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| - I wanted to give this place five stars - I truly did. But while the food was remarkable, a small service flub at the end of the meal kept it just short of flawless, and for about $110 a person, perfection should be the measuring stick.
My party of 3 arrived at about 8:32 for an 8:30 reservation, and we were the last ones there (the restaurant only seats ten at a time). We were welcomed by name, and promptly seated at the far end of the sushi bar. It's worth noting, perhaps, that the three of us were served exclusively by Yasu himself - I don't know whether his placement is consistent, but if it is, it's worth asking to be seated near the kitchen so that he's serving you.
The restaurant is small (in an old converted home), but the décor is modern. The lighting is provided by potlights over every diner's sushi plate, so the fish is beautifully illuminated. A somewhat eclectic, but surprisingly ambient mix of electric music plays softly in the background (it's less weird than I'm making it sound). A sole waitress walked by from time to time to make small talk and refill our water.
Hot towels and a drink menu were promptly sent around. I wanted to preserve my palate for the fish, so we ordered sparkling water, instead of something from their rather extensive sake menu. Expecting a huge markup (the sparkling water wasn't a menu item), we were pleasantly surprised that they only charged us $4.50.
I can't remember each course in detail or in sequence, but suffice to say, everything was uniformly excellent. Particularly standout were the lean Toro, which tasted extraordinarily fresh, the mackerel, whose distinct fishy taste was beautifully complemented by a pickled daikon wrap, and the Ankimo (monkfish liver), whose title as the 'foie gras of the sea' is clearly well deserved. There was no Uni the night we went, which was disappointing - apparently they had some in stock last week, but alas, they've since run out.
The dessert, a green tea panna cotta, was better than I anticipated - the texture and density were wonderfully light, and the matcha flavor was spot-on in its intensity.
The preparation process was delightful to watch - the two chefs are clearly masters of their craft, and their deft knifework and meticulous attention to detail is a sight to behold. If even a small imperfection was found on a slice of fish, a precise set of tweezers (they almost looked like surgical forceps) was brought out, and the errant blemish removed.
The reason I'm deducting a star is because the two chefs seemed to have forgotten a piece of fish; one of the parties was served snow crab, but the others weren't. The chefs seemed to realize this mistake afterwards, as they looked into the fish case, saw the evident excess of crab, and looked sheepishly at one another. The two conferred quietly in Japanese, then offered everyone an extra piece. Obviously, my friends and I jumped at the opportunity, but in an apparent misunderstanding, our plates were ushered away and the dessert presented. A relatively minor fault in the grand scheme of things, but a substantive one.
The chefs speak somewhat spotty English, and it was often difficult to decipher what exactly they were saying. This ordinarily wouldn't warrant mentioning, but part of the experience is knowing the provenance of what you are eating, so it's a relevant factor here. Because of the language gap, engaging Yasu across the counter felt initially rather intimidating, but by the end of the evening, I had asked him about his own culinary history - his experience opening Nobu in Australia (his wife is Australian!), his previous operation of Nigiri-Ya, and the critical acclaim that Yasu has so far garnered.
In all, this place is great for splurge sushi - an end of the month/pay day treat, or an evening out with the significant other. I have no doubt that the small slip last night was not a regular part of business, and I look very much forward to returning a second time to confirm this hypothesis.
In the name of science, of course.
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