My friend Mike always talked about this wonderful Japanese place whenever he visited New York. I had a picture of a very traditional Japanese restaurant with rice paper walls, and still have the memory of Mike’s wonderful tale where him and another mate accidentally tore through one, or was it two of those walls. Hehe. Anyway, when we were catching up with some other relatives who were in town just to visit us, I thought we should try it out. We booked in advance (telephone only) and for a 1:30pm booking, we turned up just before 1pm and were seated immediately.
I’m sure their lunch menu is different from their dinner menu, but even the lunch menu was an overwhelming choice of a large number of things. I went for the recommend aburiya lunch selection showcasing so many things off the menu including the BBQ washu beef, and the miso cod fish. It also comes with miso soup, salad and a small bite-sized dessert.
Love the chopsticks obviously made from bamboo in this picture. A small but delightful detail.
The massive set of sashmi, rice, soup. Note that the wasabi here was real wasabi (so rare!). You can tell because you can see the wasabi root fibers as it’s been grated up, instead of a papery reconstituted green mound most restaurants serve. It also has less of a uppercut to the nose on contact because it’s pure wasabi, instead of the fusion of horseradish and wasabi powder normally used.
The wushu beef was sitting atop a griddle alight with a small flame to keep it hot. All the elements were really fresh, and have to say I was really impressed by the cod – perfectly done with a light miso sauce, grilled to perfection. So tasty.
Upon the recommendation of the waitress, we upgraded our dessert to a larger size because apparently the one that came with the set was only a biteful. Green tea tiramisu.
Service was amazing. Ok, so it’s proper Japanese. Still our waitress was very attentive, spent a lot of time with us (in contrast to other Manhattan joints that are ready to run away to serve the next patron) and we even got a few small bonus dishes (like edamame). It’s definitely one me over and thanks to Mike for the recommendation.
Name: Aburiya Kinnosuke
Found at: 213 East 45th St New York, New York
Website: http://www.aburiyakinnosuke.com/