What I Got: Chashu Rice Ball, Unagi Rice Ball, Ume Rice Ball, Gyoza, Matcha Kaki-Gori

Price: $$-$$$

Location: NYC

Review:

Tonchin is a Japanese restaurant mentioned in the Michelin guide.   All of their food is expertly crafted with incredible ingredients and delicious flavors.  They make a variety of dishes from ramen to rice balls.  They even have unique cocktails and mocktails.  If you love Japanese food like I do, you must make a visit.

Chashu Rice Ball – The Chashu Rice Ball includes sushi rice, aburi chashu, spicy mayo, sesame, and radish sprout all wrapped in seaweed.  Aburi Chashu is braised pork belly that is seared after it has been braised.  The aburi chashu is tender, rich, and salty.  The spicy mayo coats the pork belly with its creamy texture and perfect kick of spice.  The tanginess of the mayo cuts through the fatty pork. The radish sprouts are refreshing and crisp to balance out the pork and mayo while the sesame tops it all off with its nutty flavor.  The sushi rice is beautifully cooked and seasoned to be light, fluffy, sticky, and subtly sweet.  It compliments all the ingredients and soaks up the juices from the pork.  The seaweed is crisp, and delicious with its sweet and salty flavor.  This is the perfect rice ball for lovers of chashu.

Unagi Rice Ball – The Unagi Rice Ball includes sushi rice, eel, and sansho pepper all wrapped in seaweed.  Unagi is a freshwater eel coated in a glossy, sweet soy sauce.  Eating this rice ball was my first time having unagi, and I was blown away.  The eel is rich, tender, and buttery with a subtle sweetness.  It has a light char on the skin that adds complex flavor that is balanced out by the delectable, sweet sauce it is coated in.  The sansho pepper is spicy and bright.  The gorgeous sushi rice serves as the perfect bed for the unagi complimenting the fish and sauce.  The crisp seaweed perfectly compliments the unagi as well.  I love fish and was assuming I would enjoy unagi, yet this rice ball was above and beyond what I expected.  It was truly delicious!

Ume Rice Ball – The Ume Rice Ball includes sushi rice, roasted sesame, pickled plum, and salted kelp all wrapped in seaweed.  Pickled ume has a very interesting flavor which lends this vegan rice ball a unique and delicious flavor profile.  The pickled plum is sour and salty which contrasts the salted kelp (shio kombu) that has a pleasant mixture of sweet, savory, and salty.   The subtly sweet sushi rice balances out the salty flavor in the ume and shio kombu.  The roasted sesame adds a great nutty flavor. The seaweed compliments and enhances the flavor in the rice ball nicely.  I really enjoyed the different flavors in this rice ball.  It is an exciting and flavorful combination of ingredients!

Gyoza – The Gyoza includes ground pork, Chinese cabbage, ginger, sesame oil, scallion, rice vinegar, and soy sauce served with a spicy sauce.  As I expected from a restaurant mentioned in the Michelin guide, Tonchin’s gyoza is the best I’ve had.  The pork, cabbage, and ginger filling is flavorful, tender, and extremely juicy. As you bite down, the delicious, warm juices burst into your mouth.  The gyoza wrapper is cooked perfectly and seared so it is crispy on the bottom.  The scallions are crisp and fresh, and the spicy dipping sauce adds a great kick of spice.  It is a satisfying and flavorful dish that is perfect to share.

Matcha Kaki-Gori – The Matcha Kaki-Gori includes shaved ice with Ceremonial grade matcha, Tonchin honey cream, and sweet red bean paste.  This is an incredibly delicious dessert that is light and refreshing.  The ice is shaved so thinly it is fluffy and light.  It is saturated with a syrup packed with earthy matcha flavor with the perfect amount of sweetness.  The matcha ice is topped with a layer of sweet red bean and honey cream.  The red bean is creamy, sweet, and nutty.  The honey cream is sweet and whipped to a gorgeous cloud-like texture.  The red bean and honey cream bring out the sweetness of the matcha and add wonderful texture to the shaved ice. The ice is piled high, but you won’t need to share it with more than one other person because this dessert is so delicious and light.  This is one of my favorite refreshing treats for a hot day or the perfect cool contrast to a hot meal.