EAT: FRESH JAPANESE AT CHOPPED PARSLEY

Chopped Parsley at 146th Street located just a couple of doors west of Amsterdam Avenue is still in soft opening mode but we were able to try out some of the dishes last night. We ran into one of the other cafe owners in the area yesterday afternoon and they had mentioned that the new Japanese eatery was really good along with being affordable.  A preview of the menu that we had seen in the past had mostly rolls so it would take a lot to impress us but we were ready to try a new place with an open mind.  More photos and a full food review after the jump.

Our first impression with the 20-seat cafe setup was that it looked like a space one could get used to hanging out at even though the interior was rather compact.  The walls are all decorated with an eclectic mix of photos but the French film Breathless with Jean Seberg  was one of the more constant themes.  Wood finishes all around set up the relaxing ambiance and the staff behind the counter at the back was quite friendly. An initial order of iced green tea was served up in a takeaway cup but was nevertheless refreshing but how will the food hold up?

Looking at the menu, most of the prices were under $10 and the standard rolls were closer to the $5.00 mark but we wanted something without sesame seeds.  Fancier roll specials were a couple of dollars more and the eel avocado Dragon roll turned out to be one of the best we have tried in recent memories.  A salad of arugula, seared salmon and sweet pears for $7 which had a lot of the fruit hidden underneath was surprisingly good.  At that point, we made a mental note to try some of the more classic maki rolls in the future with a request to not add the sesame seeds on the outside.

We had to try the saba appetizer for $5 at the end since our prior two plates had impressed us quite a bit and the pickled mackerel was the closest to a sashimi dish that the tiny eatery serves up.  Needles to say, this was probably our favorite dish of the night amongst some pretty strong contenders.  Our opinion now is that for the price and value, the cozy Chopped Parsley is a highly recommended neighborhood spot that might not have all the fancy flourishes of the bigger names out there but is really just straight forward good food.  With that said, prices are also a plus since one can definitely drop by a couple times a week to have a quick bite and a coffee or tea.

The official grand opening is on Friday but those who want to try the new cafe today at 500 West 146th street  can drop by mid afternoon or early evenings for the soft opening.