if you haven't noticed, i really like to eat. therefore, it makes sense that i've surrounded myself with a group of like-minded friends. last month, urbandaddy published a blip about neta, a new sushi restaurant in the village manned by former masa chefs, and my japanese feasting group (ironically, none of us are japanese) started throwing dates out. our schedules are all a little bit crazy so i took matters into my own hands and just picked my next available date and made a reservation for four. this date only worked for two of us (it should have been three, but one passed for a backgammon tournament...huh???), and i also included my friend julie (perfect, since her husband was out of town).
the space is cozy with a large extended sushi bar similar to soto down the street. we were seated at a table (i had requested the sushi bar, but i guess there was a miscommunication) and had a chance to peruse both the menu and the wine list. they have a concise cocktail and wine list and a bit more thorough sake selection (don't expect sakagura). we started with the sparkling sake which was a fine aperitif, and maneuvered through the rest of the sake menu (with carafes, 300ml and 720ml size bottles, it gives an opportunity to taste a number).
as for food, we went with the higher-priced omakase menu; we thought this would give us the most fitting representation of the best the chefs had to offer. the meal began on an incredibly amazing note - toro tartare with a large dollop of caviar. served with little toasts - this was KILLER.
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| toro tartare & caviar |
next up, cooked slices of scallop served in the scallop shell in a gingery, buttery, briney sauce with a big lobe of uni (sea urchin) on top. this was visually impressive, and the buttery sauce was wonderful (i confess: i drank it from the shell), but the scallop was overcooked. and the uni...my favorite uni... it just didn't measure up to the quality of sushi yasuda's uni.
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| grilled whole scallop |
our next course was the fried blowfish (aka fugu), which was another notch down. first it was really greasy. i'm generally not one to complain about greasiness, but i expected it to be light. then there was that giant bone in the middle, off of which i had to gnaw the fish... it was a very... authentic asian experience. and i'm alive to speak of it!
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| battered & fried blowfish |
the next course went in an interesting direction: a small dish of fried rice with shaved black truffles. since we'd be eating rice with the sushi, i was surprised that the omakase would include rice. now, i heart black truffles AND fried rice, but perhaps it was the quality of the truffles, or just the combination of it all... it just didn't work. the black truffles were too mellow... the fried rice, a little bland. it just didn't work.
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| rice with black truffles |
we received a number of nigiri: toro (this was really quite good... and it was o-toro, if you're wondering). kanpachi, scottish salmon, sea bream, uni, grilled toro... other than the toro, they just werent that flavorful. were they fresh? sure.... but did they have the same briney bite that the fish at my favorite sushi yasuda does? no. also, the omakase was odd - there didn't seem to be an order to it in any way.
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| o-toro nigiri |
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| kanpachi, scottish salmon, sea bream nigiri |
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| uni and seared toro nigiri |
after the nigiri, we moved onto maki... they brought us unagi & cucumber and toro scallion. the seaweed wrapping these rolls didn't have the deep aroma that you find at other high end sushi spots. i hate to keep comparing this to yasuda, but you can smell that distinct almost smoky seaweed aroma from when they open the box that holds the seaweed all the way until the roll touches your tongue. the other problem with these maki were how loosely they were rolled. very noticeable in the photo. it felt like they were going to fall apart as you lifted them.
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| unagi-cucumber maki |
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| close-up of unagi-cucumber |
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| close-up of toro-scallion maki |
we finished the savory portion with a vegetarian nigiri - ume, jicama wrapped in shiso. we actually received this twice because the service was haphazard and confused. i wish we had received the toro tartare with caviar twice!! our final course, which was actually quite a palate cleanser, was a grapefruit granita, and it was very tasty (sorry no photo - we'd had a lot of sake at this point!).
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| ume shiso "nigiri" |
our real problem with neta was the service. the food didn't measure up to my expectations, but the service really ruined the experience. it is very important for anyone who deals with sushi to know the source of the fish being served, e.g., uni is usually santa barbara, sometimes maine and then even more rarely, hokkaido - and i'd like to know which. when i asked, the server told me SAN DIEGO... never in my life have i heard san diego until my evening at neta. salmon is also a concern for me... i did some research on chilean salmon farms for work and learned that salmon are nicknamed the "hogs of the sea", and therefore, it's vital that you know salmon's source (whether raw or cooked), so when i asked, yet again, it took some effort to find out the source of the salmon. on top of the lack of knowledge, there were lulls between courses to the point where we asked a few times if there were any courses remaining because we'd just be sitting around for a while. since we went during their first two weeks, i hope they'll work the kinks out with time.
the bill was pretty stiff - about $275 after drinks, tax & tip, and considering the price, for my next sushi dinner, i will be returning to my friend mitsu at sushi yasuda and have the omakase dinner with wonderful classically prepared sushi served in a timely, well thought out order.
61 w. 8th street btwn 5/6th aves (closer to 6th)
new york, ny 10011
212/505.2610
reservations available on opentable
