Good Eats: JAPANESE FOOD!!

For those who like Japanese food but have diet restrictions or just plain finicky (like P.), this is the place to go. The staff is friendly, courteous, efficient and the service is fast. The place is virtually empty if you go in for early dinner (bet. 6 - 7 PM), but all tables soon fill up. By 7:30 PM, the whole joint is packed.
All the sushis are great but for an extra-special appetizer, try the delicious Lobster Roll. P. complained that it had a tad too much mayo on it but since he scarfed the whole thing down in less than 3 minutes, I bet it wasn't that bad. The Grilled Squid (Maruyaki) was tender and tasty.  I was dissapointed by the Salmon Skin Salad, though. It tasted like they had liberally poured the dressing (tasted like soysauce/sesame oil/hoisin sauce combination) on the greens. The whole thing was soooo salty it felt like I had consumed my one week's body sodium requirement in one sitting!

Ichiro Japanese Restaurant: cor. of East 87 St. and 2nd Avenue

For the entree, P. had the Chicken and Shrimp Hibachi - "...with no onions, no peppers, no spice, more mushrooms, more zucchini".  To their credit, the chef gladly made the dish according to his specifications.

I ordered the Bento Box (Beef Negimaki) which came with salad and Miso soup. Included in the box are California Rolls, Edamame, Siomai, some pickles/wasabi, and white rice. Unfortunately, they dont offer brown rice as an alternative.
Alas! There's really nothing on the menu geared for kids, unless you have a child like S. who gladly devoured a whole plate of Siomai sans mustard - and two Eel handrolls.

Dessert choices was limited to diff. flavors of ice cream, so we took a scoop each of Vanilla and Red Bean (which looked like it should have been called Purple Bean intead).

At any rate, they always serve pineapple and orange slices gratis so you dont even have to order dessert....