Hedonism Is Healthy

Now I don't feel so guilty about subsisting on chocolate and coffee.

Ushi-what? Ushiwakamaru!

The name of this basement sushi bar refers to a famous samurai, but the only knives wielded here are those of the expert sushi chefs.

Although Ushiwakamaru shares the casual atmosphere of other Houston Street restaurants, its sushi, and its prices, are serious. My sushi special was $34.50, and the chef's choice was $70 and up. And it seems that although both soup and salad were once served with an entrée, one must now choose between them. Fortunately, the food is of very high quality, and the sushi chefs are happy to speak about it. Last night, I overheard one of them educating a customer about the different grades of toro.

I began the meal with a bowl of scalliony miso soup and the chawan mushi (steamed egg custard) appetizer. The latter hid all kinds of tasty treasures (shrimp, whitefish and gingko nuts).

Soon afterwards, I was served a tray of seven perfect pieces of sushi (shrimp, snapper, two kinds of yellowtail and tuna, and clam). Although I enjoyed every bite, I wondered, was that all? I was relieved when the waitress carried another tray to my table. On this second tray were three pieces of tuna-scallion maki, creamy, nutty uni (perhaps the highlight of the evening), mirin-sweetened salmon roe, eel, and sweet egg cake stamped with Ushiwakamaru's logo.

The dessert menu included mochi, grapefruit jelly, ice cream and sweet bean soup; I abstained. (However, I later found myself buying a bag of chocolate-chip cookies at Whole Foods.)

Ushiwakamaru: 136 West Houston St., (212) 228-4181.

Coming Soon: Galleria Illy

Lovers of fine espresso, here's a reason to rejoice!

Soba Koh

The simple act of walking down a different street can expose one to an exciting food adventure. Last night, I intended to pick up a snack at Caracas Arepa Bar. But as I walked up 2nd Avenue, I thought to myself, why not turn right on East 5th Street instead of East 6th? Soon, I was learning about the great culinary reputation of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, and about ingredients like myoga, a kind of wild ginger which grows in in Japanese country backyards. Soba Koh was the setting for this enjoyable lesson, and Miho, a charming waitress, was my guide to the menu.

The Hakodate-born chef of Soba Koh, formerly of Takahachi Restaurant, is now pleasing our palates with slightly chewy, hand-cut, speckled buckwheat soba noodles. Soba is delicious both hot and cold, but there is nothing more refreshing than swirling a pile of cold noodles in a bracing soy-wasabi sauce.

The menu at Soba Koh features many ways to enjoy hot or cold soba: with yam and quail egg, duck and eggplant, or soft-shell crab, or in a daily special (last night, it was sea eel tempura soba).

There's also a mouthwatering selection of appetizers, including many permutations of buckwheat... sobagome, agesoba, and agedashi sobayaki (fried soba gnocchi stuffed with chicken). I opted instead for the homemade organic tofu, which was topped with a blanket of intensely green basil sauce and the aforementioned myoga. The spicy topping was a perfect foil for the cool, mild cubes of tofu.

Then, I feasted on the soba special, which consisted of two large strips of battered sweet eel, a shishito pepper, a large plate of noodles, soy-ginger sauce, scallions and wasabi. As I slurped up the last tasty noodle, Miho brought by a bowl of soba-yu (broth) to combine with the remaining sauce.

Any reasonable person would have considered this the end of their meal, but I had to go one step further and order the highly recommended black sesame pudding. Although its dark-grey color was initially alarming, the rich flavor (somewhere between coffee and almond) immediately drew me in.

I'm already thinking about going back...

Soba Koh: 309 East 5th St., (212) 254-2244.

A Craving For Crayfish

I never realized that crayfish were so popular in NYC until this year. A couple months ago, I saw the critters awaiting their Szechuan fate in the open kitchen of Momofuku Noodle Bar (163 First Ave). Then I became aware of the various crayfish preparations (etouffee, in pasta, or on cheese toast) at Mara's Homemade. And just now, I was told that it's Crayfish Week at Aquavit. Until August 21, this venerable Swedish restaurant is offering 4-course dinners and all-you-can-peel-and-eat lunches!

Aquavit: 65 East 55th St., (212) 307-7311.

Sake Bar Satsko

If you'd like to develop your appreciation of sake, here's an enjoyable and economical way to do so: visit Sake Bar Satsko on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. This East Village hangout, decorated in typical bohemian fashion, offers $20 tastings which include a selection of 6 different sakes accompanied by delicious Japanese appetizers. Park yourself on a barstool, or sit down on a shiny red pillow to admire the 4-page sake menu. You can also indulge in something more substantial, like a plate of jumbo shrimp seasoned with black pepper, fried garlic and scallions. (I especially like the the tuna tartare, which features large chunks of raw marinated tuna glistening with sesame oil.)

Satsko is WiFi-enabled and open till 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Sake Bar Satsko: 202 East 7th St., (212) 614-0933.

The Best Mango Lassi In NYC

Yesterday was the latest in a long string of sweltering days, and I was in dire need of refreshment. I was craving mango lassi, the Indian yogurt shake. Most Indian restaurants in NYC serve a supersweet version of lassi made with canned mango juice. So, I was expecting the same when I ordered the drink at Hampton Chutney Co. But with my first sip, I noticed an immediate difference: the telltale pulpiness of fresh fruit. The sweetness of the lassi was mostly derived from just-pureed ripe mangos, not sugar. I believe Hampton Chutney Co. may serve the best mango lassi in NYC!

Hampton Chutney Co., 68 Prince Street (212) 226-9996.

Bedford Cheese Shop

Every neighborhood needs a cheese store as fabulous as Williamsburg's Bedford Cheese Shop. I fell in love with this place when the counterperson wordlessly pressed a hefty sample of Comte de Montagne into my hand. The nutty, sweet firm cheese was just what I'd been craving, and soon a quarter-pound of it was mine. (The amusing description for this lovely cheese reads: "This cheese, aged 100 meters above sea level, looks down on you and says, "I'm better than you. Way better.")

Bedford Cheese Shop offers everything from Australian feta to burrata. If you want to make sense of it all, you can purchase Steven Jenkins' Cheese Primer.

But if for some reason you're not in the mood for the cheese display, take advantage of the shelves! Check out the small but well-chosen assortment of bread (I ended up with a round potato-onion loaf), the array of Italian sausages (including sweet and hot sopressata), the jars of PB Loco's Dutch chocolate peanut butter or the candied orange-almond cookies and fig-rosemary wine flats from Red Hook's Fanciulla Foods. Today, I splurged on the aforementioned cheese, a jar of English lemon curd made with free-range eggs, a few sugarplums, some white anchovies, and pear vanilla butter from CMB Sweets!

Bedford Cheese Shop, 218 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, (718) 599-7588.

There Is Such Thing As A Free Lunch

Or, more accurately, 15 free lunches, if you win a competition sponsored by macktez.com. Go over to the Landmark Coffee Shop (158 Grand Street), write a review of your meal, and submit it to the Macktez Website by 12 p.m. on August 8. The winner gets two weeks of free lunch!