushi Damo in NYC, New York

It has been so many years we have not been to Sushi Damo, an elegant Japanese restaurant located Midtown West, right behind the Time Warner Towers. Tough location for sure, being off the beaten path, except if you are staying at the Hudson Hotel...

This place did not change and still has this zen atmosphere.

The menu, crafted by Executive Chef Takashi Okamura, has all the standard Japanese dishes you would find in any restaurant, as well as some interesting creations, such as the braised lamb in apple-soy sauce or the grilled Chilean sea bass in butter reduction.

We started off with some appetizers. The first one was the pork gyoza.

Dinner at Inakaya in Times Square, NYC, New York

We found Inakaya by sheer coincidence, walking on the side of The New York Times Building in Times Square. From the outside, we already saw that it was an upscale Japanese restaurant. We tried to go a first time, but it was packed and the wait was way too long. So the second time, we reserved a table.

They sat us at the large counter that oversees the kitchen. 

It was full of Japanese elements that were intriguing and integrated well in the decor, highlighting the fact that this was not a usual place.

After we sat, they brought us some wet towels:

And we ordered some green tea.

While sipping our tea, we noticed that the people on the other side of the counter were carrying some sort of wooden peels, similar to the ones that restaurants use to put and remove pizza from the oven.

A couple of minutes later, we saw one of the staff putting a dish on the peel and reaching out across the counter to a patron, who took it from there. That was quite surprising and amusing!

So, it was time to order. We went for classic dishes:

We started off with Robata-yaki or grilled vegetables. The first one was eggplant:

I love eggplant and, when eating in a Japanese restaurant, we usually order nasu (the Japanese word for eggplant), that is eggplant in miso. This dish was really good: simple, keeping the eggplant be the star, it had a nice but not too pronounced char taste.