January 15, 2009

• Urasawa "I sprinkle diamonds on everything I eat..."

  "Two reasons...1 it's the most baller shit you could possibly do to your food and 2 it makes my dookie twinkle, man." -Dave Chappelle

  Well, actually there were no diamonds in any of the dishes at Urasawa, but I sure felt like I had a fair portion of 23 karat gold in my food. Urasawa is the ULTIMATE Japanese dining experience. It's located on Rodeo Drive in Beverly hills. They only serve 11 people a night and it's $350 per person before drinks. I was so excited to finally try this place and I'm so glad that I did.(click images to enlarge)

  ^What I wore: Dress-Bebe, Gloves-Legs Ave, Shoes-Aldo, Necklace-NaHoku, Earrings- Givenchy. I didn't really have time to do my hair and makeup well, because I was so fatigued. This was when I was starting to get sick. *Thanks, ladies for all your warm wishes and wonderful advice. I'm feeling a lot better now. =)

  The atmosphere in this restaurant is not as fancy as I expected for $350 per person joint. It's very small and I didn't care too much for the wall color. Well, the gold color was okay, but the green sort of reminded me of something a housewife would've painted her bathroom circa 1993. Actually the green paint was the only thing that wasn't nice. The decor was cute, simple, and clean. I actually liked the table setting and I hear the sushi bar is made of a special maple and it's sanded down every night. The lights were also a bit bright, but it did make for better pictures and the beautiful food was easier to see.

  ^View of bar from my table

  We made reservations for a table because I'm not a huge fan of sushi bars. (I don't like the feeling of people watching me while I eat...yeah sounds ego-centric why would they watch me when they can watch the master chef at work. meh) The only table away from the bar is in a intimate room sort of separated from the rest of the diners by a glass wall.  It was funny because when we got there, they kicked the two people out of our table and moved them to the bar. It made me feel a tad important for a moment.  haha.

  ^View of our private table from my seat

  I think they only serve 11 people a night which makes the service above and beyond any other place I've been to. The servers were so attentive it was almost scary. They constantly refill your drinks, wipe the table down after every dish, and make each dish a special presentation. They explain how to eat each dish and finish the preparations of some of the dishes in front of you. They are super attentive, friendly, and fricken adorable little Japanese imports.They have lots of sakes on the list. I asked the waitress for suggestions and she said that the Wataribuni was great. Although my date doesn't drink, I ordered a full bottle because carafe was way to small for me. I think most of you know by now that I drink like a 300lb sailor. This is now my favorite sake. It is so smooth and has a wonderful aroma. It was $200 for the bottle. I believe I finished half and they wrapped the bottle for me to take home.

  ^Waiting for my meal =)

  Now for the deliciousness...
  -crab salad-
  refreshing and delicious. this was the calm before the storm.
  *Okay I'm a jackass. I was so excited to eat, that I forgot to take a picture of the first dish!. Well, I was about to take a picture of my date's half eaten salad and our adorable little waitress asked me not to photograph anything after it had been touched. I was sort of bummed, but she was right. I wouldn't want to display a broken work of art. She was kind enough to remind me when to snap a photo of each dish. She even set each dish up for a mini shoot before she set it up for eating. *

  -monk fish liver in pickled ginger topped with caviar-omfg this was so delicious. the monk fish was tender and perfect. This is actually the BEST monkfish liver I've ever had. I think I felt my eyes roll back as I enjoyed the flavors melting together in my mouth.

  -crab custard topped with salmon egg topped with gold-The custard was the perfect creamy consistency and it had yummy chunks of sweet tender crab. The salmon egg was super fresh it was like little beads of angel piss bursting in my mouth. The gold-straight baller.

  -Japanese root veggies, fish egg ,black bean, sashimi, shrimp-Such an interesting dish. I was biting into a potpourri of sweet then sour then pungent, then sweet, then mildly salty, then sweet. It's so different and hard to describe. It was just amazing.

  -Toro and other white fish sashimi with fresh wasabi served on a beautiful ice block hand carved by the chef- Very delicious. Each piece was like butter. The fresh wasabi was refreshing with a lovely verdant aroma.

  -ginko nut, shrimp, sea urchin, mountain potato, shitake, wasabi, more gold-Fucking delicious. Creamy, sweet, slightly pungent. I swear every dish is perfectly balanced. Another beyond perfect dish. More gold-ballerific.

  -cod fish tempura, ginger radish sauce-The codfish was like melted butter. It oozed into my mouth and I almost cried it was so good. =) You mix the aromatic ginger radish paste into the sauce just before consuming for extra freshness.

  -Crab with uni-^Another spectacular dish. The uni (sea urchin) was so sweet and yummy. The flavors together were exquisite! My date doesn't usually like uni, even from Sushi Zo, but he did enjoy this.

  -sea weed broth shabu shabu with foie gras, japanese kobe beef, lobster-The waitress cooked up each piece to perfection before us. Then she placed it in the sauce for us to enjoy. I loved each piece. I was so full at this point, but I still savored every bite. The lobster was so tender and sweet. The kobe flavorful and succulent. The foie gras melted in my mouth...so wonderful.

  -Seaweed Broth from the Shabu Shabu-So good, but I was getting full so I only had a few sips.

  -Sushi: Toro, seared toro, japanese mackerel-Okay the sushi dishes are outstanding, but equivalent to my beloved Sushi Zo which is only about $100 per person. Each piece melts in your mouth and the rice is really good, but again it is exactly like Sushi Zo when it comes to flavor and quality.

  -Sushi: lobster, spanish makerel, whitefish-same as the dish above. Well actually, I don't think they have lobster at sushi zo. This lobster was still alive while he was serving it up. Almost everything was alive while he starting chopping it up. crazy. kinda sad, but pretty baller.

  -tamago-I usually don't like tamago too much. Everywhere I go I'll take one bite and pass on the rest to save room for other stuff. I've never been like omg I love tamago, nor have I ever craved it until now. This tamago was whipped to a really light, heavenly consistency. It was almost like a really light, siky, and fluffy angel food cake that was sweetened to perfection. I felt like I was taking a bite out of a cloud in heaven.

  -mountain peach, grapefruit jelly, other exotic fruit jellies-This was interesting and delicious. Tangy, sweet, citrus. Nothing super amazing, but still great and very unique.

  -rice dessert with red beans, chestnut, sesame, and more gold. finish with green tea-Sweet, sticky, and melted in my mouth. The green tea was aromatic and floral. The perfect finish.  More gold

  -fricken balltastic. I was so full, but I even ate my date's because he's allergic to nuts-Red tea-

  Standard, high quality

  -The Bill-After tipping approx $1200! The date almost faints, then reassures me that I was worth it. Aww. =)

  Me in the drunk in the bathroom after the mealI look 3mos pregnant. Ain't no shame in my game. This is one well fed bitch. =)

  Was it worth it? Being the foodie that I am, it was totally worth it. I know I didn't pay for this meal, but I would have definitely went here on my own eventually because I fucking live to eat. I'm living my dream. Trying the best foods in the world. This is the best of the best in LA. If you can afford designer purses or expensive clothes, and you love to treat yourself to outstanding dining experiences you should definitely go for this place. You won't be disappoint. If you only want great sushi, Sushi Zo has equivalent sushi, but this place is more than sushi. The cooked masterpieces are absolutely to die for. I was secretly hoping that it wouldn't be that good because now I'm gonna be yearning for it for a while. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to try such amazing food.  This place is perfect for a special occasion. Japanese cuisine probably can't get much better than this. My date probably didn't enjoy the meal as much as I did because he does have lots of dietary restrictions (doesn't eat meat, not a fan of fish eggs, and allergic to nuts) and since the meals are planned days in advance he didn't really get any substitutions. Cool for me, since I got to pig out on what he couldn't consume. Well, maybe not so cool.. I can be such a glutton.Well, guess that's all. xoxo

  • 11:08 am
  • 4 Comments