It's always nice when friends actually move TO your neighborhood vs. move away from you, so I was thrilled when my friend Jenn and her husband Eric moved to Williamsburg. It's great to be able to have random, impromptu dinners right down the street. Jenn and I decided to hit up the new Japanese place that is a spin off of Cherry at the Dream Hotel in the Meat Packing District.
We went on a Tuesday night and it was fairly empty. Despite being associated with the Dream Hotel, which is uber trendy, this place pretty low key. They had a nice happy hour from 4-7pm, so I was able to squeeze in a glass of pinot noir for $6 before Jenn showed up. We were quickly seated and at first glance the menu was very creative and was less like a traditional izakaya but more like one with a modern twist. Everything sounded good so we asked the waitress what she thought was good and ended up going with many of her recommendations: tuna tarts ($14), crispy almond shrimp ($10.50), foie gras gyozas ($9.5) and the omakase ($36). Other things on the menu that sounded great were the tuna crispy rice, any of the meat skewers and ramen salad. They did have a selection of sushi rolls but it was pretty limiting since this place was less a sushi place than a small plate place.
The tuna tarts came out first and they looked like little mini pizzas. It was really thinly sliced raw tuna on a water cracker and then topped with truffle oil. While I love anything with truffle oil and the tuna was fresh and great, there was something about it being a basic water cracker that made it seem too homemade. Maybe it's because I often eat those crackers at home with cheese and I feel like if I'm going to come to a restaurant and pay $14 for something it shouldn't remind me of something I eat at home often. I probably would have preferred the tuna crispy rice instead. The almond shrimp came out next and it was similar to a rock shrimp tempura dish with thinly sliced almonds and a cabbage slaw on the side. It was good but the tempura batter was a bit too thick, so it was difficult to really get the taste of the shrimp underneath. They weren't nearly as addictive as the ones at Koi. Next I tried the gyoza which was stuffed with foie gras and short rib and topped with plum sake glaze and sour cherries. Sounds kind of funky right? It actually wasn't that bad and the flavor all seemed to work together although I think I would have still preferred a traditional juicy pork gyoza (which they did not have on the menu). Lastly, they brought out the omakase, which was a combination of sashimi and sushi. Jenn and I had both seen the cute picture of it on their website (which I clearly lifted for this blog too) and were excited. We got a mix of salmon, tuna, and some other white fish sushi and pieces of mackerel and sweet shrimp sashimi as well as a few cuts of other fish. While it was certainly an adorable presentation, the balls of rice under the sushi was just too much rice and was very overwhelming and made each bite too filling. The sashimi was good quality and fresh but since it was types of fish that weren't my favorite, I felt a bit let down.
Overall, it's definitely a nice addition to the neighborhood since, with the exception of Zenkichi, there really aren't very many nice Japanese places around. Although it does look like a new izakaya opened not too far on Grand Street called Salt and Charcoal which might give this place a run for its money. Total bill: $63/pp with tip, tax and drinks
Photo Credit: Yelp
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