B and I were craving sushi after having watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi on Netflix . Thinking back, this was probably a terrible idea. We spent a whole hour watching the winner of three Michelin Stars serve sushi in his restaurant which only seated ten.

Anyway, we decided to go to Origami, it was honestly a draw between it, Sushi Brothers, and Mikimoto. We have become fans of all three of them. Origami is somewhat low-lit and mixes trendiness with traditional Japanese textures. The restaurant is great for date nighters like ourselves, its peppered with little origami figurines. I wish that they would go all out and hang origami creatures from the ceiling, but their décor is rather perfect. We decided to sit at the sushi bar for a bit of a show. We were lucky enough to sit in front of co-owner  Masa Tsukikawa. Speaking of the staff, everyone was super friendly and genuinely excited about how awesome their restaurant is.

After watching Jiro create these sushi master pieces with such simple ingredients we had to start with sushi. At first we ordered Tuna Sushi and Yellowtail sushi, both were excellent, beautiful looking cuts of fish. I have never had yellowtail before, so I cannot comment on how it is supposed to be, but it was so flavorful and delicious, it offered an amazing, sturdy texture. It is definitely a new favorite.

We also started with the Gustar Roll, because I was interested in trying the chili sauce AND because I love Mango. The Gustar roll has shrimp tempura, cream cheese, and spicy tuna inside and is topped with mango, salmon and mango and sweet chili sauce.  It was quite tasty. After this I was so full, I could barely eat another bite. B insisted we get just one more piece of sushi. So, we finally got the Salmon Sushi. The chef that fixed this for us, prefaced his presentation with a little anatomy of the Salmon. He mentioned that the cut that he gave us came from around the Salmon’s stomach and would taste almost buttery. He was sooo right. I regrettably had to cut a piece in half, because I couldn’t eat a whole one. This Salmon was melt-in-your-mouth good.

We of course washed this down with a large hot sake. I don’t know what it is about their sake, it is so tasty.

We finished our meal with Mango and Green Tea Mochi. They don’t make it in house, so I suppose it is not crucial to comment on it, but the Mango was amazing!  Next time I’ll either be trying their Tempura Ice Cream or their homemade apple pie.

Our only complaint was that we could not eat enough. Next time, we will bring our friends so that we can try more things! 

Last night I went to dinner at La Crepe Nanou. It was a last minute decision, we were actually planning to go to La Thai for dinner, but it was closed. Actually every Thai restaurant we tried to stop at uptown was closed on Mondays. I have heard good things about La Crepe Nanou and its right next to La Thai so we went there. It’s cute and quaint in a bohemian/Parisian sort of way. I imagine I would have been very happy sitting in the front room (where the bar is located) the seating seemed much more comfortable. The other two rooms were pleasant and still romantic seeming, but had metal cafe chairs that I would have expected out-of-doors. 

We started with Les Moules Marinières the mussels steamed in garlic, cream and white wine. They were quite delicious. My date soaked almost all of the loaf of bread we got in the cream sauce (as you can see below).  I am; however, still a favorite to the Mussels Josephine at Bonefish grill.

(I apologize for the terrible quality. It was pretty dark in the restaurant and I was using my phone.)

I had a champagne cocktail which was quite bitter, but I enjoyed it. I had the Crêpe Provençale (without Mushrooms) it was a ratatouille filled crepe and it was… perfection. I’m typically a carnivore but I was completely satisfied with this vegetarian dish. It came with a side of potatoes and french green beans. Everything was delicious, my date was even a little jealous. 

My date had the smoke salmon crepe which was filled with capers and cream cheese and topped with asparagus. We stared off saying it was okay, but finished his whole plate! I’m not very partial to salmon OR capers and I found it pleasant, rich and creamy. Unfortunately there was no room for dessert.

(Image thanks to nomsdotcom.com)

Update: 8/17/2011

I went back to La Crepe Nanou for dessert with some of my girlfriends. We got Crepe Nanou, Crepe Lucie (chocolate syrup, strawberries and vanilla ice cream), and the Crepe Belle Helene (vanilla ice cream, pears, and chocolate sauce). They were all delicious, the Belle Helene had cinnamon flavored pears which added something nice.

Origami: Gustar Roll