Wasan

Ken and I did a double date with David and Laura over the wintertime and went to Wasan, a Japanese restaurant in the East Village that specializes in shabu shabu and uni and foie gras dishes. Laura found the restaurant and we met up there on a Saturday night to catch up on the week and to try their food, especially their homemade tofu, uni dishes and foie gras.

We wanted to try a little bit of everything and started with the uni on a crunchy chip:

And then the foie gras on a small piece of endive:

Both were delicious and the perfect amount for just a small bite to start the meal.

We also tried the homemade tofu:

The tofu was very silky and flavorful, much better than anything that you can buy in the grocery store.

After the appetizers, we opted for the shabu shabu:

Which you put into a boiling pot of broth:

The shabu shabu was a little bit on the plain side but you’re given a container of salt so you can add as much as you want (or just keep it very plain). After the shabu shabu, we ordered a few other dishes, including the salmon fried rice:

And the eel:

We also had dessert – three different Japanese desserts!

Their ice creams of the day:

The sake panna cotta was very tasty and had a great custard-like consistency:

And mochi with a green tea dip:

Everything at Wasan was prepared well and we sat in the back corner booth that looked like we were in an igloo (maybe because the walls were stark white compared to the rest of the restaurant, which had more wooden accents). If you’re interested in the shabu shabu, you should call the day before to make sure they have enough ingredients to make it. We didn’t call beforehand but it was the dead of winter so I guess they just had a lot of the materials available. Definitely worth another visit!