Whenever I overeat (often, usually alone without supervision), I pay penance by walking home from the restaurant. Tonight, I walked, after a 60 min, gut-busting sushi dinner at ushiwakamaru. The walk spanned over 50 blocks, and 75 minutes. I spend the first 25 minutes talking on the phone with my boyfriend, updating him about my day and explaining the law of compensatory cash flow** (the guy doesn't understand how by not buying a dress I had my eye on, I was generating tremendous savings that could be applied towards an extravagant meal. Nor could he figure why I would sting on a $2 subway ride but think nothing of spending $80 on said extravagant meal). The next 50 minutes were spent musing on the meal.
I had arrived at the restaurant shortly after 7pm, and already the restaurant was starting to fill up. Free tables had reservation slips on. I was the lucky recipient of one lone seat in the middle of the very chic blonde wood counter, with the caveat that I paid up before the 830 reservation showed up. Since I did not have the luxury of time, I opted for the quick, 15 piece chef's special (at a very reasonable $50). A bottle of Asahi dry beer was my poison of choice, and I plunged into plates of sushi, 5 per plate, including a few versions of snapper, maguro, an unctuous piece of toro, a blow-torched piece of steak on rice that was rare and fun to eat, as well as some interesting seasonal picks. My favorites were the ikura - bursting with salinity, and unlike ikura at lesser places, clean tasting, without any sliminess; the insanely sweet shira ebi; a lovely piece of blow-torched anago, with a touch of sweet sauce brushed on; and the really good tamago that I ordered on top of my 15 pieces of sushi, as dessert, you know? There were a few unique pieces too, including ice fish and tiny glass eels, so transparent and slippery that if not for the little black eyes, I would have mistaken for gelatin strips. Least favorites were the abalone and sardine, due to the texture for the former and my lack of interest for oily fish for the latter. But plenty of variety for the 15 pieces, and a blast to eat while marvelling at the chefs' knife skills. And as promised, I was in and out in under 90 minutes.
Whether I am going back to ushiwakamaru is already a foregone conclusion, but next time, I am going with reservations, a taste for omakase, and comfortable walking shoes, because serious trekking is necessary for raw fish indulgences!
ushiwakamaru
136 W Houston St (Bet. Sullivan & MacDougal Sts)
(212) 228-4181
Note: ** The law of compensatory cashflow is best explained in Calvin Trillin's book “About Alice“, which is a slim book by my favorite food writer, and incidentally the most beautiful love letter I've ever read. You know what? This is a perfect Valentine's day present, with a good dinner thrown in =)
