Japanese restaurant swims against the tide in Korean-accented Leonia

The Sashimi Lunch at Hashi Sushi & BBQ, soon to be renamed Nakahara Sushi by Chef Fujio Nakahara.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I was both right and wrong when I thought "a new Japanese restaurant" in Leonia a friend mentioned was just another Korean-owned and operated storefront.

After all, that small Bergen County town has experienced the same dramatic changes seen in neighboring Palisades Park and Fort Lee, due to a large number of South Korean immigrants in the last few decades.

Well, Hashi Sushi & BBQ on Broad Avenue is Korean-owned, but the Japanese chef who prepares the wonderful sushi and sashimi, Fujio Nakahara, is poised to become the new owner in about 10 days.

He'll also be changing the name to Nakahara Sushi.

Chef Fujio Nakahara.

Yakiniku and omakase

The chef will continue to offer yakiniku -- Japanese for grilled meat -- including fatty wagyu beef, filet mignon and other prime cuts.

The intensely marbled wagyu is priced at $100 for 2 people and $200 for 4.

The menu also offers omakase, the chef's choice of five to 10 courses of fresh fish and seafood, priced from $60 to $100 a person with a minimum of two orders.

Omakase sushi starts at $40.

Of course, we were there for lunch, and I got what I wanted: 

Great shashimi (slices of raw fish) with pungent wasabi, a small bowl of miso soup, another of rice and several cups of hot tea ($15).

When we arrived after 1 on Thursday afternoon, only one other table was occupied, so we had the full attention of one of the servers.

I also liked the soundtrack of modern jazz.

My friend ordered the Sushi Mini Udon Combo from the lunch menu ($15), above and below.

From the dessert menu, my friend ordered Matcha Mousse ($6).

Some of the tables in the dining room have grills that use charcoal, above and below.

Hashi Sushi & BBQ opened last January. The name will change to Nakahara Sushi at the end of this month.

Details

Hashi Sushi & BBQ, 299 Broad Ave., Leonia; 201-482-4358. BYO, closed Mondays, free parking on street or in a nearby municipal lot.

Open for lunch Tuesdays to Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and for dinner from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Call for weekend hours.

Hashi Sushi & BBQ also has a Facebook page.

Window shopping at pricey Mitsuwa, stocking up at Korean markets

The belly meat of even farmed blue-fin tuna goes for $79.99 a pound at Mitsuwa Marketplace, the Japanese supermarket and food court in Edgewater. The portion shown here is only 1.6 ounces and costs $8. Meanwhile, store-made sushi rolls contained added sugar and some salad dressings I saw listed high-fructose corn syrup as an ingredient.

Wagyu Beef, named for a Japanese cattle breed, is heavily marbled with flavorful fat, and priced at $44.99 a pound.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

On my rare visits to one of North Jersey's most expensive supermarkets, I buy cheap sake for cooking and a couple of over-sized cans of Japanese beer.

But I spend most of my time gawking at the ridiculously high prices Mitsuwa Marketplace shoppers pay for what is billed as premium fish and beef.

Anyone who thinks Whole Foods Market is expensive will get a reality check at Mitsuwa.

Over the years, I've splurged at this Japanese supermarket on ices delicately flavored with fruit and mackerel sushi rolls imported from Japan.

On Friday night, I picked up a 1.5-liter bottle of Yaegaki Sake brewed in California ($6.99), a 25-ounce can of Kirin Ichiban 100% malt beer ($2.99) and a 1-liter can of Asahi Super Dry ($3.49).

I briefly contemplated going to my favorite Japanese restaurant, Hiura on Main Street near Anderson Avenue in Fort Lee, with the giant can of Asahi, but then how would I drive home after consuming all that beer?

Mitsuwa Marketplace, 595 River Road, Edgewater; 201-941-9113. America Express credit cards aren't accepted. 

In contrast to Mitsuwa's prices for raw fish and meat, stands in the food court offer complete meals for under $10, above and below, and seating at tables with a view of the Hudson River and upper Manhattan.

Plastic representations of food-court meals look good enough to eat.

Shoppers at Mitsuwa Marketplace have the Hudson, but at H Mart in Little Ferry on Sunday, customers found a flooded parking lot entrance full of hidden potholes.

From the Hudson to the Hackensack

At the customer service counter of H Mart in Little Ferry, the young woman apologized for the flooded, potholed parking lot, but said the Korean supermarket chain has no plans to fix it until spring.

I've spoken to other customers who believe the shabby store, which occupies less than half of a large, otherwise empty building near the Hackensack River, will be torn down eventually.

Meanwhile, the store offers some of the best free samples on weekends, making lunch unnecessary.

On Sunday, I tried three or four kinds of fresh and dried fruit, a seafood pancake, cooked octopus slices, green tea noodles and fish cake in hot broth.

I picked up a box of Shin Ramyun, a spicy instant noodle soup, with 16 4.2-ounce portions for $9.99 with a store card, a savings of $7.

Two big heads of leafy baby mustard greens were on sale for 88 cents a pound (regularly $1.69 a pound).

H Mart, 260 Bergen Turnpike, Little Ferry; 201-814-0400.

Arirang Kimchi 

From H Mart in Little Ferry, I drove to Arirang Kimchi in Ridgefield, and purchased a 64-ounce bottle of Mahk or Cabbage Kimchi ($10).

Arirang is in the small H&Y Marketplace shopping center, where I picked up Marinated Tofu ($4.99) and Jun's Wild Sesame Tofu ($5), both made in that Korean supermarket.

Red bell peppers were on sale for 79 cents a pound.

H&Y Marketplace (Han Yang Mart), 1 Remsen Place, Ridgefield; 201-943-7100. Free food samples on weekends.

So Gong Dong, a popular soft-tofu restaurant where a complete meal costs $10, is on the second floor of this Broad Avenue building in Palisades Park. My final stop on Sunday afternoon was to pick up takeout for dinner.

Fruits of my Korean food odyssey at my front door on Sunday.