07.01.08
Review of Sushi Metsuyan, Queens, Sunday June 2008
7208 Main St., Queens, 718-575-8700
Great for: Orthodox Jews, giant entrées
I found myself in Queens with some friends, and they’re Jewish so they decided to show me how good kosher food can be. I wasn’t exactly blown away. I enjoyed the company and watching the waiters scurry around inefficiently much more.
We shared a bunch of appetizers, beginning with the sushi special, a volcano of tobiko, spicy mayo, scallion, jalapeño, tuna tartare, avocado roll and tempura flakes. I had very high hopes for the resto based on this dish, which was yummy and extremely spicy. I really liked the combination of textures and flavors. Unfortunately, I got excited too soon. Do not get the dumplings of beef and chicken ginger. They were dry, with a weird jalapeño sauce. El bomba, avocado and sundried tomato eggrolls with tequila lime sauce, wasn’t that impressive either. I didn’t actually eat it, there was too much avocado and I find sundried tomatoes yucky. My friends said the sauce didn’t complement the dish at all.
The Jerusalem (imitation) crab cakes with crispy panko crumbs and creamy unspicy jalapeño sauce were done very well; I could barely tell it wasn’t real crab. In my defense, the panko and “meat” were thoroughly mixed up. The agedashi tofu was pretty decent too, lightly crispy outside and fairly soft internally. I found the pink-orange sweet sauce unworthy of it. The kalbi (short ribs) were almost bite-sized. They had a bit of slightly sweet glaze which brought out the flavor of the crispy yet tender meat.
For an entrée I tried the enormous Bangkok sizzle, thin pan-seared slices of beef with onions, baby corn, bamboo, chestnuts, mushrooms and lemongrass in spicy chili sauce. It was oversauced and the meat could have been more tender. The sauce was quite basic, not spicy, and too sugary. The huge sea bass fillet with vegetables was a little better. We liked the tender, flaky fish, though some bits were a bit bland. Another friend got some rolls. The black dragon roll with American caviar on top of avocado and tuna was overpowered by the avocado and still bland. I did like the ikura and the cooked salmon and tuna roll with scallions though.
The Metsuyan kalbi fillet of mediun rare char-grilled boneless rib meat started out good, though it quickly became cloyingly sweet and too saucy. The sauce was as red as the blood oozing out of the many, many slices of meat. The Kobe short ribs were a bit better, but also very sweet and soft. The slightly charred steak Polynesia was the best thing I tasted. I later realized that I was lucky to have had a good piece – the rest was a bit overdone.
We had some pretty good sides. The French fries were well seasoned and quite good. They could have been crispier but that was a minor quibble. The others told me the cole slaw was very spicy; I didn’t try it (I hate cole slaw). The mashed potatoes came with the skins, and tasted better than they looked. I think that was from the liberal use of butter.
They don’t serve hard liquor, so I contented myself with cold sake. One friend had a glass of red wine and the others had fruity iced teas. My sake was ok. The service was forgetful but friendly. I imagine they were so scatterbrained because the place was crazy busy. Definitely make reservations. At 9pm on a Sunday night we still had to wait almost 30 minutes.
The decor walks a fine line between tacky and tasteful. I think mostly it stays on the good side. There’s lots of wood, one wall is a long aquarium, and another one is a white tropical frieze. It is an expensive (steaks are about $35), kosher place, but my understanding is that it’s pretty good for Queens.
Rating: 5.5 / 10
Our cost: $340 (6 people)
Noise level: raucous
Chance of walking in: very low. But it’s kosher, so if you’re Orthodox and hungry for Japanese in Flushing, there you go.
