To be honest, any sort of Asian restaurant past 96th street is bleak. Literally hole-in-the-wall Chinese takeouts are the norm, and then there are the those pan-Asian restaurants, which are Japanese-Thai or Vietnamese-Chinese or just a bit of everything. Truth be told, they are just Chinese restaurants that want to attract new customers by adding another tag on to their business. All Asian food is not created equal, so for the real experience, seek out the restaurants with proprietors and customers from the food's culture.
The photo above is that of Tomo, which folded last month and is a good example of the Chinese food phenomenon. The proprietors own the Ollie's Chinese food chain on the Upper West Side and Morningside Heights area. They were clever enough to open Tomo as a Japanese restaurant, for none were available this far north. The storefront does have one of the best neon signs in town, but the food was reminiscent of "stir-fried" Japanese. Mostly an institution for Columbia students that were Japanese cuisine first-timers. Hardly a Japanese diner was ever present at this restaurant.
Alas, Ollie's woes caught up with them. There were some disputes with the Chinese staff, and they sued and won one of the largest rewards for this type of complaint. Tomo shut its doors as a direct result of the owners having to pay up. For great Japanese in Northern Manhattan, see the Sun Chan post.
Truth be told, they are just chinese restaurants that want to attract new customers by adding another tag on to their business. All Asian food is not created equal so for the real experience, seek out the restaurants with proprietors and customers from the food's culture.
ReplyDeleteI am half Japanese and I can always tell when I walk in to a "Japanese" restaurant whether it is authentic are not, usually there are Latino or Chinese men behind the sushi counter.
But to the uniformed person where "Asian" is one culture, Asian food is Asian food.