TimeOut

Yes, I’ve heard you say all Japanese restaurants are essentially the same. They all serve raw fish with rice . Possibly some cooked pieces of beef or salmon and miso soup is always on the menu. The sake is essentially all much the same and although the quality of the food varies enormously , you know what you are going to eat. Well…. Whilst in NYC and Boston we visited two very different restaurants. I will try and give some idea of the food, although to be honest, I cannot remember exactly what we ate . My pictures are taken with a iPhone are not spectacular but hopefully you will get the idea. The first restaurant is called Sushi Nakazawa. The chef is from Japan and worked for a gentleman called Jiro. If that rings a bell , it is because there was amovie made about him called Jiro Dreams of Sushi- well worth seeing. It is a fixed 20 course omakase menu of only Nigiri Sushi. Nothing wlse. No miso soup , no sashimi, no habatchi, no tempura… you get the idea only Nigiri Sushi. Now in normal circumstances this would be boring and tedious but no , Mr Nakazawa manages to slightly change each serving by changing the fish or even by changing the cut of the fish. Two pieces of sushi from the same Bluefin Tuna is very different dependant on where the meat is taken from.There is a prawn ( shrimp) sushi, eel sushi and many other types of fish , some of which I have never heard of.

 In Boston we ate at O Ya. A totally different experience. Similar to N-Naka in Los Angeles. Here there are 3 choices 

1. Premium chefs menu of about 15 courses 

2. Regular chefs menu of a similar number 

3. A la carte 

 We chose number 3 and essentially chose off the sushi/ sashimi menu. You could also order cooked pieces as well. There are 50 courses from the sushi/ sashimi menu and another 43 courses to order from the other menu. The food is incredibly well presented and again the waiters are extremely well versed with the food and are very helpful in negotiating your way through the menu. If you order something and do not like it ( very uncommon ) they will not charge for this course.

Home smoked wagyu

1. Kumamato oyster with watermelon and cucumber 2. Bluefin maguro 3. Peruvian style Bluefin ChutoroTataki- my wife’s favourite- we ordered seconds! 4. Negihama – yellowtail with scallion 5. Hamachi belly with sea urchin 6. wild santa Barbara spot prawn- with garlic butter , white soy and yuzu 7. Bluefin magoro with caramalised onion and foie gras ponzu- one of my favourites 8. Bluefin chatoro- with a mayonnaise and sesame 9. Home smoked wagyu 10. Hamachi tartare- very spicey with a chilli oil 11. Arctic char- with a sesame brittle and aioli 12. Shima aji- with santa barabara sea urchin 13. Scallop and foie gras- another favourite You get the idea. All very delicious with deep intense flavours , although not overpowering relative to the underlying seafood or meat. Some of the pictures may not correspond to the above meal but even though the pictures are all not very good , they do convey the idea of the food. Both restaurants, although very different are well worth a visit.

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