Patricia
Brooks
New
York Times
August 12th, 2006
The menu at Wasabi Chi in South Norwalk
is a refreshing change from the cloned
selections found in
so many Japanese restaurants in Connecticut.
The chef and owner, Doug Chi Nguyen,
escaped by boat from his native Vietnam
at age 12 and eventually ended up
in Rockland County, N.Y., sponsored
by an Italian-American family. A long
apprenticeship in Japanese restaurants
led to his first Wasabi in Nyack,
and now this one, where he has cre
ated a kind of New Japanese cuisine,
combining traditional recipes with
European techniques and ingredients.
The results can be spectacular in
sushi rolls and in Oma kase Creations
(which translates more or less as
chef’s choices) and Small Plates,
(some not so small).
Four of us had an exciting evening
mixing a variety of dishes in these
last two catego ries, adding a few
sushi rolls as well. If you follow
an omakase dish (priced mostly from
• $14-$17) with a small plate
($11-$17), you will have a full meal
at a cost just a bit more than one
regular entree — along with
the fun of unexpected discoveries.
Standout dishes were the crunchy panko-
crusted Pacific oysters (big, juicy
and flavorful) in a creamy wasabi
sauce with a mix of fresh greens;
baked sea scallops (sizzling hot,
tickled by a chili-mushroom sauce)
with lemony greens; crispy wasabi
calamari with a spicy hoisin sauce
and black cod (light and flaky), baked
in a sake- infused miso sauce. Ceviche
(tuna, salmon, yellowtail and striped
bass jostled with rice vinegar, gin
and citrusy yuzu) was served artfully
in a martini glass.
The prize for originality went to
tuna pizza: sushi tuna with chopped
onion and tomato spread over crisp,
flaky, lightly browned phyllo dough.
My favorite dish, though, was soba
— thin, incredibly succulent
buckwheat noodles and crispy striped
bass tempura with plum sauce —
a wonderful blend of flavor and texture
contrasts.
That first evening was so successful
I could hardly wait to return. But
after two weeks, the restaurant seemed
slightly different. Certain small
plates and omakase were very good.
Lobster martini — wonder fully
tender lobster chunks with bean sprouts,
avocado and black tobiko (caviar)
— arrived with flourishes in
a martini glass.
Crispy yellowtail cheeks — a
large hunk of unadorned fish —
could have used a decorative touch,
but the taste, enhanced by ponzu sauce,
was heavenly. Several dishes, howev
er, were letdowns : the sashimi risotto
only half worked (the buckwheat rice,
though not a real risotto, had zing,
but the sashimi tuna seemed dry) and
the tuna carpaccio, sliced too thick,
was rather bland.
Entrees were also mixed. Pan-seared
duck in a sweet chili sauce (with
bok choy, deep-fried yam slices and
mashed potatoes) was tender and pleasing.
But Kobe steak, with the same sides,
was overly chewy and lacked the flavor
of what should be (at $55) top-quality
beef.
The wasabi sushi “love boat
for two,” at $65, roused high
expectations, but the fish selection
(tuna, salmon, yellowtail and fluke)
was banal and the soft- shell crab
in one of the rolls tasted reheated.
For sushi, it is better to choose
among many creative inside-outside
rolls, like Caterpillar (avocado outside,
eel inside), Rainbow (tuna, salmon,
yellowtail, fluke, shrimp and avocado
outside, crab and tobiko inside) or
Kamikaze (tobiko outside, tuna, salmon,
avocado and spicy sauce inside). For
dessert, we shared a $20 “chef’s
tasting” — four desserts,
including green tea mascarpone cheesecake
and chocolate truffle cake —
but I preferred the refreshing mango
sorbet. At Wasabi Chi, it became clear,
ordering selectively was the key to
an inspired meal.
VERY
GOOD
THE
SPACE Black and white decor
dominates the
main dining room; a larger dining
room on the
right is a study in black and red.
The first room
is wheelchair accessible, but there
are several
steps up to the second room and the
restrooms.
THE
CROWD A mix of age groups
at dinner, but
few children; lunch sometimes brings
families.
Servers, all in black, are cordial,
helpful and pro-
fessional. Expect loud music and matching
deci-
bel levels — slightly quieter
in the second room.
THE BAR Lively, with a good
selection of drinks
(10 martinis), aperitifs, nine sakes
(from $12 to
$28) and a few Asian beers. The wine
list is short
but intelligently chosen, with bottles
from $30 to
$280; by the glass, $7 to $12.
THE BILL Lunch entrees, $13
to $15 ; Dinner en-
trees, $20 to $25, but Kobe steak,
$55.
WHAT WE LIKE Shrimp tempura,
ceviche,
wakame salad, lobster martini, baked
sea scal-
lops, black cod, Pacific oysters,
soba, yellowtail
cheeks, many sushi rolls, wasabi calamari,
pan-
seared duck, mango sorbet.
IF YOU GO Lunch, Monday to
Friday, noon to 2:30
p.m. Dinner, Sunday to Thursday, 5
to 10p.m.;
Friday and Saturday, till 11p.m. Parking
on
Washington Street; public lot a half
block away,
on Haviland Street. |
