Hayashi-Ya

The Triangle area has finally had some semblance of resurgence in reasonable sushi, and not the half-baked (cooked?) attempts by non-Japanese to hijack a cuisine steeped in tradition for their own personal profits. Ironically, Hayashi-ya, is still obviously not Japanese owned, but at least it comes closer to the cuisine than the vast majority of other restaurants in this area. 

First off - sushi equals fresh fish plus correctly prepared rice. If you screw up one or the other, you lose. Hayashi Ya's fish was very fresh, and portion sizes reasonable (given the prices, I'd hope so). The fish prep wasn't perfect - there was a bit of fibrous tissue in one bite of tuna. The rice, unfortunately, wasn't perfect either, being a bit undercooked. Overall, however, the sushi experience was the best we've had in the triangle in a long long time. More importantly, the menu is more authentically Japanese then the vast majority of other restaurants, (except Teriyakin), having some specialty tissues that we never thought we'd see locally. 

The stuff eggplant and daikon radish appetizers were well constructed and delicious, a feast for the eyes and palette. (sorry, but the blurrycam picture doesn't do justice...)

The sushi fish portions were substantial.

and we really liked the innovation in the raw roll.

The wasabi was especially potent! Not sure why, but everything was good. We are definitely going back to explore this menu!

P.S. - for those who care, the ambiance and wait staff was great too!

 

Hayashi-ya Japanese Cuisine
8401 Brier Creek Pkwy
Raleigh, NC 27617

Sansui Sushi Bar & Grill - Durham, NC

The Triangle sushi scene has continued to be depressing.  Our recent experience at Achira has further reconfirmed that the vast majority of places that serve sushi don't have a clue as to how to prepare sushi rice. Preparing sushi rice requires care; slapping raw fish on rice does not equal sushi - and if the restaurant isn't willing to take the time, then what would you expect on their other foods? We were very hesitant to try Sansui.. for those who have been in the Triangle long enough probably remember the creepy crawly things falling off the ceiling with this building used to be a reasonable Dim Sum place. Needless to say, we stopped going. Even though we'd seen the Sansui half off sushi rolls for months, we had still been very afraid... finally desperate for sushi, we decided to to give them a try.


Every patron gets a little bonus appetizer of cucumber and fish cake - I dearly miss the Little Tokyo days of their "free appetizer". While not impressive, I'll give them a point for trying. We ordered the pyramid, the tonkatsu and two sushi rolls.

The pyramid is pictured above - while probably and excuse to purge edge pieces from the raw fish, it was actually very good. The fish was fresh (and it was Sunday!). I'd strongly recommend the soy sauce bathing the rice on the side... we were still worried about the rice after this dish. 

The rolls, however, turned out to be pretty good - I'm not sure the torch blackened tuna sat in my stomach well, so I'd probably recommend avoiding.

For a quick, relatively inexpensive sushi place, this neighborhood gem should be a good stand in. The ambiance and decor was a bit gaudy.

Sansui
4325 Hwy 55
Durham, NC
(919) 361-8078

City Beverage

City Beverage is a food paradox. The rule book says random strip malls located in random spots shouldn't have really good food with pleasant outdoor spaces. It is as if the rules of physics don't apply to this place... and that's just the feeling BEFORE you walk inside. Once you walk inside, you are transported to a tiki bar blended with a 50's diner that someone drop punted into the Parade of Roses. I'm sure some other combination of non-converging entities would be just as useful in description. Beyond the visual spew (or my verbal spew), however, the food is always wonderful. 

City Beverage

4810 Hope Valley Rd
Durham, NC 27707

Blue Ribbon - NYC

One doesn't always have the time for a leisurely sit down 5 star dinner- but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the food. We arrived late in New York - and were hungry. Turns out, the Blue Ribbon Brasserie was only a few blocks away, and could do take out. Every review I saw pointed at the Beef Marrow & Oxtail Marmalade, so we just had to try it. Even on a Tuesday night, it sounded like we would have waited about 2 hours for a table without reservations... but 15 minutes later, I was running back to the hotel with food in hand. Maybe not the ambiance - but my taste buds didn't care. The restaurant was tiny - probably about 700 square foot of seating space, a third of which was the bar, and it was packed and full of ambiance. Standing around, every dish looked good.... the seafood platter, etc. I wanted to steal morsels from everyone's dish. Hmmm.... Onto the food...

I'm not sure that Beef Marrow & Oxtail Marmalade would be the best fresh off the plane dish - but wow! The marrow was like a luscious butter and the oxtail marmalade was like a carnivore's jam. I felt like a wolf licking its chops enjoying this dish - and nicely packaged for takeout. We basically mopped up the container with everything piece of bread we had...

I have to admit - pictures of the takeout box don't do the dish justice - but look online, and you'll find examples. The receptionist recommended the fried chicken - which many seem to be very positive about. However, coming up from North Carolina to have fried chicken in New York just didn't seem to be the best of choices, since we went after another poultry disk, the Duck Breast Turnip Puree, Brussel Sprouts, Beets and Orange Sauce. 


The duck was perfectly cooked, without being tough or too gamey. The sprouts / beets and orange sauce were a wonderful complement, and the turnip puree had the appeal of hearty mashed potatoes. In hindsight, I wish I had tried a few more dishes... it looked like everything there would be great! Looking forward to going back.... and next time to enjoy the ambiance also!

Blue Ribbon Brasserie

97 Sullivan St
(between Spring St & Prince St)
New York, NY 10012