Hasaki

Hasaki Restaurant Review:

Though the East Village is home to plenty of good, inexpensive Japanese restaurants, none can compete with Hasaki, which is a notch more expensive and several notches higher quality than the rest. There is usually a wait, but the service is caring and solicitous. All sushi and sashimi standards, like buttery yellowtail and salmon, are expertly cut into precise slabs and are swimmingly fresh. Hasaki also regularly offers delicacies like giant clam and sea urchin. Start with the kinuta eel wrapped in cucumber and five-seaweed salad before tasting the shabu-shabu for two. If you are on a budget, arrive before 6:30 p.m. and order the Twilight Dinner Sampling Plate for just $20; it's a good deal and you beat the crowds. For dessert, spoon into creamy green tea ice cream topped with sticky red beans, then order a pot of siphon coffee brewed tableside in a futuristic beaker.