Spicy Mindy Lives!

My dad started taking my family out for sushi when I was about 12. Who knows why. Maybe he wanted to guarantee I’d be an expensive dinner date for the rest of my life. He’s also the one who introduced me to lobster. Thanks Daddy. Back then sushi restaurants were popping up in every strip mall on Long Island. Right next to the bagel places, Chinese restaurants & pizza places. Sometimes strip malls don’t suck. Anyway, we had certain favorites that we went to for years & we became friends with the sushi chefs, and some others that we went to once or twice & never went back to. One of the places we went to often (for a while anyway) had great sushi & a robata grill. Creatively named Robata of Tokyo, there was a roll on a special menu once that I loved. Every time we went back I’d request the roll—and have to explain it all over again each time. Eventually they just added it to the menu, where it still is today! Scroll to the bottom of the .pdf & look for the Spicy Mindy! Hilarious. I’d forgotten all about having a roll named after me until I started looking for Robata to reference it in this post. My very first menu item named after me. Dig it. Clearly I need to go back there & order it next time I’m home.

Weirdly:
— the menu has remained essentially unchanged for about 15 years.
— they changed their name to Robata of New York, according to their site.
— nowhere on their website is there a reference to a robata.
— their website seems to be stuck in 2002.

Anyway. Moving on. The entire reason I looked that place up was because of that time I took Patterson to Union Sushi & Barbeque for alligator & we wound up staying for an entire meal? Remember that? No? It’s ok. It was only 2 days ago. This is what happened.

The Drink:

SOUTH OF THE BORDER, WEST OF THE SUN : Chinaco Blanco Tequila, Aperol, Grapefruit, Lime, Amber Agave Nectar

The Chef:

Chao hard at work

The Food:

MAGURO: seared with avocado & truffle oil/truffle salt/parmesan/olive oil ESCOLAR: lime

"BUFFALO" DUCK WING: sweet chile and hot sauce butter, napa cabbage slaw + yuzu- blue cheese dressing

ROBATA: ALLIGATOR & KANGAROO & BEEF TONGUE

TAKO : with black rice

SAKE : with black rice, rice puffs, fried soba noodles & edamame

UNAGI & OLD CITY MARKET : Old City Market: spicy tuna, seared salmon, spicy ponzu, cilantro, green onion, fried okra + wrapped in collard green

Chao & Carlos & the rest of the staff were great fun, the drinks were crisp, we enjoyed everything we ate (the alligator was as wonderful as we hoped), & The Ramones were playing when I walked in. Go for the alligator. Stay for everything else. I’ve got a feeling their menu will change quite a few times in the next 15 years.

Also important & obligatory: I miss bagel places & pizza places.