A seafood lover's lunch at Hiura in Fort Lee

At Hiura, a family owned Japanese restaurant in Fort Lee, I was served a welcoming cup of hot green tea after I sat down to wait for a friend, who arrived a few minutes late for lunch. The restaurant has 26 seats at tables and a sushi bar.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

I've become a big fan of the bento-box lunches at Hiura, a small Japanese restaurant in Fort Lee.

And the lunch I always seem to order is the Hiura Box ($16), which is beautifully composed and served with soup, rice, a tempura dipping sauce and unlimited hot green tea.

The lunch has both raw and cooked fish contributed by Sushi Chef Noboru Hiura and son Shoji Hiura, respectively. Chef Shoji works out of sight in the small kitchen.

 

The Hiura Box is perfect for seafood lovers: Grilled mackerel or salmon (mackerel shown), pristine slices of raw fish and shrimp tempura. It comes with bowls of miso soup and steamed white rice, and a dipping sauce for the tempura.

In addition to grilled, skin-on  mackerel and four slices of melt-the mouth sashimi, accented by a small sesame leaf, the Hiura Box includes beautifully fried tempura of shrimp and vegetables.
 
A friend who met me for lunch on Tuesday also ordered the Hiura Box, but he paid a $2 supplement for Cilean sea bass, which he loved.

Shoji Hiura says he marinates the sea bass or black cod in a sweet miso paste before grilling.


Hiura, 400B Main St., near Anderson Avenue, Fort Lee; 201-346-0110. BYO, closed Wednesdays. Reservations are recommended.

Lunch is served Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from noon to 2 p.m. Dinner is served from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. (except Wednesdays), and to 10:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

 

How to serve salad in a martini glass

Image via Wikipedia

Chef Ji's Moon Jar in Fort Lee doesn't actually serve salad in a martini glass -- it's in the center of a plate with the martini glass upended and covering it. And on the base of the glass is a pile of chopped ahi tuna with caviar.

That appetizer is one of seven small plates or Crescent Moon Plates on a revised menu at the Korean fusion restaurant from Ji Cha, who once competed on Gordon Ramsay's "Hell's Kitchen." There are six entree-size Full Moon Plates on the menu, as well, and such specials as a brie-stuffed burger.

The restaurant, which has been open only for dinner starting at 5:30, will begin serving bento-box lunches on Oct. 15.

On Saturday night, I ordered the martini-glass enhanced ahi tuna parfait with Tobiko caviar (flying-fish roe) and mesclun salad in a wasabi vinaigrette ($10.25) and what are described as shrimp scampi dumplings ($14.25). Delicious.

Equally good was Chef Ji's version of vegetable fried rice ($2) and a glass of pinot noir ($7).


Crescent Moon Plates are $6.25 to $10.25 and Full Moon Plates are $12.25 to $15.25.

Chef Ji's Moon Jar, 1636 Palisade Ave., Fort Lee; 201-363-0097.