SAY “OOH LA LA” AND “KAMPAI” AT FRENASIA

Dining “al fresco” brings the imagination to small tables in an open spaced front of a bistro.  In Howard Beach the tables may be on top of or alongside a restaurant facing a canal of private boats.  Frenasia, located at 163-35 Cross Bay Blvd., had built an abutting patio for your dining pleasure, just one aspect of this Asian fusion eatery.  

 

Enter into the lounge where the indoor bar sits across the way from the Hibachi tables.  Continue through to the back dining area as you pass the sushi bar headed by K.C., who should have been a “Flower Child”.

My friend Nancy and I chose that back area, particularly for the booths with cushiony seats and back support.  Can you say, “Aging”?  Sam is the owner who told us that the restaurant has been around for 12 years.  Sonny is the kitchen chef who has been working with Sam for 18 years.  A check of the menu reveals much of the sushi ilk.  Aside from Japanese, I view items of the Thai, and Korean. 

Drink menu looks good, but I’ll pass on any of the cocktails and go right to the cold sake.

Ozeki Dry Sake from California.  Must be “in” as Gekeikan is also using the same Sierra Mountain waters.  Loved the sake itself, odd having it being served in a glass containing shredded cucumber.  

Frenasia Dumpling Soup was the first of many indulgences.  Dumplings are a mixture of pork and shrimp seasoned with ginger.  A mildly tasting broth contained fresh cilantro, scallions and bean sprouts.  Cutting the dumplings into the broth gave a greater flavor.  This is the first time that I notice a small red carnation on the serving plate.  We will realized that the chef likes to use artistry in “painting the plates.”

Kumamoto oysters are great on its own. Top it with a mango salsa and the slurp will have you chewing in order to obtain the whole savory-ness.  Each oyster arrives on a soup spoon with slices of cucumber and lemon on the side and….an edible flower.  

A Spicy Salmon Tartar rested atop slices of fresh avocado sitting in a tartar dressing.  It was decorated with both red and black fish roe, and microgreens.  The spicy mayo dotted the plate along with a few tiny…flowers.

Soft shell crabs are a favorite of mine as I don’t have to pick out the meat.  Served atop slices of mango, this non-oily crunchy (but not thickly floured) delight had added sliced avocado and the chef’s spicy sauce.   The combination sparks “umami”.  Not sure what kind of flower was on top…looked sort of like a yellow carnation and not edible.

Here is another favorite. Seaweed Salad.  The marinated seaweed with sesame seeds are frozen when any restaurant purchases it.  What the restaurant adds can make a difference.  In this case, it rested on a thick slab of mango.  Do you get that mangos and avocados are popular?  Some little purple edible flowers decorated the top.  

Order the Frenasia Specialty Slider and you’ll not just get some heavenly tasting short ribs in a steamed bun.  The decorations (complete with flowers…of course) are worth a photo.  Does it take away from the flavor?  Not at all.  Very tender, slightly on the sweet side but enhanced with a spicy sauce.  

Time for a few maki rolls.  Duck roll with ginger, a spicy mayo atop. Peking duck.  Tasted both a bit peppery and sweet.  I don’t have to tell you what the plate was decorated with.  

Dancing Shrimp Roll sounded good. Shrimp tempura and lobster wrapped with mango, avocado served with a sauce to dance to: reduced balsamic vinegar and orange curry.   Gave it that little bit of cumin flavor.  Slices of cucumber and….decorated that dish.

Chilean Seabass Roll…different.  It was a combo of both the seabass and eel.  Eel sauce inside and a few sauces on the plate.  Okay, were starting to get full.  The thing is, there really wasn’t much that we ate that was so terribly filling.  No, we just wanted to pig out on good food. 

One more dish….before dessert.  Grand Marnier Coconut Shrimp.  OMG.  Just enough spice and served with broccoli, asparagus, green beans and a sweet potato puree.  

As for the dessert…I will try to describe it.  Mango tart topping a chocolate cake.  Vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, berries, mint and pieces of chocolate.

Last temptation was a dessert plum wine called Aragoshi Kumi’s Umeshu.  Great after dinner drink.  I usually get drunk on Scotch Tape.  Sake doesn’t bother me as much.  Sake to me!  Kampai!!!

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

My birthday was full of celebrations starting with Saturday evening when I covered the New York Sharks game.  We played the Montreal Blitz and despite their losing, they gathered after the game, came over to me and sang the Quebec version of Happy Birthday.  Here are the lyrics.

Ma chere Merle
C'est à ton tour 
de te laisser parler d'amour!
Ma chère Merle
C'est à ton tour 
de te laisser parler d'amour!

Translated it basically means, "My dear Merle, this is a day for you to receive love." 

Going home was difficult thanks to Access-A-Ride and a problematic car service.  One of the former Shark players, Cheri Eleazar, drove me home going way out of her way to do so.   Sharks can certainly become your adopted family. 

My neighbor, Juan Feliciano, brought over a birthday ice cream cake.   Chocolate!!!!!!

Monday's celebration took place at River Japanese Cuisine restaurant located on Springfield Blvd in Oakland Gardens.  

RIVER RESTAURANT FLOWS A STREAM OF JAPANESE FLAVORS

When you think of Japanese cuisine, raw fish seems to dominate the mind.   The truth is that cooked fish as well as non-seafood offerings can be enjoyed at such a restaurant as River Japanese Cuisine located at 61-44 Springfield Blvd in Oakland Gardens.  

“A big draw to this eatery,” said General Manager Kenny Mei,“is the All You Can Eat menu.”  Or shall I call it, “menus”, as for those choosing this option you are given one paper to check off items from the Sushi Bar and another for the Kitchen.  I will go into that later as I first want to focus on the regular menu which allowed me to taste their newest cuisine that Executive Chef OD having added sauces gives some fusion to the flavors.  

Just to clarify on those who have not delighted in Japanese Cuisine, here is the 101 on “sushi”.   Sashimi is simply slices of raw fish.  Sushi is a piece of anything that is placed on a lump of rice.  It can be raw fish, cooked fish, or even sweet egg.  It would be rare to find a piece of chicken or beef, for instance.   Two types of rolls are the Maki and Hand roll.   Maki rolls tend to be anything at all (including the rice) that is rolled up in or around a “paper seaweed” (nori) or sometimes cucumber, and cut into thick slices, whereas a hand roll has the items placed in a cone shaped nori.  

Maki rolls may be quite creative.  They may contain as little as one or two item such as salmon, shrimp tempura, spicy yellowtail or tuna avocado and the common California roll consisting of Kani (imitation crab meat), avocado and added cucumber with the nori inside. 

A second category is “Special Rolls”.   Here are some examples.  Snow Mountain: inside with Shrimp Tempura, Seaweed Salad, Snow Crab on Top. New Year Roll: Salmon, Mango inside, topped with fresh tuna.  Mango, btw is thinly sliced.  Dancing Queen: Spicy Salmon, Avocado inside, topped with Pepper Tuna and scallions. 

The Chef’s Special rolls are phenomenal and must be sampled.   Here are just the ones that I savored.  Black Angel:  Cajun Tuna, Asparagus Tempura inside; topped with tuna, salmon, eel (with an eel sauce), a honey wasabi sauce, and various colored tobiko (flying fish roe). 

King Lobster:  deep fried lobster and asparagus inside; topped with lobster salad, tobiko, an eel and mango sauce and flakes of gold leaf.  

Spicy Tuna Sandwich:  spicy tuna, avocado and eel inside; Soy Bean paper used as the “bread”; masago (different type of roe), with eel and spicy tuna on the top.  

 

Since Godzilla is back on the screen I might as well try their Godzilla Roll: Deep fried white fish, avocado and kani with crunchy stuff (I think it's tempura flakes) and masago on the top.

I want to point out other specialties due to the taste and creativity.   Avocado soup, for instance.  The base is a shitake mushroom soup with an avocado puree and slices of avocado, place in a heart shaped bowl. 

I continued with some Sushi Bar Appetizers such as the Seafood Ceviche, a mixed salad of various raw and cooked fish (shrimp is always cooked unless one orders “sweet shrimp”) in a spicy lemon sauce that uses jalapenos from Mexico.  

Then there was a Sushi Pizza fusion of a pancake topped with tuna, salmon and white fish, sesame seeds, a wasabi sauce, avocado and tobiko.   

Let’s not forget the Volcano Salad. Kani salad is wrapped with baked salmon, topped with caviar and scallion that makes it appear that it is erupting.  It is surrounded by a spicy sauce.   One point to make with this type of cuisine is that you don’t need to add the usual combo of soy sauce and wasabi or the pickled ginger as the flavors erupt by themselves. 

River is known for some of their specialties including one particular entrée called Miso Black Cod.  The black cod has a miso sauce with mixed Japanese seasonal vegetables.   I just had a sample of it that was more like a two bite amuse bouche. 

I want to get back to the AYCE by first having people understand that this is not a buffet and that everything is made to order.  In other words, don’t expect an express menu if you truly want to enjoy.  Pace yourself and remember that you and your party are not the only patrons in the restaurant taking part in this indulgence.  

The Sushi Bar menu offers: sashimi, sushi, maki or hand rolls, and special rolls.  It’s best to go with other people so that when you order something such as an eight piece special roll it can be shared. Food is not just thrown on a dish as the chefs take time to plate it…for looks. 

It is called a Kitchen menu because the items are cooked and takes time.   You will find soups and salads as well as kitchen specials such as miso eggplant, River style wings (quite tasty) and Pork Gyoza.   There are BBQ skewers, one of which are quail eggs wrapped with bacon…ya gotta try that one.   Tempura, teriyaki, katsu, noodle and rice dishes as well as desserts. 

It is not that expensive enough to think that you will never come back so eat what you order as they have the right to charge for your leftovers of which you cannot do the doggy bag thing.  

What are you expected to pay for the AYCE?  The price varies by lunch, dinner, weekday and weekend with the least being lunch during the week at $21.95 and dinner on the weekend being $25.95.   The price for children are based upon the height and not the age.   There is an added charge of tax and service.

I calculated a non-AYCE to find that if you ordered soup, salad, special rolls, a kitchen special and dessert, the price would at least be equal to the price.  Lunch specials are offered such as a maki roll combo of 3 regular rolls with soup or salad for $10 or a bento box served with California rolls, shumai, miso soup or salad and rice.  A 5-piece sushi box costs $10. 

For further information call 718-747-7390 or www.riversushi.com