EAT: HARLEM CHIRASHI BATTLE 2015

We have been on a fall health kick as of late and trying out various sushi spots uptown seems to be working but is there a big difference between some of the major establishments in Harlem?  In the fashion of Iron Chef Japan, we did a chirashi battle between a long standing contender and one of the newcomers on Lenox.  First off, Jado Sushi on FDB by 114th Street has hired a new chef with a big Japanese following so we dropped by last night to try out the chirashi dish.

For those who are not familiar with the offering, this is usually a bed of sushi rice in a bowl with a layer of fresh sashimi on top and a side of soy for dipping.  As one can see, Jado's chirashi looks like a work of art and has some major portions of sashimi for the $25 price point. Included in the dish was fatty tune, tuna, mackerel, scallops, shrimp, giant clam and ikura.  As for the second, contender, the difference was quite noticeable just on a visual level.

As one can see, the new arrival on Lenox looks a little lackluster. The shredded tamago and thumbnails-size pieces of fish look like leftovers in a bowl versus what one would expect for the $26 price tag.  We have traveled to Tokyo for work in the Fashion Industry many times and the above type of chirashi is really more like a $12 fast food option than what is usually served in a fine dining establishment.  There only seemed to be two types of fish cubed up in this bowl with some salmon roe but the quantity was so limited that any freshness or quality was lost in this dish.

We actually went to the opening of this particular eatery and what was presented initially to guests was more substantial so it is rather disconcerting to see the change in quality.  Needless to say, Jado on FDB is the winner of this round and still is one of the tops spots for Japanese above 110th Street.