Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Celebrations all around!

We, as a family are always looking for reasons to go out and eat! Perhaps thats where I get my foodie side from. This was a pretty special meal for us. We were celebrating my brother in laws belated birthday, my cousins early birthday/graduation, and the most special of all, my parents 35th anniversary. My sister picked out a wonderful restaurant right in Kips Bay called Momokawa known for their shabu shabu/sukiyaki. I've heard great things about this place from her but we had to see it for ourselves. When I walked in, I was slightly confused since there was a hostess stand but no one in sight. After one family came in and walked up the narrow staircase, I followed and realized, there was no hostess on the first floor.

Here is what we ordered:
- hamachi (yellowtail) shabu pot - They are sold out extremely fast and we called 3 days ahead to make the reservation.
- wayshu beef shabu pot + two extra orders of beef (alacarte)
- uni: served with freshly grated wasabi and nori. Very fresh uni and I couldnt get enough!
- homemade tofu: nothing too special, but refreshing and good
-  oyakodon with salmon flakes and ikura
- grilled hamachi belly
- grilled hamachi fish pocket

There were so many dipping sauces for all of the dishes, it got confusing! Though it was confusing, given the right combination, it became a great marriage of flavors. The hamachi pot shown below came with vegetables, mushrooms, glass noodles, and sliced hamachi. The sliced hamachi could also be eaten as sashimi and they provided soysauce and wasabi (freshly ground). I think that was one of the best parts of dinner. Most of us didnt even want to shabu the fish! The pot for the hamachi was a daikon broth with lots of grated daikon. The beef shabu pot was very traditional and the beef was fatty and tender. 3 seconds in the brother and it was good enough to eat. Unfortuantely for the 6 of us, the beef wasnt enough so we added two more orders of the beef. The a la carte beef was not as tender or fatty as the wayshu beef so make sure you order wayshu. We also wanted the red snapper head but that was sold out as well. We settled on a yellow tail fish pocket and grilled yellowtail belly. It was probably the best grilled fish I have had in a long time. The skin was crispy and slightly seasoned with salt and the fish was very fine and fresh. No bones either which was a plus! At the end of the two pots, they gave us some udon which were to be cooked int he broths and tossed in wasabi salt combo. Delicious! We opted out of dessert since we had cake at home but I'd definitely go back again but never without reservations!