I recently had dinner with my coworkers at East Japanese restaurant, a...Japanese (duh!) restaurant located Midtown Manhattan. I was excited to go there try some unusual dishes, far from the regular sushi and sashimi. The place has nothing very particular, besides the karaoke upstairs (!) and its layout that is long...After passing few tables, there is a counter were you can sit to admire the dexterity of the Chefs.
Next to it is the kitchen, and then few tables in the back.
After ordering some sake (cold), and a cup of green tea, we placed our order.
We first decided to share some appetizers. We started off with the spicy tuna carpaccio.
It was served with salmon roe, avocado (ripe) and spicy mayo (quite spicy in fact). This was a great appetizer, both presentation wise with all the colors, and taste wise. I think that raw tuna and a ripe avocado pair perfectly, the avocado adding some smoothness and enhancing the taste of the tuna, the samon roe adding some texture.
The second appetizer was broil squid (yaki ika).
The presentation was appetizing for sure!
The squid was tender and had a nice char to it. If you like squid, do not miss this fantastic dish!
The last appetizer was shrimp gyoza.
I admit hat it was the first time I tried a shrimp gyoza; usually, it is either vegetable or pork. The gyoza were good, not greasy, with a nice shrimp taste.
Then, for the entree, I decided to go with the eel, specifically a dish called "Hitsumabushi” that is from Nagoya, a city in Western Japan:
It was eel over rice with sweet steamed egg cubes (tamago yaki) and edamame.
It came with a bunch of condiments such as wasabi and chopped scallion:
Toasted sesame seeds:
Japanese "oshinko": pickled cucumber, carrots and eggplant.
Shredded shiso mint leaves:
Spinach, enoki mushrooms and edamame:
Shredded nori seaweed:
The way you eat it is by putting a little bit of everything in a small bowl and then add some broth:
It was delicious and full of flavors, between the dense and meaty taste of the eel, the sweetness of the egg cubes, the edamame and the various condiments I put in it, trying each time to make it different!
I also tried the chirashi that is made of various raw fish over rice:
As well as the shabu-shabu, a Japanese dish where you will cook thin slices of meat in boiling water.
This was beef shabu-shabu:
That came with a bunch of veggies:
Et voila!
I had a good time and the food was fantastic! This is definitely a good address to know for Japanese cuisine!
Enjoy (I did)!
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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!
