Saturday Night Sushi Tour

    Tomorrow is Spud's 11th Birthday!  Some months ago as we were wandering Chelsea Market he overheard someone giving a tour of the market.  We asked about that tour and upon inquiring we found out about a sushi "tour".  http://www.foodsofny.com/artofsushi.php   Spud wanted to do this desperately and I gave him the choice to this instead of a birthday party, and he jumped all over it.  I was thrilled to not have to give a kid party.  This tour was actaully a sit down tasting dinner at Ariyoshi Japanese Restaurant, located at 810 Broadway (between 10th and 11th Streets), New York, NY.
    It was a multi-course dinner done in two parts. The first part was a Japanese Tapas tasting. The second half was a sushi tasting. Sadly I forgot to take the menu, so heere is my best description of what we were served.

PART ONE
Course one: ( Served with Ichiban beer)
Fried chicken in Ponzi Sauce
Asparagus wrapped in Bacon in Ponzi Sauce
Seared Beef in Ponzi Sauce
Salmon & Yam wrapped in radish
Grilled Freshwater Eel

This portion of the meal focused on Ponzi sauces and the key ingredients and how different they can be just by changing the proportions of the ingredients. 

Course two:
Miso Soup with Crab Yam dumpling

This was like Japanese Matzo Ball Soup, with a delicious rich miso broth, and a very tasty light dumpling

Course three:
Grilled Tofu served with 2 different kinds of miso sauces

This also focused on Miso and how many differnt types and flavors they can be. This didn't make me a lover of tofu still, but the miso sauces are so very good, and very different from each other.

PART TWO - Served with 2 sakes - One was sweet and served cold, the second was drier and served warm
Course four
Sashimi tasting: Red Snapper, Horse Mackerel, Yellow Tail

Course five
Sushi Rice, Salmon, Fluke and Eel Sushi

Course six
Blue Fin Toro Scallion Maki

The sushi courses focused on quality of sushi rice, chopstick etiquette, Real vs. fake Wasabi, and fresh vs. frozen fish. (it is illegal in the U.S. to serve fish that has not been frozen), and Nori ( the seaweed that wraps the rolls)

Course seven
Dessert which consisted of Green tea infused rice dish, made into something like large tapioca pearls. 

This was a very different flavor, but nice and light and a very nice green tea flavor.

I highly recommend this dinner as a great introduction to Japanese cooking, and some insigh to the culture as well.  Our host/guide for the evening was highly knowledgeable and very personable to be around, and the food was wonderful. Spud had a wonderful time and ate every last bite!