Our first night in Manhattan, we were invited to go out to dinner with the two owners of Dangerous Music, a company that manufactures control devices for the professional music industry. They wanted to go to Esashi, a little sushi place in the East Village area of Manhattan. Oh, man! Sushi in New York! I couldn't wait!
Esashi is owned by Yukihiro Ishiyama and his wife, Minako. They have been in business on Ave A. in the East Village since 1991 (see map). Esashi is named after Mr. Ishiyama's home town of Esashi, Japan (see map). Esashi is right on the coast and as a little boy Mr. Ishiyama and his friends used to catch incredibly fresh seafood and their families would have the catch that night for dinner. Mr. Ishiyama opened Esashi with the plan to make sushi the same way he remembers having it as a little boy.
There were five of us who met up at Esashi around 7 p.m. The two guys from Dangerous Music - Bob and Chris - used to run a recording studio around the corner from Esashi and they frequented the place before they got into making control components. Bob lives in upstate New York and every time he comes back to New York, he always takes in Esashi.
And there's a big reason why - it was some of the best sushi I'd ever had in my life. The spicy tuna rolls were very good, but the salmon and the toro, or fatty tuna, were unbelievably great. I also had a couple shrimp, just for good measure. I was devouring the sushi, it was so good. And I washed it all back with a couple tall and ice cold Asahi beers.
We went for a second round and I ordered exactly the same thing I ordered the first time. My colleague, Simon, decided to go exclusively with the toro sashimi style. The chunks of toro were huge. I should have gone that direction.
For those of you who don't like sushi, Esashi has a full menu of cooked items, as well. My colleague, Todd, who grew up on Prince Edward Island, and who loves seafood, has an allergic reaction to raw seafood. He had to go with the salmon teriyaki - a marinated salmon, broiled and served on a plate with assorted vegetables. He said it was outstanding.
Esashi was very good. And expensive. With tip, the bill came to just over $500 bucks. But it was well worth it. The fish was very fresh, the restaurant had a great atmosphere, and the service was exquisite. Esashi would be a place I'd highly recommend for sushi in New York City.
(Update October 2011 - Before my recent trip to New York, I suggested to my colleague Simon that we go back to Esashi as it remained one of the more awesome sushi places I'd been to. Simon quickly told me, "It's closed." I asked him when it closed and he said, "Dunno, but's it's closed." Bummer...)
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