When I take a day off, I always love treating myself to a sushi lunch. It fits in nicely with a day that’s usually spent romanticizing nyc life by writing in coffee shops and popping into vintage stores. In a recent such day, I was looking for a new sushi place near where I’d been writing in the UES. A little googling led me to Suki Desu, which specializes in kaisendon.
I sat at the bar and was surprised to see the pebbled floors. Perhaps not the most convenient choice, but, when combined with the garden level location, really helped take me out of the cold cityscape. I was transported to a modern Japanese countryside haunt.
I started with a wakame salad. This seaweed salad with ponzu dressing was beautiful and filling – not at all an afterthought. Then for the main event, I ordered the largest version of the bowl ($28), which was packed with so many types of fish and topped with ikura and uni. It also came with a piece of hamachi on some sesame sauce as a little amuse bouche.
There is, in fact, a “right” way to eat this: First, mix all the toppings and rice together without adding any soy sauce. The chef has layered their own sauce between everything and you’ll probably think they nailed it. Eat about half your bowl and then ask the server to add broth to the bowl and eat it like a soup. It’s two experiences in one. I liked both versions of the bowl, but the broth could have been just a tad more unctuous so no-broth wins this round. But really, Suki Desu is just a winner overall.
Peaches to Apples 