Sushi Yasuda

Sushi Yasuda is another one of New York City's highly lauded sushi joints. We all know I am a Gari enthusiast, but Ankur prefers the simplicity at Yasuda. There are no frills here, just fresh sushi. Although the restaurant is large enough, it always seems like their in a rush to move you through as quickly as possible. As an appetizer, we had the fugu, or pufferfish. It's notorious because of the tetrodotoxin that can cause complete muscle paralysis and asphyxiation if not cooked correctly. However, if prepared as it's supposed to be, it leaves only a faint tingling on your tongue. I swear I felt the tingle, Praveen and Ankur think I'm crazy. The highlight for me was the fatty tuna, while the rest of the sushi was good I just didn't feel it was worth the price for the amount we were getting - and I was hungry again an hour after dinner. It's good, but is it that much better than the "regular" sushi place down the street that's 1/5th the cost? I don't think so.

This is the fugu - yeah it's basicall just a fried piece of fish. But my tongue was tingling!

Ankur's 30th Birthday!

Well, it finally happened. Creamy turned the age he's been acting since he was 15. To celebrate this momentous occasion, we had a big party at Alphabet Lounge, a club specializing in 80's and 90's music, the only kind Creamy knows. I was not surprised at all to find out how many people really love him. Everyone came out to celebrate the big day. We started off the night at Yerba Buena, a Latin American restaurant in the West Village. While Ankur thinks the food here is to die for, particularly the slow roasted pork, I think the portions are pretty small and the Miso Cod is a lame knock off of the Nobu version. The highlight of Yerba Buena for me is always the traditional cocktails, particularly those made with organic egg whites which are great to look at and full of very interesting flavors. We made our way to the lounge for, what I have to say, was the most fun I've ever had out in NYC. We really do have some fantastic friends and family that made the night so very memorable.
To continue the celebration, the next evening we had some family over for Creamy's favorite meal of shrimp and grits, the original recipe from City Grocery in Oxford, Mississippi. There are few Southern meals as spectacular as this one, and it's pretty much a staple at all of our special occasions. The components are pretty simple: cheese grits, bacon, shrimp - and the outcome is always the same - phenomenal! We ended the night with Cajun Velvet Pie, a recipe stolen from a Memphis restaurant piece by piece over a series of lunches and then a rousing game of Taboo. It was so great to spend the weekend with some friends we don't get to see very often like Anita!! And with some great family that were able to make the trip up.