Mitsuru

Mitsuru - Review - West Village - New York - The Infatuation

"Mitsuru is a Japanese restaurant with an eight-seat omakase counter run by the chef who used to be in charge at Sushi Yasuda. There's green velvet seating in the dining room, and a sake menu curated by the founder of Parcelle. Given all that, we’d expect this place to be ripe for special occasions in Greenwich Village. But neighborhood regulars treat it more like a casual destination for eating $16 handrolls in sweatshirts with their teenage sons, who've already eaten way more toro than you ever will. photo credit: Michael Clarke photo credit: Michael Clarke photo credit: Michael Clarke Pause Unmute It's usually easy to walk into the dining room, and the a la carte food is pretty good, if overly fussy at times. We don’t need our edamame grilled or kale in our oshitashi, but we do need the sea bass tempura with a side of impeccably tangy ginger tartar sauce at least once a quarter. You’ll end up forking over maybe double what you usually spend on a casual weeknight dinner, but when you can’t get in anywhere else and it’s starting to feel like a sit-down dinner is simply too much to ask for, Mitsuru will save the day. Food Rundown Grilled Edamame You could microwave edamame and it would still be good, so it’s no surprise that grilling it is no different. But it’s not any more memorable than the steamed variety. Marinated Kale & Bonito Sort of like oshitashi with a little more texture. We like it, but still prefer the smoother, spinach-based version. Handrolls The handrolls range in price from $9 to $16, and you should order a few to round out the meatier, cooked mains. We like the seared scallop with a hit of yuzu, and the simpler yellowtail and scallion. The nori sheets come on the side so you can build your handroll and the nori stays crisp. Unagi Don Warm sushi rice under a thick layer of sweet, fatty eel. If you come here for a solo meal—a quiet one, where you could actually hear yourself think—get this, and then pay attention to the eel melting across your tongue and absolutely nothing else. Sea Bass Tempura & Ginger Tartar Sauce Always get the sea bass tempura. The breading is light and airy, the fish is flaky and moist, and there could never be too much ginger tartar sauce on planet Earth. A surprise: the restaurant serves this with a few yuca fries on the side, like the Mitsuru version of fish and chips. Omakase There are two options at the omakase counter: The sushi omakase for $150 and the chef’s omakase for $250. Both include seasonal nigiri like cold uni against warm rice, a buttery sea bream swiped with soy sauce, and tender shima-aji. We maintain that a la carte ordering is the way to go, because although we appreciate the simplicity of the nigiri here, it's a fairly standard line up of fish. Hi-Chews They come with the check, and they’re not like the regular ones you find at the grocery store. On our most recent visit, we tried a sour grapefruit flavor." - Willa Moore