NoNoNo New York

There is far more to Japanese food than sushi, but it's hard to find a restaurant that offers more than seaweed salad and tempura in addition to the usual raw fish favorites. At least in Baltimore. But in New York, one can dine at an izakaya--a Japanese style pub--or at a restaurant that specialize in one or more specific dishes, like yakitori or ramen. NoNoNo, on the edge of Manhattan's Koreatown, is one of those places, with a menu of yakitori, or various chicken bits on skewers, plus noodle dishes and various other delights.

I wanted to dine at NoNoNo last December, but didn't have the forethought to make a reservation. This time around, I did, and so we feasted. We enjoyed some dishes more than others.

I am a fan of chawanmushi, an egg custard made with dashi broth rather than eggs, studded with savory bits and bobs, usually a shrimp or two. NoNoNo's version can be had plain, or for a small upcharge, topped with salmon roe, snow crab, and uni. Unfortunately, they were out of uni, and the snow crab was a disappointing small spoonful of shredded meat, but the overall portion of custard was large and, I thought, quite good.

The yakitori on offer includes everything from thigh and breast to skin, gizzard, even back cartilage (a favorite of mine). But we bucked the trend and went for beef skewers, instead--short rib with onion and skirt steak with shishito peppers. In both cases, the meat was flavorful and juicy, with the expected pleasant chew.

A skewered soft egg wrapped in bacon and topped with truffle salt made for another lovely mouthful or two.

We also tried the duck nanban, or deep fried duck topped with egg salad. The egg salad seemed more like mayonnaise with bits of white onion in it, and I felt it was a strange topping for the duck. I've seen too many food competition chefs get dinged for putting a wet sauce on a crisp piece of protein to think this is a good idea. But even the pieces of duck that escaped the sauce were a bit on the soggy and chewy side. Not my favorite dish.

Because our meal was going to be meat-forward, we ordered the grilled romaine, which was much like a Caesar salad. A very good Caesar salad.

We also ordered the deep fried grilled mushrooms with a very garlicky basil and scallop filling. I'd love the filling tossed with pasta. Those mushrooms were a challenge to pick up with chopsticks, by the way. Slippery devils they were.

Then there was the grilled salmon belly topped with shaved radish and salmon roe. I was hoping for a fatty and lush texture, but the meat was a tad overcooked.

Finally, we had the cold sukiyaki udon, which may have been my favorite dish of the evening. Fat slippery udon noodles swam in a tasty broth topped with various mushrooms, slices of beef, tofu, scallions, and a goodly hit of wasabi.

I'm not sure if we ordered badly, or what. The beef dishes were excellent, but some of the others had issues. There was still plenty more interesting items on the menu to explore, and I think we may have made a mistake in overlooking the chicken skewers. There are plenty of other restaurants in NY in which to dine, so we probably won't be revisiting NoNoNo in the future. Still, I'm glad I was able to satisfy my curiosity.

Check out the online menu and be intrigued yourself. Prices per dish are all pretty inexpensive, but if you order as much as we did, your meal won't be cheap.

NoNoNo
118 Madison Ave
New York, NY 10016
https://www.nonononyc.com/

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Sriracha Barbecue Sauce

A couple months back, Mr Minx and I had a scrumptious meal at PABU, in Harbor East. We basically ate the special Satori prix fixe menu, with an added sashimi course. One of the non-fish courses consisted of two crisp, red chili-glazed chicken wings, and one Berkshire pork baby back rib with a not-too-sweet chili garlic sauce. The rib was tender and juicy, and the sauce added just enough heat and messiness.

When an opportunity to make baby back ribs presented itself, I attempted my own version of the barbecue sauce from PABU. It would be great on chicken and brisket as well as pork.

Sriracha Barbecue Sauce

3 T brown sugar
2 T Sriracha (or more, to taste)
3 T white miso
1 T soy sauce
2 T rice wine vinegar
1 T tomato paste
1 large clove garlic, minced
3 cloves black garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup pork or chicken stock
1 T toasted sesame oil

Combine first nine ingredients in a sauce pot over medium heat and stir with until the sugar is melted and the miso and tomato paste have been amalgamated into the mix. Stir in the chicken stock and cook until the mixture thickens into a barbecue sauce consistency, about five minutes. Remove from heat, stir in sesame oil, and allow to cool.

When cool, transfer sauce to a squeeze bottle. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Makes about 1 cup.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

International Sake Day

One of our favorite local restaurants, PABU, is celebrating International Sake Day all through October. On Tuesday, October 1st, they'll kick off Sake Month with the launch of a month-long Sake Happy Hour, featuring complimentary abbreviated Sake 101 classes taught by sake sommelier Tiffany Soto, as well as complimentary sake tastings. The restaurant will also highlight signature sake cocktails like the Cobra Kai and the Super X, and offer special pricing on sake by the glass and bottle. If you're not familiar with sake, these are great introductions to the world of this traditional and delicious Japanese spirit.

Executive Chef Jonah Kim will introduce a sake-influenced version of their award-winning Satori tasting menu to be accompanied by various sake. On Thursday, October 10, PABU will host a Kubota Sake Dinner with limited seating. Kubota has been brewing sake for more than 400 years, and their Senshin, an ultra daiginjo and competition batch sake, will be part of the dinner pairing.

We had the regular Satori tasting menu a while back, and highly recommend it. Here are some photos to whet your whistle.

"happy spoon" & izakaya appetizers
oyster, uni, ikura, ponzu creme fraiche, lotus root, seaweed salad, "goma-ae" with sesame

pabu wing "nagoya style" & pork spare rib
red chili glaze, japanese mayo

skewers grilled over japanese binchotan
tsukune "chicken meatballs," negima, skirt steak, sweet garlic, eringi mushroom

michael's "chicken noodle" soup
ramen noodles, rich chicken broth

And if you don't know what "daiginjo" and "competition batch sake" is, then you might want to enroll in a Sake 101 class. This month, Tiffany Soto will be holding them on October 5th and 12th. For those of you who have already taken the Sake 101, there will be Sake 102 classes held on October 19th and 26th and will cover the art of sake pairings with food.

For more information visit www.pabuizakaya.com or call 410.223.1460. To make reservations for sake education courses or the Kubota Sake Dinner call Shannon Toback at 410.223.1464 or email her at shannon.toback@fourseasons.com.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Flashback Friday - September 28, 2012

A friend recently asked for restaurant recommendations in the Times Square area of New York City. I immediately thought of Sake Bar Hagi, the site of a delicious and rather inexpensive meal with Mr Minx and our friend, blogger David Dust. This post was originally published on September 22, 2009.
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Sake Bar Hagi

A couple of seasons ago on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, he visited a hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant in Times Square called Sake Bar Hagi. I filed that away in the back of my head for a future trip to NY. When Mr Minx and I went up for Fashion Week, I thought it would be the ideal place in which to dine with my friend, the somewhat-infamous, always-entertaining, and fabulously snarky Mr David Dust.

Sake Bar Hagi is an izakaya, or a watering hole that also serves food, comparable to Spanish tapas. It's a very popular place, and from what I read on teh innernets, it's best to get there early to avoid waiting in line. So we decided to meet when the doors opened at 5:30. Even at that early hour there were several tables filled. (When we left around 7, there was a line out the door.)

David didn't have much experience with Japanese food before, and what I hadn't eaten I had at least read about, so I did the ordering. We started off with the kushiyaki (things on skewers) sampler: beef, pork belly, garlic, chicken meatballs, and chicken...

...an order of gyoza and an order of fried calamari.

The skewered tidbits were all delicious, particularly the steak. The gyoza were good/standard, and the onion ring-like calamari were a little chewy, but they tasted fine.

The specials menu offered corn dogs, so we tried two. They were actually seafood sausages dipped in standard corndog batter, and served with ketchup and mustard on the side. Good, but somewhat weird. Tasted better than tofu pups though.

Next I ordered some more unusual fare: fried gobo (burdock) chips. They had that essential starchy/greasy/salty thing going on and tasted a bit like dark-cooked potato chips, or maybe even plantain chips. The accompanying dip was a creamy honey mustard.

I've always been curious about takoyaki, or octopus balls. Ok, they're not octopus balls, but balls of starch with octopus meat inside. Kinda like round, squishy pancakes. They were topped with a preponderance of dried bonito flakes that moved around eerily as if they were alive. The red stuff is pickled, non-sweet ginger. Interesting, I can say I ate them, but not a big favorite at the table. David wouldn't even try one. I think the bonito freaked him out a bit. :)

Because the first round of skewers was so good, we went for a second, this time asparagus wrapped in bacon, duck, and beef. So good.

Finally, we ordered a noodle dish from the specials menu. It was stir fried with bits of pork, onion, and green beans. I thought it would be somewhat like the Chinese "ants climbing a tree" but it was far richer.

We washed everything down with glasses of very apple-y apple sake. And lots of ice water (one needs to stay hydrated in NY).

All-in-all, a pretty great selection of stuff, and I would definitely eat there again and again. Plus, everything is cheap - the noodles were the most expensive dish at $9.50, and the skewers were about $2 apiece. We ordered a lot (and had trouble finishing), but someone with an average appetite could probably get out of there for under $20, not including alcohol.

Sake Bar Hagi
152 West 49th Street (between 6th and 7th)
Manhattan
212-764-8549



Posted on Minxeats.com.