Kanoyama

November 24, 2006 Cuisine: Japanese, Sushi 175 2nd Ave, New York 10003 At 11th St Phone: 212-777-5266 Website: http://www.kanoyama.com/ --

Starter: Sea Urchin in a half shell ($22)

Spider Roll Soft Shell crab, cucumber, tabiko, lettuce, avocado w/mayo ($11)

Sushi for 2 - 16 pieces Sushi, 3 Rolls, served with Miso soup or salad ($42)

Spicy Tuna Roll ($7)

Dessert: Green Tea Mochi, Red Bean ice cream, Ginger ice cream

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To recover from our Thanksgiving feast, my family dined at Kanoyama. Sushi's mildness and freshness was perfect for resetting worn out palettes.

We arrived at 7:15 PM and the (small) restaurant was filled to the brim so we opted to sit at the sushi bar. The sushi chefs provided fine entertainment while we waited for our dinner.

We started off with the sea urchin appetizer, which was unadorned and served in a shell of sorts. Sea urchin is my brother's latest obsession and has replaced foie gras as his favorite culinary delight. Since I have never had sea urchin before, he described it to me as slightly sweet and delicious. I would have to disagree. Sea urchin has the texture of brains and the taste of old sea water. Ick! I ate the seaweed garnish and let brother and mother finish off the dish.

For our main course, mother and brother shared the sushi for two, which came with 16 pieces of sushi, 3 rolls (Tuna, Yellowtail, Salmon), and soup or salad. Both mother and brother chose the Miso soup. Brother polished his off, but mom only had half. I guess it was good, but wasn't spectacular. I helped my mom and brother with their sushi for two. I thought the standout pieces were the toro and the eel. Mmm. The eel especially melted in my mouth.

I ordered the spider roll and spicy tuna roll and shared them with mother and brother. Brother thought the spicy tuna was great because it wasn't intensely mayo-ie. I agreed. I also thought the ratio of rice to fish was perfect. The spider roll was great as well; although I wished there was more soft shell crab and less rice.

We finished off our meal with some ice cream and mochi. I didn't have any of the mochi because both mother and brother described green tea as "bitter." No thanks. I really loved the ginger ice cream, but for some reason it was peach in color. Very strange. I am not a big fan of artificial coloring. The ginger flavor was strong, but not spicy and had many pieces of crystallized ginger. I only had a couple bites of the red bean ice cream. I felt that it was too sweet and lacked red bean flavor.