Comments (0) Best Japanese/Sushi Restaurant - 2006
Kiss
Readers' Choice: Ebisu
Naming a restaurant that seats at most a dozen people at a time (five at an angled maple sushi bar, and up to eight more at two or three tables) as our favorite is not intended to be maddening — or elitist. It's just to encourage those of you who'd enjoy watching a real sushi master (the owner, known to regulars as Naka-san) at work to make your reservations and sample the impeccable sushi and cooked dishes offered at Kiss. The clean-lined room is a chic, modern white box. You can order off a multipage menu, or choose one of two omakase (chef's choice) menus, at $42 or $60. Either includes five or six courses, always with a sashimi and a sushi assortment. A recent $42 omakase meal started with a tiny freebie — a salad of mixed root vegetables, seaweed, and beans; continued with a cold rice pasta mixed with crunchy julienned salad; then deep-fried squid, steamed chawan mushi (egg custard) with chunks of fish, and a sashimi plate with seven fish and shellfish, cunningly chosen for their variety of textures and colors; followed by four assorted sushi; a fresh, smoky soup full of tiny mushrooms; and a final gift of a wedge of honeydew melon cut into chunks. Delightful.
