Fine dining in New York

Aaaaaaaand I'm back. New York, for those I haven't talked to, was incredible. Went to some very fine restaurants such as Nobu 57 and The Tasting Room. Highlights from Nobu include rock shrimp tempura, which was perfectly cooked so that it was just barely crispy with a creamy, spicy sauce. Then there was the rock lobster sashimi with caviar. That one might have been a little bit over priced but when you order off menu, rare clawless lobster with caviar that's the risk you take. I had real, fresh wasabi. Tried Kobe beef and bluefin tuna both for the first time. Both were unspeakably delicious but for all the hype I don't think that the bluefin had to steep an advantage over plain old yellowfin. The same is not true of the Kobe beef. The wild ocean trout was probably my favorite of the sashimi we had. The black cod with miso sauce deserves a mention too. Of the deserts we tried my favorite was the roasted rice pudding with ice cream which was served in a small metal pot over an open flame. I've decided that that meal is tied with my dinner at Rover's a couple years ago for my favorite ever.

The Tasting room was almost as good and not quite as memorable as Nobu. It is located in a tiny space (about 8 cramped tables) in a slightly grimy corner of lower Manhattan, within walking distance of where I was staying. They had best clam chowder I've ever tasted. It was light and not to salty or weighed down with potatoes so I could really taste the clams. The fish and beef courses we had were absolutely exquisite too but my memory of the details is a little bit hazy. We had a few deserts there, most notable in my opinion was the champagne and marzipan soup. It was completely unlike anything I have ever tasted. It was a soup, slightly warm slightly fizzy with the distinct and vaguely sweet flavors of (obviously) champagne and marzipan.