Zenkichi

Last year, for Valentine’s Day, I took Chris out for dinner at Zenkichi in Brooklyn. I read about the restaurant and thought it would be a fun experience (the layout is booth after private booth with little shades that you draw while you’re eating. You ring a buzzer to let your server know that you’re ready for your next course and the server comes by, draws your blinds, serves you the next course, pulls down the blinds, and then lets you enjoy your meal with your guests) The restaurant has two floors and can also accommodate larger parties (when I walked upstairs, I noticed parties of 4 to 6). We went with the tasting menu for the evening. The waitress started by bringing out miso soup:

Then came Zenkichi’s raw plate (tuna, oysters, sea urchin atop freshly made tofu):

The sea urchin and tofu was my favorite out of the bunch. The tofu was very silky and flavorful and the sea urchin added an interesting texture to the smooth tofu.

Next came a large Smoked Tako & Shimeji Mushroom Salad in a beautifully lacquered bowl:

I didn’t like the salad because the arugula overpowered the mushrooms, but the presentation was very beautiful.

My favorite dish of the night was the cod milt:

What is cod milt, do you wonder? It’s semen from the cod (which we didn’t know until I googled it when we got home). The texture is very creamy and custard-like and the light frying added a very delicious crunch. The milt was also topped with a little sea salt and very delicious – we couldn’t get enough!

Our next dish was black cod with miso:

A similar preparation to Nobu’s and equally delicious.

The waitress also brought out this preparation of cod:

The cod was in a light broth but extremely tough and overcooked. We both preferred the black cod with miso preparation of the fish.

Our last savory dish was freshwater eel:

The eel was lightly topped with soy sauce and very delicous.

For dessert, our waitress brought out a little cake and some pink and green mochi:

And truffles:

The meal was enjoyable and the atmosphere was very cool, but the food was not as delicious as I would have hoped. I’m not sure if Zenkichi has an a la carte menu, but if they do, I would go back for their raw plate as well as their cod milt (only available in the winter time).