Sunday, June 05, 2005
Sushi after sushi
So last week, Jeff and I had to go to Metairie (a border suburb of New Orleans) on a work-related errand, and I was craving sushi, so we decided to stop at Sake Café for lunch. We'd both driven by the main Sake on Magazine Street dozens of times, but neither of us had ever been inside, so the Metairie branch was our first experience therein.
The decor was like Red Lobster and our waiter was freakish (at one point, I needed a fork and got up to ask for one at the sushi bar, and the waiter ran up to me and said in surly tones, "You stay in your seat. If you need something, I'll bring it to you"). Okay, whatever. But the food was awesome. I had three dishes:
1. The best vegetable roll I've ever had. It was an "inside-out" hand roll, with sticky rice on the outside, and within was a smorgasbord of vegetables: black mushrooms, crisp lettuce, oshinko, avocado, carrot and cucumber. Too often, I've ordered a vegetable roll and it's just cucumber and pickle. This was a delicious blend of flavors.
2. Agedashi tofu. I'd never heard of this, but it was cubes of pan-fried tofu that were creamy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and served in a tray of some delicious sauce.
3. Veggies tempura. These were fairly standard, but they included only the good vegetables: eggplant, broccoli, sweet potato, etc. and no onion or green pepper.
Jeff had a tuna roll, which he said was very good; shumai, at my recommendation, because I miss my seafood-eating days when I was a big shumai fan; and edamame, which I helped him eat, and of course this quickly degenerated into both of us shooting the beans out of their pods at one another. He was better at this than I was.
This stellar experience led me to quickly become interested in the Magazine Street branch of Sake. I had a vague impression of it formed from reading reviews and talking to others about it: truly awesome food, but overpriced and favored by hipsters and yuppies. When I unexpectedly received a check in the mail yesterday, I decided to give it a try.
The decor was very different: it was all wood floors and set up in a variety of levels, with angled bars (sushi and alcohol) and hidden nooks. I was given a table next to the sushi bar and greeted by the cutest waiter I've ever seen. She was about twenty and had red-gold hair and was just precious.
The menu, to my surprise, was very different than at the Metairie location. The first thing my eyes fell upon was the goat cheese gyoza. Yes. Why has no one thought of this before? I consulted with the beautiful waiter and was assured that these were vegetarian. I then asked for the agedashi tofu, and she said it came with fish flakes, "but that's really disgusting so I'll tell them to make it without those." Okay, yay. And then I ordered another vegetable roll, just to see if it was as excellent as last week's.
I was very impressed with my meal, but not completely blown away. The goat cheese gyoza were delicious, of course; how could they not be? And they were served with mango dipping sauce and a small salad of mixed greens and cherry tomatoes with soy-ginger dressing. I'd considered ordering a side salad, but was glad I didn't because this was perfect. But I thought the gyoza could have been done a little better. They were just pastry filled with goat cheese. Sure, they were wonderful, but I thought they'd be more creatively done.
The tofu agedashi was pretty much the same as what I had in Metairie, although presumably my first order had contained "fish flakes," whatever that means. It was very good. My vegetable roll was not quite as delectable as the last one, though. It contained five pieces instead of four, and it seemed to have all the same vegetables, but there was no rice on the outside, and it just didn't have the same bright blend of flavors that my first one had. However, I did take this one apart to identify all the vegetables. Lettuce, black mushroom, oshinko, cucumber, and -- and this is an inspired idea -- carmelized onion in teriyaki sauce.
As for the allegedly exorbitant prices, I can see how it could get really expensive to eat at Sake if you don't stick to vegetarian items. The fish and seafood sushi and sashimi get really expensive at the upper end, and meat entrees go for twenty dollars. Nonetheless, my three-dish meal and a Diet Coke came to only $16. I think I want to go again right now. Let me see if the boy is available for lunch.
The decor was like Red Lobster and our waiter was freakish (at one point, I needed a fork and got up to ask for one at the sushi bar, and the waiter ran up to me and said in surly tones, "You stay in your seat. If you need something, I'll bring it to you"). Okay, whatever. But the food was awesome. I had three dishes:
1. The best vegetable roll I've ever had. It was an "inside-out" hand roll, with sticky rice on the outside, and within was a smorgasbord of vegetables: black mushrooms, crisp lettuce, oshinko, avocado, carrot and cucumber. Too often, I've ordered a vegetable roll and it's just cucumber and pickle. This was a delicious blend of flavors.
2. Agedashi tofu. I'd never heard of this, but it was cubes of pan-fried tofu that were creamy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and served in a tray of some delicious sauce.
3. Veggies tempura. These were fairly standard, but they included only the good vegetables: eggplant, broccoli, sweet potato, etc. and no onion or green pepper.
Jeff had a tuna roll, which he said was very good; shumai, at my recommendation, because I miss my seafood-eating days when I was a big shumai fan; and edamame, which I helped him eat, and of course this quickly degenerated into both of us shooting the beans out of their pods at one another. He was better at this than I was.
This stellar experience led me to quickly become interested in the Magazine Street branch of Sake. I had a vague impression of it formed from reading reviews and talking to others about it: truly awesome food, but overpriced and favored by hipsters and yuppies. When I unexpectedly received a check in the mail yesterday, I decided to give it a try.
The decor was very different: it was all wood floors and set up in a variety of levels, with angled bars (sushi and alcohol) and hidden nooks. I was given a table next to the sushi bar and greeted by the cutest waiter I've ever seen. She was about twenty and had red-gold hair and was just precious.
The menu, to my surprise, was very different than at the Metairie location. The first thing my eyes fell upon was the goat cheese gyoza. Yes. Why has no one thought of this before? I consulted with the beautiful waiter and was assured that these were vegetarian. I then asked for the agedashi tofu, and she said it came with fish flakes, "but that's really disgusting so I'll tell them to make it without those." Okay, yay. And then I ordered another vegetable roll, just to see if it was as excellent as last week's.
I was very impressed with my meal, but not completely blown away. The goat cheese gyoza were delicious, of course; how could they not be? And they were served with mango dipping sauce and a small salad of mixed greens and cherry tomatoes with soy-ginger dressing. I'd considered ordering a side salad, but was glad I didn't because this was perfect. But I thought the gyoza could have been done a little better. They were just pastry filled with goat cheese. Sure, they were wonderful, but I thought they'd be more creatively done.
The tofu agedashi was pretty much the same as what I had in Metairie, although presumably my first order had contained "fish flakes," whatever that means. It was very good. My vegetable roll was not quite as delectable as the last one, though. It contained five pieces instead of four, and it seemed to have all the same vegetables, but there was no rice on the outside, and it just didn't have the same bright blend of flavors that my first one had. However, I did take this one apart to identify all the vegetables. Lettuce, black mushroom, oshinko, cucumber, and -- and this is an inspired idea -- carmelized onion in teriyaki sauce.
As for the allegedly exorbitant prices, I can see how it could get really expensive to eat at Sake if you don't stick to vegetarian items. The fish and seafood sushi and sashimi get really expensive at the upper end, and meat entrees go for twenty dollars. Nonetheless, my three-dish meal and a Diet Coke came to only $16. I think I want to go again right now. Let me see if the boy is available for lunch.
