Category Archives: Japanese

Apr 22 2016
2 Comments
Japanese, Places to eat, Restaurants, Technically not nut-free

Marumi

An ika uni roll from Marumi

As I explained in a recent post on Otto’s Tacos, I’ve been spending a lot of time sifting through menus, emailing restaurants, and speaking with managers in the interest of adding new places to my “safe” list. I’ve grown tired of limiting myself to NYC’s few declaredly nut-free eateries, so I’ve committed to looking for more of the next best thing—restaurants that happen not to use any nuts—to the benefit of both this blog and, well, my stomach.

Marumi, a Japanese restaurant in Greenwich Village, is certainly of that next-best ilk. So few restaurants respond to my inquiries—and Marumi not only replied, but they did so promptly and (most notably) with information that was actually relevant: “No, we don’t use any tree nuts in our menu. Our restaurant is safe for people with nut allergies- including my children. We only use sesame seeds in some of our dishes.”

This woman—who’s evidently familiar enough with Marumi’s menu to be in a position to field allergy-related questions—finds the restaurant safe enough for her nut-allergic children. So though her email wasn’t the most detailed, it gave me all the reassurance I needed. (I’ve never been able to decide whether my allergy-related food safety standards are far too high or far too low. I’m convinced they’re one of the two, though.)

As far as I know, Marumi doesn’t seem to collect much information on their vendors’ facilities, nor do they market themselves as nut-free—so I can’t rightfully categorize them as “truly nut-free” by the criteria I’ve been using. But again: they really are the next best thing. So to Marumi I went.

As I’ve mentioned before, I tend to avoid ordering cooked food at Japanese restaurants, as sushi is, in my experience, a bit safer—but since I’d been assured that Marumi doesn’t use any nuts whatsoever, I figured this was my chance to order from the kitchen. Naturally, I was pretty excited.

Still, I wanted to start slowly, so I began with two rolls: one ika uni (squid and sea urchin—pictured above) and one toro uni (fatty tuna and sea urchin). Now, Marumi is not exactly a high-end sushi bar, so I wasn’t expecting all that much, but both rolls were delicious. I also ordered a few pieces of sushi (some salmon and some ikura), which were all right, I suppose, but which I probably wouldn’t order again. The ikura was all right, but the salmon was too cold—though it did have a nice flavor (as most salmon does).

But I wasn’t there for sushi; I was there to experiment with cooked food. So I ordered something I’ve been craving for a while: a bowl of udon with duck and some shrimp tempura on the side—why not? Now, it’s been a long, long time since I’ve had any sort of udon, so I can’t say I have much of a frame of reference anymore, but what I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed this dish. The duck was sweet; the mushrooms were tender; the scallions were plentiful. My only complaint was that the breading on the shrimp tempura was too thick and essentially flavorless—but hey, cooked food. In an actual restaurant.

Pork katsu from Marumi

To no one’s surprise, I’ve been back a few times since, and most things I’ve tried have been decent. The pork katsu (pictured immediately above) was pretty solid. It didn’t knock my socks off or anything, but it wasn’t as if I regretted ordering it, either. It came with some shredded cabbage, a bowl of rice, some dipping sauce, and a lemon wedge. The pork was juicy and tender, if a bit bland—nothing a little lemon couldn’t solve, though.

The soft-shell crab is good, too—or maybe I just really like ponzu sauce—and the stir-fried udon is surprisingly flavorful. The bento boxes are a good deal, price-wise, but Marumi’s tempura is sub-par, and their beef negimaki isn’t so great, either. On a good day, though—when the uni’s good, which certainly isn’t all the time—the broiled lobster with uni sauce is all right, and the ika uni appetizer is worth a try.

One thing I’d specifically recommend against ordering: the duck bun. I was pretty excited to try it, as duck’s one of my favorite meats, but it just wasn’t good. The duck itself reminds of Walmart-quality lunch meat, and it comes with a whole bunch of room-temperature cucumber, which…sucks. That’s all I can say about it, really. (And if I haven’t yet made this clear: I’d stay away from most of the sushi, too.)

Anyway, Marumi may not be high-end, and it may not be perfect, but I tend to enjoy it nonetheless. The servers are knowledgeable and friendly—and no matter the relative quality of the restaurant, it’s nice to be able to order freely once in a while. Plus, the atmosphere’s bearable, even during peak hours on a Friday night, which is saying something.

I suppose I’d recommend Marumi—just don’t expect to be floored, and order carefully, because their menu is a goddamn minefield. Be warned, though: they’re cash-only at lunchtime.

Find Marumi at 546 LaGuardia Place, between Bleecker and West 3rd.

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Apr 16 2016
2 Comments
Chains, Japanese, Places to eat, Snacks, Technically not nut-free

M2M: An affordable Asian market

Salmon

I’ve said before that I’d eat sushi every day if I could afford to do so—but I can’t, nor will I ever be that rich. A more reasonable person might accept this financial limitation and, you know, chill the fuck out, but not me. I spend way too much of my time trying to make sushi affordable—and mostly in vain, at that. Decent restaurants are expensive (and the cheaper ones tend to be less allergy-friendly, anyway), and grocery store sushi is generally inedible…that is, with the exception of M2M’s.

Now: M2M’s sushi is nothing crazy. Everything’s packaged and allowed to sit for hours in a cooler at the back of their stores, after all. But as grocery store sushi goes, it just might be the best I’ve tried—and among the cheapest, too, at between $4 and $10 per box. The fish is usually decent, though everything’s usually way too cold, and the rice (in particular) doesn’t always taste so fresh—but hey, it’s the best of the bad, as far as I’m concerned.

I like to get the salmon combo, which comes with both rolls and nigiri, and which is pretty decent if you manage to catch it at the right time of day (though just when that golden hour starts is anyone’s guess. I certainly have no idea, and I’m starting to think there’s no rhyme or reason to freshness at M2M). I also used to love the shrimp tempura rolls, but for the past year or so, they’ve been—for lack of a better term—really, really, really bad. They’re horrifyingly cold and stale, and the folks at M2M seem to have forgotten how to make the version that didn’t come topped with spicy mayo. Oh well.

Ingredients are, of course, listed on the packaging, though I’m not sure whether M2M would label potential cross-contaminants. Truthfully, I took a risk the first time I ate their sushi—but I eat M2M multiple times per week (as one of their locations is basically on NYU’s campus), and I’ve never had any issues whatsoever. (I should say, though, that I only eat their sushi. They have hot food, too, but in the interest of safety, I tend to steer clear of anything cooked.)

I know—this isn’t the world’s most informative post. But I eat there so often I figured I’d throw the recommendation out there. As always, you should use your own discretion—and if the lack of readily-available information on M2M’s treatment of allergens makes you uncomfortable, you can (and should) speak to an employee—or, of course, take your business elsewhere.

M2M has three locations, though I can only vouch for the sushi at the one in Greenwich Village (19 Waverly Place). Still, the one on 11th and 3rd (55 3rd Avenue) is much larger—and much more pleasant, if you ask me. The third is in Morningside Heights (2935 Broadway), but I’ve never been.

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Feb 27 2016
3 Comments
Japanese, Places to eat, Restaurants, Technically not nut-free

Hatsuhana

The sushi bar at Hatsuhana

I have a thing for sushi. A pretty big thing. Probably big enough to qualify as an obsession. And if I had unlimited money, I’d probably eat at Hatsuhana every single night for at least six months straight.

Among the things I love about sushi (and trust me, there are many) is the fact that I’m usually not allergic to it. I don’t tend to order much in the way of cooked food, but raw fish has proven pretty safe—for the last 10 years or so, at least.

Usually, in looking for a good place to get some sushi, I’ll read through a bunch of menus and try to find a place that doesn’t have any nuts on the menu. No easy feat. Hatsuhana’s menu does have nuts on it, but only, as far as I know, in one of the desserts. This doesn’t worry me too much, since I don’t order much from the kitchen anyway—and like I said, I haven’t had any trouble with their raw fish in the years I’ve been eating there.

Now, I eat a lot of inconsistent, low-quality sushi. By now, I’m used to it, as I’ve accepted that it’ll (sort of) do the trick in a dire situation. Whole Foods, M2M, random restaurants that insist cream cheese is a legitimate addition to a roll, various (terrifying) all-you-can-eat joints…you name it, I choke their food down on a semi-regular basis. But Hatsuhana is different. Hatsuhana is sacred. Hatsuhana is my consistent, reliable, high-quality treat.

Their sushi is great. Truly, it is. So great, in fact, that there’s hardly anything else I can say. Every single thing I’ve ever eaten at Hatsuhana has been downright delicious—most to the point of provoking an audible “wow,” even. The fish is always fresh and it’s never the slightest bit cold (that sounds like a Wendy’s ad; I’m sorry), and the only near-complaint I’ve ever had is “huh, this is great, but I preferred the way they prepared it last time.” (Seriously. It’s never bad—it only ranges from “very good” to “overwhelmingly delicious.”)

Honestly, I dream about huge plates of Hatsuhana sushi, and on those occasions that I’m fortunate enough to get some, I spend the whole day looking forward to what’s become my favorite meal. What’s more, the service is wonderful. Every time my boyfriend and I walk in, we’re greeted with genuine warmth—and it isn’t just because we’re regulars. Honestly, Hatsuhana is just staffed with lovely people. The only problem is that it’s pricey—but I find it’s worth the money, if only once in a while.

You can read about Hatsuhana’s mission and see photos of the restaurant itself here. (I used one of their photos at the top of this post. For some reason, I never want to whip out a camera at such a quiet restaurant, two feet from another of table of people trying to enjoy their meal.)

I suppose I can’t rave like I just have without any sort of visual aid, though, so…here are some shitty iPhone photos of wonderful things Sam and I have shared at Hatsuhana:

Squid, topped with salmon roe and shiso
An uni/ikura mini bowl. Sadly, mini bowls are no longer on the menu—but this was one of my favorite things in the world.
Chutoro (medium fatty tuna)
A salmon roll, chutoro, salmon, shrimp, salmon toro, squid, ikura, and uni
Two negi-toro rolls, a salmon roll, ikura, uni, salmon, otoro, squid, and salmon toro

They’re open Monday through Saturday for lunch, dinner, and carry-out, and they’re located at 17 East 48th Street, between 5th and Madison. (Of course, since Hatsuhana is not a nut-free establishment, you should use your own discretion, speak with your server, and only eat there if you’re comfortable. For what it’s worth, though, I do feel safe there—and I highly recommend giving them a try.)

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