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Tabélog US event at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

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Last week, I went to an event hosted by Tabélog US, the largest Japanese restaurant review website, to celebrate their new design. 
image of Tabelog stats for I Just Want To Eat
Courtesy of Tabélog
The statistics are new and can give you an idea of the different cuisines the user on Tabélog US experiments. 
image of Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York 
The event took place at Jukai, a Japanese restaurant located Midtown East. The name of the restaurant comes from the deep forrest in the bottom of Mt Fuji.
image of Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

Clearly, to find that place, you need the address as it is below street level, like an hidden gem. As this was an event, I cannot describe its atmosphere or service, although the latter was perfect considering the place was full of bloggers trying to take pictures as dishes from Chef and owner Hirofumi Watanabe were served. Know that the dishes you will see below were prepared specifically for this event.
image of Tabélog US event at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

Present at the event were Takehiro Miyajima, CEO of Tabélog Inc. as well as Taku Niida, Assistant Sales Manager New York Branch of Asahi Beer USA, Inc., who sponsored the event.
image of Asahi super dry beer at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

The beer presented was the Asahi super dry beer that I drank with my meal.
image of Asahi super dry beer at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

The first plate served to us was an assortment of dishes beautifully put together:
image of various dishes at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

Going from the left to the right, there was:

Squid with sea urchin:
image of squid with sea urchin at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

Pickled mushrooms and egg omelette with spinach:
image of Pickled mushrooms and egg omelette with spinach at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

Pickled onion:
image of Pickled onion at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

Smoked duck:
image of Smoked duck at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

Iberico ham and persimmon fruit:
image of Iberico ham and persimmon fruit at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

This was a perfect mise en bouche! My favorite was the duck that was fantastically smokey. Then the squid with its slightly crunchy texture (it was raw). Also, pairing the persimmon with the Iberico ham was a nice Asian interpretation of the cantaloupe - ham traditional pairing, delicately merging the sweet taste of the fruit to the saltiness of the ham.

The next dish was beef carpaccio:
image of beef carpaccio at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

I believe that the beef was Wagyu, later used in the shabu shabu they proposed. It had a nice marbling and was perfectly seasoned. 

After that, was served one of my favorite dishes of the event: Salmon marinated in sake.
image of Salmon marinated in sake at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

The salmon was grilled, perfectly cooked and moist with a fantastic char taste. It was served with a grilled Shishito pepper that is a green pepper similar to serrano peppers.

After the salmon, came another fish: Spanish Mackerel with ground radish.
image of Spanish Mackerel with ground radish at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

It was ok for me, the fish having a quite strong flavor.

Then came something unexpected:
image of Jumbo Pacific Oyster at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

This was a Jumbo Pacific oyster from Washington State. I guess the "jumbo" preceding the name was quite appropriate considering that it was the largest I ever see, the shell being the size of my hand! Just compare it to the slice of lemon to give you an idea! It was a bit of a challenge to eat, especially with chopsticks, but the taste was fabulous and you could definitely taste that it was fresh. I knew jumbo shrimp, now I know jumbo oysters...

To drink with the oyster, I chose a glass of Hanaabi Junmai Daiginjo sake that left, surprisingly a strawberry aftertaste that was sweet and acted like a palate cleanser.
image of Hanaabi Junmai Daiginjo sake at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

The last dish served was shabu shabu, a Japanese dish where vegetables and beef are cooked in a broth. They first brought the vegetables:
image of shabu shabu at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

And the Wagyu beef that had a nice marbling:
image of Wagyu beef for shabu shabu at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

Then, they started to cooked the vegetables:
image of shabu shabu at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

When they were ready, they added the beef:
image of shabu shabu at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

Once the beef and vegetables were cooked, they put them in a bowl and added a sauce made with oil, sesame, balsamic vinegar that added some flavors to the dish. Et voilà!
image of shabu shabu at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

I liked it, although few pieces of beef were overcooked. It was very flavorful and comforting.

Then it was time for dessert, or shall I say desserts!
image of desserts at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

 There were three of them. A Crème brûlée that was perfectly made, with a crispy caramelized crust on top and a well set vanilla cream:
image of creme brûlée at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

A white sesame blanc-mange that was similar to a custard:
image of white sesame blanc-mange at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

This was my favorite dessert: nice texture, light with the sesame taste coming through, it was not too sweet. In fact none of the desserts were.

The last dessert was chocolate truffles:
image of chocolate truffles at Jukai, Japanese restaurant Midtown East, NYC, New York

These were nice and soft, similar to the truffles you would find in France. Although there, people like to put a bit of alcohol and here, at Jukai, I did not taste any alcohol.

It was a great event! Thanks to Tabélog, Asahi and the Jukai team for hosting us!

Enjoy (I did)!

Jukai on Urbanspoon

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Please note that this meal was complimentary. However, the opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own!

I Just Want To Eat!