Eiji, Friday, February 1, 2008

I had a friend visiting from Greece who desperately wanted sushi (apparently good sushi hard to find in Athens). I originally wanted to take her to Sushi Zone on Pearl St., but knew waiting outside in the rain for an hour isn't how we wanted to spend our evening. I remembered the little sushi place on Sanchez St. @ 16th that used to be Ibisu and was now Eiji. I hadn't been there since the old man who owned it passed away last year and decided to give it a shot, hoping it was as good as I had remembered. We walked in and almost felt like we had walked into someone's home. The restaurant was warm, the air smelled sweet and my stomach was excited. We started with some sake and edammame to tide us over until our sushi was ready. We ordered toro nigiri (fatty tuna), scallop nigiri, salmon nigiri, spicy tuna roll, salmon/avocado/cucumber roll, and eggplant roasted with a miso-walnut sauce. Everything was incredible. The fish was fresh, the vegetables crisp and sweet. I had never actually had toro and I now see what I had been missing. It literally melted in my mouth. I can honestly say that was some of the best $10 I have recently spent. The spicy tuna roll was the best I've ever had. The tuna was mixed with a little bit of jalapeno and wasn't drowned in a mayonnaise-y sauce. The walnut in the miso sauce was a great compliment and was delicious with the earthiness of the eggplant. Our bill came to just under $60 and it was worth every dollar. I will definitely be going back to this little gem and would recommend it to friends or dates.