Spectacular Sushi Yasuda - NYC

Wow is one of my favorite words in the English language. It’s one of those words that clearly conveys what it means. There is the exclamatory “WOW”, where even the letters look excited and explosive, with the wide-eyed W’s and the O like an open mouth of shock. Then there is the sad “oh wow”, when something tragic or gruesome occurs, and the little o’s look sympathetic, and the w’s become furrowed brows, and the word is accompanied by a shake of the head. Then there is the ever-sarcastic “wowwww” when you hear or read one of my really badly nerdy jokes, where the o’s are rolled…and so are the eyes.

Sushi Yasuda was the first kind, the kind in all caps. The kind that widens your eyes and drops your jaw except you quickly close your mouth when you realize it’s agape to avoid spilling even a drop of that spectacular sushi . Just don’t open your mouth when you’re drinking their amazing Green Tea.

I used to see appetizers as a teaser to the meal, but I’ve been to entirely too many places where the appetizers have all the WOW, leaving none for the entrees. The Kane Miso really did have all the WOW. Crab roe mixed with a grainy touch of miso makes for a mouth-melting, eye-popping wow.

The Kane Miso was undoubtedly tops, but the lowercase wow provided by the Hone was a salty, welcome contrast. And by lowercase, I don’t mean sad, I mean quiet and subtle. The crunchy crisps of flash-fried eel have none of the in-your-face richness of crab butter, but the sea salt and soft savor of the eel emerges seconds after swallowing. And it holds all the addictiveness of Japanese Pringles – once you pop, you can’t stop.

From left to right, Toro, Shimaji (?), Red Snapper, Sockeye Salmon, New Zealand King Salmon, Sepia, Mirugai, and California Uni. It is impossible to describe each piece separately, and if I were to try, I can clearly picture the head-shaking wows from each reader as one by one, they stop reading. So notable highlights only. The toro is rich and savory, the sockeye salmon is unbelievably sweet and tasty, and the NZ king salmon melts on the tongue. The mirugai is one of my all-time faves, and it’s rare that I catch the chewy-brine of giant clam in season. The uni was brinier than what I had in China, but sea urchin roe is always amazing.

The next two courses are the heavier enders. The value of a fresh Ebi is always grossly underrated, but this one was nothing special. The Sawani Eel is out of this world, and it has rendered me incapable of enjoying eel ever since. Its sweet flesh required none of the corruption of eel sauce, and it was unthinkable that so much flavor came from something so pure and white.

Our omekase was over, but we still hungered for more. Let’s just say the Ocean Trout and another melt-in-your-mouth salmon were the smoothest finish to a perfect meal.

Our server was as sweet as the sushi. Soft-spoken but bubbly and ever-so-polite, she made sure the dirty dishes never dwelled. Just be prepared to abide by the rules in Yasuda-san’s house. Eat your nigiri with your fingertips and don’t add soy or wasabi - it's too perfect to drown in sinus-clearing green stuff or rivers of black. Especially when supping at the sushi bar, be prepared to shut up, snag your sushi with clean fingers, and shove the soy sauce aside. If you'd rather indulge with your own free will, you will find Sushisamba becomes a superior substitute.

At Sushi Yasuda, even the biggest WOW is unable to capture the explosion in your mouth when Yasuda's sweet sushi hits. Most people wouldn't describe sushi as sweet, but there is no better word to capture the umami uproar, and there is no better description for the feeling that comes after.