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.

Korean restaurants in the news

Image by churl via Flickr

Korean food is vibrant and a great source of vegetables and soy, but at least two restaurants have been fined for sanitary code violations recently by health inspectors.

The Record today reports a $960 fine for Gam Mee Ok Restaurant in Fort Lee, one of my favorites for its unique kimchi service and its stone-bowl bibimbap. Two issues the inspector noted were "storing beef in stagnant water" and the "staff's failure to wear gloves when handling hazardous foods."

Madangsui Restaurant, also in Fort Lee, was fined $285 on Nov. 10 for defrosting meat on the floor and not covering it.  This was a real surprise, because it  has always boasted of serving fresh beef and is the only Korean barbecue restaurant I've been to that offers prime beef, the highest USDA grade.

I've long been concerned about the "mystery meat" served at many Korean restaurants, so much so that we started buying free-range, grass-fed Australian beef and preparing barbecue at home, with rice, kimchi and other side dishes.

Maybe the lesson of these fines is to avoid eating meat altogether. With soft-tofu stews, spring-chicken soups and other non-beef  selections, that's easy to do at Korean restaurants.

Is your sushi fresh or frozen?

Bluefin-tuna sushi, front, and cooked eel at Hiura in Fort Lee (2013).

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor


You might be surprised to learn the pristine slice of fish that melts in your mouth at a good sushi parlor had been frozen, along with all the other raw fish you eat.

Consumer Reports On Health urges sushi- and shashimi-lovers to "make sure that the fish was frozen before serving, because that kills the parasites sometimes found in fish. (The Food and Drug Administration requires restaurants to take that step, though enforcement can be lax.)"

It says you should prepare sushi at home only using frozen fish.

In other words, it is illegal for a U.S. restaurant to serve fish raw unless it has been frozen first. The publication echoed an article about sushi I read in 2004 in The New York Times' Dining In/Dining Out section, "Sushi Fresh from the Deep ... the Deep Freeze."

The June 2009 Consumer Reports newsletter also says consumers "should choose pieces made with low-mercury fish, such as salmon or shrimp," though doesn't mention that the vast majority of salmon served as sushi is artificially colored farmed fish. 

Tuna and mercury

Tuna, also a popular fish for sushi, has a high mercury content.

I try to limit my raw tuna consumption to the once-a-year carving of giant (frozen) bluefin tunas at Mitsuwa Marketplace, the Japanese supermarket in Edgewater. 

Last year, I purchased a quarter of a pound of the best belly meat ($60 a pound) and enjoyed seven slices of meltingly beautiful, marbled fish at home.

I like raw fluke and other "white" fish as sushi and sashimi. 

Hiura Restaurant

My favorite Japanese restaurant for sushi is Hiura in Fort Lee, a small, family run BYO. Though expensive, the sushi, sashimi, sea urchin, fish eggs and cooked dishes have never disappointed.

If you are going to buy sushi at the supermarket, H Marts in Englewood, Little Ferry and Ridgefield have their own sushi sections and a fourth market from the Korean chain is slated to take over the space once occupied by Kings in Fort Lee. 

Avoid the stuff sold in ShopRite. The sushi at the new Whole Foods Market in Paramus is excellent, but prices are high, compared with H Mart.

The bagel that ate North Jersey

I had an errand in Clifton on Wednesday and needed change for a $20 bill. I drove up and down Van Houten Avenue, in what I believe was the Athenia section, looking for a Polish bakery I last patronized seven or so years ago. It was closed and so were two other small bakeries nearby.

Finally, I stumbled on Hot Bagels Abroad in a strip mall on Clifton Avenue (http://hotbagelsabroad.com/). What does that name mean? Baffling. It was around noon and the place was jumping, so I got on line and eventually ordered a baker's dozen ($9.25). Bagels are 80 cents each, and they're so big, my order was packed in a large paper grocery sack.

I used to toast a bagel every morning for my open-face sandwiches of smoked salmon, canned red salmon and so forth, but it was just too much dough (my spreads were homemade, low-fat yogurt cheese or pesto). I switched to smaller, sliced whole-grain bread several years ago. I liked the bagels from Ronnie's in Hillsdale or the bagel places in Englewood, Leonia and Fort Lee. I especially liked the pumpernickle-rye bagel.

Years ago, I saw a coupon for H&H Bagels in Manhattan and stopped for a dozen at the plant on the West Side. They have the nerve to charge a dollar or more for a puny bagel that didn't taste any better than the ones in North Jersey. What a waste of time.

I bought the Clifton bagels to offer to out-of-town guests. But I tried to toast one and had to cram it into my so-called wide-mouth toaster, which soon burnt the garlic bits on the bagel's exterior.

A healthy meal you can sink your teeth in

The free-range burger at Tasteatery in Fort Lee is everything you could possibly want: built on a roll that doesn't fall apart, from Balthazar Bakery in Englewood, and too fat to fit into your mouth, with beef juices dribbling on the organic salad greens you substituted for fries. The big bonus: no steroids, hormones or antibiotics.

Tasteatery serves burgers in three sizes -- sliders, one-third pound and one-half pound -- and lists eight styles, plus two vegetarian burgers. I had the half-pound West Coast Burger with basil, organic greens, tomato, avocado and hummus ($11.25, plus $1 for the side salad). Even the ketchup is organic.

The restaurant serves fresh, natural food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and says better ingredients yield better taste. I couldn't agree more. It's bare bones, though. You order and pay at the counter, and if it's not busy, an employee will bring the food to your table. You get a cold drink from a cooler.

The owners put most of their effort into sourcing good food: artisanal bread, natural meats, cage-free eggs, organic greens and more. When they opened about two years ago, they were one of the first food places in North Jersey to adopt this healthy approach. Here is the link to their Web site: http://www.tasteatery.com/