Alex Eats World

With Masa starting off at $450/person, there’s definitely a hierarchy of Japanese restaurants in the city.  In the “My wallet is too heavy, help” category is Masa, Sugiyama, Sushi Yasuda and Sasabune. Then you have the famed Morimoto, Nobu and Gari. One more step (and still over $50/person) and you have Ushiwakamaru, Sakagura, Kanoyama and Hatsuhana.

Continuing my Japanese kick, I bring you Hatsuhana, a place where you bring a date (not me, you. I go for food).  It’s where to go when you want to save your wallet but still impress the pants off that special someone (figuratively of course…).  Aside from the food, this place deserves a James Beard Service Award. From the moment you step into this two level restaurant, you feel like royalty.  Not only does your waiter/waitress make sure your tea is filled and plates are swapped for clean ones after every appetizer and entree, all your requests are made perfect.  We asked for extra ginger slices and as soon as our heaping place of ginger ran low, she came by with more. Just in case your attentive waiter/waitress isn’t around, they have people strategically stationed around the restaurant which you can waive down.

On to the food.  The appetizer servings were a bit small considering the prices but the quality of the food more than made up for it.  The toro tartare brought tartare to a new level. Their special of the day was soft shell crab and it being soft shell crab season, I couldn’t pass it up. It came perfectly crisp and not too oily. The meat was sweet and perfectly seasoned.  If you’re lazy and like crab, this is your dish.  The other dish I can never pass up is the hamachi kama (yellowtail collar). Always get it shio style (salted).  This dish was served with big chunks of meat, too big.  It lacked the tenderness and oilyness this dish is usually known for, though it was seasoned just right and the skin was amazingly crispy. This is a simple and quick dish, one that I can easily teach you to make.

That brings us to the entree, the “Box of Dreams” which consisted of 9 miniature bowls of rice topped with all kinds of fish including more toro tartare, umi, baby himachi and your usually suspects.  While not the highest quality of fish I’ve had, it was good enough. Again, this is the place to bring a date. The presentation here is stunning.

I was pleasantly surprised by the unique desserts they had. We went with the red bean pastry with roasted chestnuts and green tea ice cream. Yum. I’m sure their agar jello with red bean and fresh fruit would have been delicious too. Overall, great great restaurant for the price. All this cost us $100 before tip.

Hatsuhana
$$$
17 E 48th St
New York, NY 10017