Behind an unmarked black door, Tsukushi 300 East 41st Street, New York, NY 10017 feels like a private dining room for Japanese business men. There are no windows, and there are no menus. You are served whatever the chef is making that day. Lon went with his friends a couple weeks back, and came home raving about the best eggplant he ever had. Since Lon isn’t such a fan of Japanese food (besides sushi), my ears perked up and I sat up like a puppy, begging to go.

edamame

We went with Sara and Nick, a little double date. It started with a bowl of edamame to share, and a cold pepper salad for each. Both were like any you’d find at Japanese restaurants across the city.

pepper salad

When the poached egg arrived, I got excited, always a fan of the runny yolk. I was startled with disappointment when I realized it was soaking in a cold soy bath, having sat long enough to become waxy and undesirable. The okra was a perfect al dente texture, retaining a vibrant green color.

cold 6 minute egg

The sashimi plate re-deemed a little, fresh and a generous tasting size.

sashimi 2

The worst of the night was a strange tofu, with a layer that tasted peanut-y, but felt like raw goo.

wierd tofu

The miso glazed black cod was good, in the same way almost every one is. It’s a fatty and forgiving fish that’s easy to cook, and that’s why this is on 90% of Japanese menus already. Snooze.

miso glazed black cod

Our last plate was a pair of cream croquettes that worked in to the theme of average. The crunchy coating wasn’t greasy at all, but the inside looked gray and didn’t taste like much. We weren’t able to get any info from our waitress either. Nothing was described when it arrived and asking didn’t seem to get us any answers.

bitten croquette

As we finished, I felt so disappointed, but realizing that the 7 courses comes out to roughly $50 per person (including tax and tip), it seemed reasonable. I told myself that I shouldn’t have expected so much. Yet, after all that raving from his first visit, Lon decided he wouldn’t come back after this one. Lesson learned. With an ever changing tasting menu (only), there’s going to be inconsistency, and should only be attempted by top chefs.

posted by jessica at 11:47 PM Filed under Asian, Restaurants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.