Hiroshi

Best for: Eurasian tapas, Drinks

Location: Downtown
Foodgasmic dish: Hamachi carpaccio, Chilean sea bass

My first time at Hiroshi was an accident. Mizuki had wanted to take me to next door neighbor Vino, but a party had reserved the entire restaurant, so we ended up at Hiroshi. Apparently, Vino and Hiroshi share kitchens because, on some nights, you can sit in either one and order from both menus. Works for us!

We sat at the bar and faced the impressive wall of liquor. I was pretty amazed by the crowd there, late on a Wednesday night. Don't these people have families to go home to?? Alright, no judgment. Let's talk about the meal.

Since most of our dishes were ordered off Vino's menu, I'll save the bulk of dinner for that post. However, the $3.50 cocktails and $8 desserts were ordered off Hiroshi's. Yes, I typed that correctly. The cocktails were $3.50 (if seated at the bar). And these are damn good cocktails, unlike the simplistic $5 ones at Panya. In fact, our bartender didn't even charge Mizuki for her second round of margaritas. I had the Sex in the City (vodka, cranberry & triple sec) and Sexy Lychee Martini (Parrot Bay mango with a hint of pineapple juice). Don't ask me why I ordered so much sex. Both were great; I love it when bars are generous with their lychees in lychee cocktails.

 

For dessert I had the haupia lemongrass crème brulee with raspberry sorbet, while Mizuki had the Hawaiian vanilla bean panna cotta with mango sorbet. The presentations of our dishes looked almost exactly the same. I guess if you like a design, stick to it? It's not the best crème brulee I've had, but it was pretty good, and the haupia lemongrass was an interesting twist. 

Hamachi Carpaccio, $11.50

 I recently returned with a small group of friends and had such a good experience that Hiroshi is now on my Top 10. In fact, this is my new favorite place for tapas. We shared about five dishes and a bottle of pinot blanc. It was a lot less crowded this time - in fact, by the end of the meal we were the only ones left besides a couple of guys at the bar. I'm not sure if this explains the impeccable service, or if service is always this good.

Chilean Sea Bass

We were first offered some crispy rice cakes and nori wasabi aioli, which is interesting because I definitely remember getting only bread and balsamic vinegar the last time I came.

  Baby Abalone "Casino," $14.95

We ordered:

1. LaBelle Farms Foie Gras, served with crispy Hamakua organic mushrooms, kabayaki sauce, white truffle oil and raspberry reduction & mint. Can you ever go wrong with foie gras, mushrooms, and truffle oil?
2. Hamachi Carpaccio, served with julienned ginger, tomato concasse, tofu and truffled ponzu. I absolutely love carpaccio, and this dish did not disappoint. The hamachi was silky, refreshing, and soaked in a ginger sauce. Amazing.
3. Chilean Sea Bass, which was buttery, moist and tender
4. Baby Abalone "Casino," served with tosaka salad w/ roasted garlic aioli, shiso, tobiko, parmesan, and white truffle oil. I was actually getting too full to eat this, but my friends really liked it.
5. Portuguese Sausage Potstickers, with choi sum, sweet corn, kim chee foam and truffled ponzu sauce. The Portuguese sausage is wrapped like gyoza and bathed in a tangy ponzu sauce. The kim chee foam was creamier and heavier than I was expecting, but went well with the potstickers.

LaBelle Farms Foie Gras, 14.95

I look forward to returning and definitely need to try their happy hour, when the menu is half off (too good to be true!).