Some girls like to collect diamonds, but I prefer to collect Michelin stars. The benefit of having a mission of collecting all the Michelin stars NYC has to offer is that friends really embrace and support the goal. In fact, many friends have taken my birthday as an opportunity to contribute to the mission and I truly can't think of a better gift!
The birthday stars began with a trip to Soto a few weeks ago. Soto is a rather intimidating restaurant. The exterior is unmarked, with only a number and a window of odd white cutouts to assure you that you're at the right spot. When you enter, the dining room is austere and you partly feel like you just barged in on someone's private affair. On the left side, there's a sushi bar and on the right there are a series of tables. My friend and I were seated at one of the tables, but if I return, I'll likely aim to sit at the bar.
Sake lovers will appreciate Soto's impressive sake list. But personally, when I have sushi, I prefer to stick with beer. The menu is four sections of different styles of preparation. The first is a series of small, mostly raw fish preparations. Then there are the items from the sushi bar, from the kitchen dishes, and finally the sushi, sashimi, and sushi rolls. Soto offers two omakase options, one that spans the entire menu and the other that focuses on sashimi. Typically at a sushi restaurant, I would opt for the omakases; however, Soto has an endless supply of dishes that highlight the chef's love of uni (sea urchin). I don't share this love in the slightest. In fact, sea urchin is on my list of top three things I never want to eat EVER again. Since neither my friend nor I felt comfortable with the idea of leaving our meal selection completely in the hands of an uni lover, we decided to order off the menu a la carte. We selected two items from each of the four sections and awaited the beginning of our star acquisition.
After we ordered, complimentary edamame was brought to the table. I love edamame, but often it's unremarkable from place to place. This was some of the best edamame I've ever had. It was coated in almost a syrupy salt flavor and cooked perfectly. For the small bites, we chose a lightly grilled salmon with a mustard sauce and thinly sliced fluke with lime and yuzu. The salmon was thin squares that had a beautiful texture and flavor. And I loved the yuzu on the fluke. The small bites were definitely a nice lead-in to the meal. I would order both when I return to Soto.
For the next options, we had the wild snapper carpaccio, salmon citrus, and aji tataki. The aji tataki was chopped mackerel with ginger shoots, chives, scallions, and shiso leaves. Really just a delicious raw fish salad with a nice, light ginger flavor, slight oniony kick, and herbal shiso finish. The wild snapper carpaccio was served with chopped ginger and it was very good, but nothing special. What totally stole the show from this course and the whole meal was the salmon citrus. My friend took one bite and declared she could eat it every day and would if given the option. The salmon was beautifully fresh and slightly cured with a very soft citrus sauce. Absolutely fantastic.
For our items from the kitchen, we had a platter of tempura and langoustine with shiitake sauce. The tempura was really nicely fried and the dipping sauce was delicious. But it was simply a well executed tempura that was nothing I would feel inclined to order again. The langoustine itself was the perfect texture, but it was covered in this creamy mushroom mixture that was reminiscient of campbell's cream of mushroom soup. The mushroom flavor overpowered the whole dish and I just didn't love it.
We ordered a few pieces of sushi and sashimi as well and each was melt in your mouth fresh. When I return, I'd definitely order more off the sushi menu.
The one problem I had with Soto was how quickly the dishes arrived. As soon as we put down our chopsticks, the dishes were cleared and the next ones arrived. I prefer a much more leisurely meal and tend to believe a Michelin restaurant should be the type of place in which you don't feel rushed.
Soto has two michelin stars and the quality of food definitely is deserving of at least one. I'm not certain if it merits two stars. Perhaps if I was into uni, it would be two stars. Regardless of whether it is one or two stars, with all the delicious, fresh sushi bar preparations, Soto is certainly a place to return. Especially to have that salmon citrus again!
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