Last Saturday I went to Wokuni with my foodie partner in crime, a short Japanese woman, cute as a bunny but eats nowhere like it , unless it was 500 lbs and starving. Not kidding. I love asian food but my friend is a bit more seasoned than I am,  so when she told me she had this place on her radar for awhile, I knew I was in for a treat.

Wokuni is a beautiful restaurant decorated in classic and modern Japanese decor. It’s spacious, elegant yet the price of the menu is a bit modest in comparison to the ambiance. It was a lot fancier than I anticipated and I constantly kept looking down at my outfit, happy I wore heels with my white shorts and off-shoulder top. Not that it’s the kind of place that would turn you away but ya know, I wanted to blend in.

Onto the food:

For appetizers, we took advantage of their happy hour and ordered their ‘Arigato Set’ which comes with a half dozen oysters with your choice of Asahi, white or red wine ($10). We also shared a 3 piece Sashimi ($29), Yamaimo French Fries ($7), Assorted  Yakitori ($10) and Fatty Tuna over Oroshi Ponzu ($12). Oysters looked good but they’re not my thing (the taste reminds me of boogers ), so I let my friend devour them. The Yakitori and the Yamaimo French Fries were pretty decent. The fries were more like wedges made from Japanese Yam, which are bit softer than regular potatoes when cooked. I found them pretty yummy but was ‘mushier’ than I anticipated. The Sashimi was super fresh and decadent. It came in a beautiful bowl which they poured water into to release smoke for your instagram feed. It was like an 80’s concert  without the hair metal.  It was worth every cent (and footage) and partnered nicely with red wine. Surprisingly, the Fatty Tuna was one of my favorite dishes. Not a fish girl at heart so I’m very particular with seafood. It came with two fair-sized pieces: tender, fatty and flavorful. Kind of like the seafood version of  pernil (roast pork shoulder) . Sadly I forgot to take pictures of the damn thing because I took a million photos of the Sashimi in smoke 🙄

After a pleasant night of laughs and catching up, we decided to end things with the ‘Sweet Three’ which comes an assortment of their Monaka Ice Cream, Matcha Brulee and Cheesecake (from Juniors). Be my guest if you want to try all three but I’m going to cut to the chase, order the Matcha Brulee. It’s everything I never knew I wanted in a brulee. First of all the matcha flavor is there but its not bitter nor super sweet. The creme  perfectly balances the matcha and sugar in a ying-yang sort of way. If you’re crossing off your matcha inspired things to try, make sure you add this brulee to your list. It’s worth coming for but whatever you do, don’t order the cheesecake. It’s from Juniors and you can literally walk to either location (Making da Band status), if you really want to.

Wokuni- ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
327 Lexington Ave
New York, NY 10016
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