Michelin starred – Page 3

Chef Ishikawa’s Jewel Bako

Last year we learned that chef Yoshihiko Kousaka has left Jewel Bako, and opened Sushi Kosaka, and since, it has been on our “to eat list”. While we have yet found the time to find out what Kosaka offers, we revisited Jewel Bako to learn what has changed.
On a quiet block near St. Marks, Jewel Bako is warm and intimate. On a cold winter night, the light spilled out from little square window feels welcoming and cozy. Curved ceiling dinning room is branched with bamboo, and the mirrored glass makes it looks like a jewelry box, hence, Jewel Bako. The clever design making the place bright and light.
We are no strangers at Jewel Bako. During Chef Kousaka 10 years tenure there, we have visited the place numerous time. And it has been very consistent, Jewel Bako holds a michelin star for 11 consecutive years. Until last year, along with 15 East, Jewel Bako is one of our more trusted “go-to” place for sushi in that price range. Coincidentally, both Chef Masato Shimizu and Kousaka has found themselves a new venture.
We love Jewel Bako because of it’s reliable standard, impeccable quality and reasonable pricing. Of all the times we have visited, Chef Kousaka always served up the freshest ingredient, with outstanding technique. Even with the utmost quality, the pricing is still fair in comparison to others with similar standard. The last time we went, the sushi omakase was at $85/pp with 17 pieces. This time, with new Chef Shimao Ishikawa, Omakase comes in 2 different pricing, 85 for 15 pieces and 120 for 18 pieces. We settled at the sushi bar (sit 8), Chef Ishikawa greeted us with a warm smile. He is an older gentleman. According to Jewel Bako’s website, he has over 40 years experience in traditional sushi. And here is his Jewel Bako, piece by piece…

Grilled giant clam with pepper. Complementary from chef. This is great. We love giant clam, sweet and crunchy!!!

Miso soup- what’s wrong with miso soup lately, everywhere is very light, or is it just me…

Marinated kinmedai with yuzu pepper- I love Kinmedai, and I admit that I might even like kinmediai more than toro. I would like this kinmedai as much,, if the skin had been torched a bit more.

Akami- chu toro was a little cold…

Kamarsu (Japanese barracuda)

shiroebi- still a little cold, actually it was too cold to taste

Sayori with shiso leaf and lemon juice. Excellent texture. The zest of lemon is awesome. Shiso is still strong but yet still balanced

Trio- toro chopped, Maine uni, ikura

Akamutsu (Torched sea perch)

Hokkigai with lemon- this was surprisingly good. Totally changed my mind on hokkigai.

O toroooooo so metly. This is heaven. Yes, hallelujah. There were light beams coming out my mouth.

Santa Barbara uni

Geoduck

King salmon with sea salt and lemon

Mackerel

Aji with ginger

Otoro with Santa Barbara uni – uni was torched, but honestly kinda unnecessary because toro is so great and got all the attention. When Toro is shining like a bright star, let it shine, don’t overcrowd it.

Unagi baked first then torched in banyan leaf

So the $85 omakase stopped at 15 pieces; the $120 has 3 more pieces, which were, Mackerel, Aji, and Otoro with uni. While, i’m glad I had the experience, I would gladly stay at 15 pieces next time and order some more on the side. The mackerel and aji was a little disappointing. After the course was over, we asked Chef Ishikawa what else we should try. While chef was struggling with translation, the very friendly staff came to rescue. He patiently explained and translate the chef’s recommendation, and we ended our meal with 2 more pieces, sea bass and cherry blossom snapper (sorry, forgot to take picture…)

Sea bass with yuzu pepper. Yuzu pepper was a little strong, and the sea bass didn’t have the crispiness I was looking for.

At the end of the night, a large bottle of plum wine was brought in front of us. And the staff skillfully filled a tiny glass for each of us as dessert wine.
Overall, I think with Chef Ishikawa, Jewel Bako has kept it’s fish quality, but I felt the presentation and attention to detail is not up their previous standard. Pay close attention to the plate, often it was smeared with a little too much sauce. And when there were left over “juice” from the previous piece, but no one care to clean up. I know, I know, i’m nitpicking. But it is important! Our eyes eat first! It looks messy, and the left over sauce could potentially ruin the following one. Also, there were a few pieces that the temperature could have been control better. And take a look at the “uni cup”, it’s hard not to compare. The presentation speaks for itself.

Uni cup, left by Chef Ishikawa; right by Chef Kousaka

On a side note, although we didn’t order any maki roll, we watched those huge rolls being constructed in front of us at the sushi bar. Chef Ishikawa doesn’t make maki, his focus is on sushi omakase. His apprentices, 3 other chefs cater to the table services. But it was painful to watch. We watched the makis being prepared, cut and served by a younger chef directly in front of us. We watch the nori being broken, rolls cut in various sizes, and lousily plated. I’m almost certain, no 2 pieces were the same size. This young apprentice obviously have years ahead of him, but we wonder if he has any respect for the trade. Sushi/ maki making is an art form, to serve up such lousy looking pieces, is a disgrace. But he didn’t seems to bother to try. Roll after roll, we watched in horror. It is a waste of such premium ingredient.
On the bright side, the “oh so melty” o-toro blows our mind. The word “buttery” can’t even describe it. It’s easily the star of our night. However, I found myself thinking about the Sayori more. The shiso and lemon created the perfect balance and that mild crunch when I bite into the Sayori, and that sweetness mixed in with the zest was just fantastic.

Jewel Bako | 239 E. 5th Street | Feb 2016

Hirohisa

There were 4 new Japanese restaurants made their first appearance on the 2016 Michelin (New York): Tempura Matsui is new to New York, we have yet able to convince ourselves to drop $200 on tempura; Sushi Yasuda is not unfamiliar to anyone; we visited Cagen late last year and were amazed by the variety of fishes, the last of four is Hirohisa. The 2.5 years old restaurant by Chef Hirohisa Hayashi (Former Sushi Samba) is located on a quiet block of Soho. The place can go easily unnoticed. All white facade with only a small rectangle window peeking in and a small square bamboo plate by the door that indicates its present. I must have passed by the place a million times without knowing its existence.

We came to this zen place on a chilled evening in January. Step inside, the minimalist place is even more quiet, but I was a little overwhelmed, by the aroma of miso. The open kitchen hides nothing, everything is in display, for sight, and for smell. Hirohisa serves refined “seasonal” cuisine. The menu is simple with very few items, mostly traditional cooked dishes. But the Omakase part is confusing. And we were even more confused after talking to the staff. We wanted to know what the 7 course vs 9 course are consists of, mainly we want to know if there were sushi within the course. We are all sushi addicts. Apparently the waitress is new (we think). She did not know what the courses are, we turned to Chef Hirohisa for help. And here are the 9 course, plate by plate…

Lobster ball with sake leek soup
Very blend… the soup is a lot more “clearer: than it looks.

Snow crab winter green and ikura

Scallop, sesame tofu, black truffle
There was only a hint of sesame. Scallop is very nicely done. But is the broth necessary?

Wagyu wrapped sushi and uni
Now this is what I’m talking about. Sweet juicy wagyu beef, one from Japanese, one is american, both topped with Maine uni. Hmm hmm hmm …
and look at that dish they came in, that is one beautiful tableware.

Sashimi: Shima Aji, tuna, Kinmedai

Red rock fish
Skin is very crispy and tasty but fish body is just ok. Very well cook but not much taste. Need seasoning…

Washu beef stew with sweet potato ball
Washu beef is very nicely done, tender and falling off on its own, but too much sauce, and very salty. This could be a very nice dish over a bowl of rice. But as rice was not present, the melty Washu beef is drowning.

Sushi, pressed (from top left): Maine uni, Santa Barbara uni, Arctic char, and mackerel. We opted out of the eel over rice as main course, instead we got 2 extra pieces of uni, one from Santa Barbara and one from Maine. We gonna need more…

Miso soup
Light, las light as water. There was no taste at all. I would like to call it… dish water soup… I only took a sip.

Mochi wrapped strawberry and green tea syrup
We observed the dessert chef took the mochi paper out from a box piece by piece. Then meticulously scarped off the extra white power off each mochi paper. It took him about 15 minutes. Strawberry and the red bean paste balance off each other, but the green tea syrup was too sweet for me.

There you have it, 9 courses Omakase. Everything was decent, sophisticated but not memorable. Nothing really stands out. The beef wrapped sushi topped with uni was the only highlight of the night, thanks to the very fresh ingredients. Chef seems very focus on technique, but could careless about customer interaction. We were the only diners at the counter that night, while we can appreciate the process and preparation Chef Hirohisa to the food, we felt no connection. Staffs are nice, warm, but attention to details is not… we asked for tea when we sat down, then shortly after, we ordered sake, however, the tea never came. True, I forgot about it too, perhaps is my bad that I didn’t ask for it again.

Hirohisa | 73 Thompson St | Jan, 2016

Cagen

It has been a little over 2 years since Cagen opened at the old Kajitsu’s location in East Village. It remains a neighborhood hidden gem until this year’s Michelin list revealed. Cagen is run by Chef Toshio Tomita, who was the corporate managing chef for Nobu. At Cagen, the Tokyo born chef got his first star under his name. This newly found “stardom” has yet fill seats, I didn’t have any trouble getting a reservation. But at Cagen, keeping a reservation is the key! We were told that the cancellation policy is 72 hours prior because all the fished are ordered and flown in from Japan. Diner would be charged full price if reservation is a no show. Moreover, we need to inform Cagen which one of the two Omakase we would be having, so the most premium freshest ingredients would be prepared diners.

On the night we were there, there are very few staffs at sight. Only Chef Tomita, sous chef and two other staffs. We arrived almost 40 minutes late at the semi-basement level restaurant on a quiet evening. The staffs were very patient and accommodating. The only other party at Cagen had already sat in front of Chef Tomita, and began their course. Since we were late, we can’t be chooser. We sat on the other end of the 10 seats counter sushi bar. The space is zen… actually almost the same as the old Kajitsu. Take a closer look, we found Totoro everywhere. That might be the only thing that Chef Tomita had done to this place in terms of deco. Fan of Hayao Miyazaki? Me too!!

Dassai sake flight is only $35. No brainer!!!

Chawanmushi with radish and squash
We started our Omakase with chawanmushi. A couple dices of winter squash in it. Perfect! Simple but to the point. And the simpleness really bring out the freshness of the ingredient. Not that those chawanmushi with truffle and uni are not good, but sometimes it clouded the dish, and made it far too complicated. Sometimes, less is more.

Before us is a slab of fine polished wood which Sushi and ginger were presented on. Ginger, such a simple thing, a common thing to overlook at sushi places. Here at Cagen, they take it seriously. To our surprise, there were 2 kinds of pickled ginger. I absolutely love the thick cut! So fresh, and so perfectly balanced!

Also look at the wasabi, still hydrogenating in water, keeping it fresh!

Since we were told fishes were flown in from Japan and it’s hash cancellation policy, we were excited for what were about to have. And let me just say this first, the varieties of fish did not disappointed. Some of the names, we have not even heard before. Here it is, piece by piece.

Hadai (Japanese snapper) with Yuzu, sea salt and a drop of plum paste sauce.
The combination is genius! The balance with sour, sweet, and salty paying a little wake up call to our taste bud, and it brought out the sweetness of Hadai without overpowering it.

Hirame (Japanese fluke) with ponzu and jalapeño
White fish usually tend to be a bit blend, but Hirame is in season.? Hirame is thinly sliced but double stacked. It enhanced the texture, almost crunchy.

Akayagara (cornet fish)
Very sweet and tender???

Tsumuburi (Rainbow runner)
A member of the yellowtail family. Much like Amberjacks, it’s soft and fatty. This one with a drop of honey mustard. So tender and buttery. Almost like Toro.

Menuke (Japanese red perch) aka Red Rockfish.
The fish looks a lot like Kinmedai, texture is similar too. Menuke is a deep sea, winter fish. Fatty, and extremely tender. The Menuke here at Cagen was smoked. Adding very unique smoky favor. Love it!!!

Japanese octopus With a drop of yuzu

Nodoguro (blackthroat sea perch) with a hint of smoky flavor ??

Japanese butterfish
Crisp, fatty

Mahegari
A very rare silver skin small fish in Japanese deep sea and it is in season. Smoky, tender, and buttery???? I think I’m in love

Kumamoto oyster with sea salt and couple drops of yuzu. Just beautiful.

Smoked squid with yuzu garlic oil
Squid was marinated and lightly warmed to add texture. It is… al dente. ??

Tachiuo (Belt-fish)
From the family of hair-tail fish. Usually it is slightly cooked. This one was smoked, and it added a great aroma and flavor to this already rich piece.

Matsusaka beef
This gorgeous cut is lightly grilled. Chef also used a paper to gently absorb the extra oil, and added with sea salt and house-made crispy chilli pepper. OMG!!! could be the best chili sauce we have had. The crispness and the tenderness of the beef make the perfect couple.

Toro
Look at this beauty, need I say more?!

Chu Toro
Chu toro was marinated for 5 min and serve on a square cut of nori. We were told the nori was made with a special kind of salt.

Hokkaido uni
Up until this point, we were petty happy with our dinner. Sushi are fresh, unique, preparations are excellent. It is certainly worth that one Michelin star. But it was until Uni is served…
Hokkaido uni is served with nori. Nori was very crispy, enough to hear the cracking when chef was folding it. But the rice was a bit too warm and the moisture of it soften the crunch before it hits out mouth. And that is a big square of nori, in my book, too big for this. First bite, I could only got nori. When I finally got to the uni, nori was too strong, it overpowered uni. I must be kidding right? We are talking about uni. The rich, distinguish, velvety goodness got overpower by seaweed?! But have a look at it. One single tiny little scoop of uni atop a chunk of rice with oversize nori. Call me greedy, but I don’t think Hokkaido uni is that expensive that we can only afford this pathetic little one. And what bothered me the most is, when chef was making the uni sushi, he clearly put more uni on one of the pieces at first, but when he realized the portion of our pieces are uneven. He went and took out uni from that one that was slightly bigger. Well, chef, we were sitting right there at the sushi counter in front of you. Action is in full display here. …

Eel “sandwich”
There is a piece of foie gras wrapped inside the eel. Rich x Rich!!!.

Fatty tuna and Japanese pickles hand roll
The fatty tuna was a bit cold, and the rice was a bit warm. One thing I noticed was, the sushi rice here at Cagen are mixed in small portion. During our dinner, Chef had made 3 different bundle of rice. So temperature, and sweetness varies. For this hand roll, it was a bit too warm.

Tomago
This might be the first time I had Tomago wrapped in nori and with wasabi, and it works. The Tomago itself is very good. A different texture than the one from Nakasawa or 15 East. This is more custard-like, while the other are more sponge cake-like. Also, the Tomago was given a creme brulee treatment. It was layered with powdered sugar and torched 3 times. And I do like the wasabi with it.

So, as it turns out, sushi Omakase is not only sushi. Is it a bonus, or is it an attempt to fill us up. Either way, I am glad I had the house-made soba .
The broth was great! Rich but clear. Very comforting. The duck was good, and the scallion was even better. Soba is house-made fresh by Chef Tomita himself from hand-ground wheat. Excellent texture. Better than a lot of soba places in town.

Yuzu sorbet
There were two choices of dessert, green tea ice cream or yuzu sorbet. Of course, the always refreshing yuzu sorbet. Yuzu sorbet is served with pomegranate mandarin grape Asia pear and grape and olive oil. That’s right! Not olive oil sorbet, but actually pouring olive oil over yuzu sorbet. It was amazing. The olive oil helps make the sorbet creamy and gives it a smooth texture. I could have a bucket of this.

(Dec, 2015)

SomTom Der vs Zabb Elee

SomTom Der and Zabb Elee are located within two blocks of east village. On this year’s Michelin list, one Thai raised, the other fell. We visited both places in October to determine whether we should trust the system when it comes to asian cuisine.
Both SomTom Der and Zabb Elee listed to be Authentic Thai cuisine. To be specific, a Northeastern Thai region name Isan. According to wikipedia, Isan bordering with Laos and Cambodia. The majority of people that lives there are actually Laos. And the Lao’s influence not only to the language there, also culture and food as well.
The one that raised is SomTom Der, got it’s first star this year. With addresses in 3 different cities, we are calling it a chain. This location in alphabet city is the only one outside of Asia, the other two are in Ho Chi Ming City and Bangkok.

Somtum Der (one star)

Opened mid 2013, got one star this year, Somtom means papaya salad. We arrived on a early evening, the place was very empty. Despite the fact we have a reservation; the hostess said we can only be seated when all parties are here. And so we waited patiently at the little bench at the entrance. Our co-conspirator was running very late that night. After about half an hour, we finally asked to be seated so we can start ordering. Turns out that we just need to ask the right person.
Long commute table in the middle, fish traps lights, pine wood wall & ceiling. Very modern asian. Huge menu with colorful pictures, everything looks appetizing, but a bit confusing. The sets of menus we were given did not match each other. Make it somewhat difficult for us to communicate what item on what page we want to order. On the last page of the menu, there are two full pages of “Recommended Combination”, but no price listed. There were a set that matches what we were going to order, so we asked the waitress.
“Oh these are only suggestions of what would be a good combination. They are not actual sets. You would still have to order them individually.” She explained.
WHAT?! I’m confused!!
You have a nice idea, already put together, but not go through with it. I don’t understand.
So we continued to study the menu. They don’t have pork neck meat!?!  But they have raw sausage…? That’s interesting. Never had raw pork sausage before. Didn’t think pork can be eaten raw. But we tried it anyway. It was… interesting. Didn’t taste like pork at all. Wasn’t smoky either. The texture was kind of like the cold spicy chicken feet that you can found in Hong Kong dim sum. It is definitely interesting, but not sure if I would want to order it again though.
STD08 SomTom

STD09 Goong Chae Nam Pla– Thai prawn sashimi with house special green chili sauce.

STD11 Moo Ping Kati Sod– grilled coconut milk marinated pork skewers.

STD10 Moo Rong Hai Der & Khao Ji– house special grilled marinated pork.

STD12 Nam Sod– marinated raw pork sausages

Food are decent, but nothing to write home about. Service is warm but slow. Aside from missing order, dishes came out fairly slowly. Some certain staff obviously need training, he couldn’t help us with the menu, and don’t know what some of the dishes are either. Is it worth a michelin star….

Zabb Elee went another direction on décor. It is clean and white. Instead of fish trap, they use bird cage instead, for the lights over the bar.. What’s up with Asian and cages?? It is simple and elegant here. Staffs are nicer and service is faster here.

ze04 Som Tom Poo Plara– Papaya salad with preserved crab

ze06 Duck Larb– shallot, fresh mint, scallion, cilantro, chili powder, and lime dressing.

ze08 Kao Moo Dang– roast pork, sweet sausage, half boiled egg

ze10 Moo Yang– Grilled marinated pork with sweet tamarind chili sauce

ze05 Kana Moo Krob– Sauteed Chines broccoli with crispy pork

ze09 Goong Chae Nam Pla

ze07 Pla Dook Dad Deaw– Crispy Marinated catfish with Thai Herb with sweet tamarind sauce

Like most non-high-end asian restaurants in town, both places could care less which plate is appetizer or main course. They either all come at the same time, or come out whatever whenever it is ready. It is not much of a problem I guess, if the table is big enough to place it all.
Really spicy!!! But very authentic. The burning sensation is not a joke. I couldn’t say which raw shrimp I like better but I certainly like the SomTom more here at Zabb Elee. And I would definitely rate it higher than SomTom Der. But the grills pork neck meat is still the best at SriPraPhai.

ze11 (October, 2015)

Category: <span>Michelin starred</span>

Chef Ishikawa’s Jewel Bako

Hirohisa

Cagen

SomTom Der vs Zabb Elee