Kuruma Zushi (NY) – Fish Still King
After the Sushi Yasuda letdown last monday, a friend & I ate a Saturday lunch @ Kuruma – No competition.
Notables
1. This is a fish-first type of place. We had 10 courses of sashimi & 10 courses of sushi. The fish quality is just as good as Masa and a level or 2 higher than Yasuda. The rice quality is inferior to Yasuda; not warm enough & not enough vinegar. The ratio of rice to fish on the sushi is better than Yasuda (or Masa) – there’s still enough fish to really bite into it & taste it.
2. Kuruma is *the* place for Bonito – 2 giant pieces of ruby red tuna perfectly seared on the outer edges. Better than anywhere – a truly underrated fish. So good we asked for more.
3. Similar to Yasuda the other night, the spanish mackerel/sardine progression was excellent – get out to your favorite spot & order this fish now – over the past 3 months, i’ve enjoyed excellent pieces from Manresa, Bastide, Yasuda, & Kuruma.
4. He served a “special” tuna that had the ‘meatiness’ of tuna but some of the fat content of toro. The fish was still a ruby red, similar to a pink grapefruit, and it was one of the best pieces of ‘tuna’ i’ve ever had.
5. The toro was good but nothing compared to Sawa (Bay Area) – the ’special’ tuna was a far better treat.
The Entire Meal
Sashimi
- toro
- kampachi
- shamaji
- yellowtail
- fluke
- bonito
- red snapper
- king crab (cooked)
- baby shrimp (raw)
- “special” tuna
Sushi
- toro
- spanish mackerel
- sardine
- horse mackerel
- fluke
- giant clam
- sea eel
- lightly cooked shrimp
Afterward, we suspected the chef was really hoping we’d stop eating. He was scrambling towards to end for new things and i don’t think he was ready for the locust-like feast!
Overall
The United States sushi battle would fall like:
- Sawa (Bay Area) still reigns supreme
- Kuruma fish quality is about 90% of Sawa & equal in quality to Masa (at 50% discount)
- Masa if you want sushi and/or variety (30 different kinds of fish)
- Yasuda is a poor man’s Masa
- I still need to try Ushi Wakamuru (NY) & Ursawa (LA)
- chuck
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chuckeats.com Blog » 2008 Itinerary said,
January 12, 2008 @ 7:38 am
[...] Just how good is Japanese sushi? And the quality of their raw fish? I’ve limited myself in the past year to only eating at America’s best sushi/sashimi restaurants – Urasawa, Sawa, Kuruma Zushi, and Sushi Yasuda (no Masa this past year.) How does the quality of Sawa and Kuruma’s fish compare to Tokyo’s best? Is this magic of a Sushi Yasuda nigiri commonplace in the back alleys of Tokyo? Can Urasawa’s reverence for food and ingredient place among the best of Japan? When I discuss America’s best places, the common response is always “go to Japan.” The subtext of that comment often is, at worst, the continuing Japanese fetish found in America; and, at best, a truly informed point of view. Where does my reality lie? [...]
ChuckEats blog » L20 (Chicago, IL) - Striving said,
October 21, 2008 @ 9:44 am
[...] The fish just isn’t on the level of the top sushi restaurants – Masa, Urasawa, Sawa, and Kuruma Zushi. When compared to the competition of the heavyweight seafood restaurants, the three 5 of them [...]