Sakagura

Rating:

Price: $11.50 for daily lunch special

Location: 211 East 43rd. St. (Btw 2nd Ave. & 3rd)

http://www.sakagura.com/

One thing I truly enjoy about NYC is the authenticity of the Japanese food that is served all over this city.  There is something to be said about being served Japanese food by Japanese people in an authentic Japanese setting.  Sakagura located in the Midtown East neighborhood of Manhattan & is one of those places you can quite literally escape from the normal NYC setting and end up in a place that might be straight out of Tokyo.

First off, when we arrive at the address of Sakagura we stand in front of an office building with a small sign indicating a restaurant inside.  We walk through an office building lobby & down through a set of fire stairs to the basement when we come upon a restaurant entrance nestled in the corner.  Inside we are greeted with a warm welcome from the Japanese hostess and she leads us to two open seats at the bar, opposite of the varieties of sake bottle lining up against the wall.

Their lunch menu consists of a variety of sets varying in price but, their best bet is the $11.50 lunch special sets.  We got the “Maguro Gomadare Gohan” Tuna Sashimi Steeped in a ginger soy sauce over rice served with Soba Noodle.  The tuna was slightly seared, fresh & delicious and the cold soba noodles were firm and refreshing.  I enjoyed the mixture of the soba sauce & soba broth to wash down the food after the meal.  It’s the perfect clean & refreshing meal for lunch and great value in a nice setting.

If you get a chance to go in the evenings, they have an extensive Izakaya menu (Japanese Tapas) and one of the largest Sake collections in the city.  It’s the same owners as Decibel in the East Village so think similar but, classier.

.:cL