#DOMODOMO - Japanese Restaurant

I was dubious about this restaurant at first. I have it a chance because of the review.  Amazing is an over used word - it's beginning to annoy me.  Therefore, I will simply say outstanding!

The yuzu foam on my oyster lent a perfect mild citrus touch to my oysters that I saved some for the other 4 on my plate.

My salad with shrimp was alright but I think next time, I would rather have the cucumber salad our friend had.

The chawanmushi said my friends was excellent.

Uni pasta - this is so far a better version I have had.  Maybe because I like the soupy sauce with cheese taste but it was very light.  It really did not need the uni.  However, it complimented each other since uni tends to be milky in taste when I eat it.  It is served with a little black caviar on top - not the cheap kind. 

They had Hojicha pudding which is like a green tea cream in a cup (little amount) with some gel on top - maybe just to sweeten a bit as you spoon the dessert garnished with some seeds on top.  Not too sweet.

Oyster sampler below had yuzu foam in the biggest oyster. It was so good I asked for more foam and she gave us more for my other oysters.

Black ink pasta with cheese sauce (you only taste a hint of it in the beginning and then it goes away) with black caviar on top of the uni.

Megu Toro Hand Roll - the toro inside is chopped and not very generous.

Deasert: Hojicha Pudding.  It is macha tea base with some gelee on top so it sweetens the matcha mixture below which is like a panacotta.

BUGS (no bugs)

This is a small restaurant which seats probably no more than 20 at a time.  I sat by the bar counter where 2 lady chefs behind the counter that prepare the food.  One makes most of the sushi-based food and the other the cooked and sautéed dishes.

My kale salad with mushroom was so delicious with butter slightly browned flavor coming through. (I think that is butter is taste).

I got tempted to order the fried chicken pieces coated with a spicy sweet sauce and something I dip in creamy sauce. (Answer to buffalo wings). The chicken pieces are tender and crisp outside.

I had to try the Risotto with soft shell shrimp, scallops, uni and oyster.  This was a big dinner. It came with thin slices of pickled cucumber.

BUGS

Bugs Restaurant - New York, NY | OpenTable

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 Rating: 4.4 - 32 reviews - Price range: $30 and under

DARUMA-YA

This is authentic Japanese.  They do use good ingredients.

We came here for the soba which is handmade.  I agree, he does make good soba.  It is also cooked Al dente.  And having just returned from a trip to Japan, they also gave us a pot of broth where the soba was cooked in to add to our broth in the bowl after finishing our soba; just like they do in Japan.

The Omakase is the best deal of the house. For a fixed price, one can get 7 items.  They are small "tapas" tasting size.  My favorite out of the Omakase were the following:

First was the foie gras.  Seared and probably torched with sugar on top was excellent.

The rare beef which was almost like Italian carpaccio on a bed if sliced onions dipped in Japanese Yuzu-sho was excellent.

Home made soba with uni which we requested replaced the plain soba they were going to serve but charged a little extra for this request.  This came with wasabe, some scallions and a broth that you'd pour into the bowl of noodles and mix.

Other items served were:

Lobster with uni. The lobster a little tough.

Black cod replaced the foie gras we had which someone else in our group did not want so had the fish instead.

Above were small plates if assorted vegetables. Some pickled seaweed, eggplant and tomato with wasabe mayonnaise.

There was also tofu with uni but I had forgotten to take a picture of it.

While waiting before dinner because we arrived early, I ordered corn tempura.  It was quite good and reasonable. Eaten dipped in Japanese pepper.

I think it's this condiment above that they use or similar.  I got this one from my trip to Japan.

Daruma has a sushi bar downstairs. Maybe I will try it next time. They said the sushi area is open only in the evening. But Daruma-ya on the main floor is open for lunch and dinner.  I think I will try it again next time.

It's not easy to find this restaurant so here's a map for you:

Daruma-Ya

Sushi Azabu (downstairs)

428 Greenwich Street

New York, NY 10013