Shaburi

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Shaburi

Photo: Cititour.com

Contact Info:

Address: 125 East 39th Street
City: New York, NY
Zip: 10016
map: View the Map
Phone: (212) 867-6999

Food Info:

Cuisine: Japanese

Cititour Review:

Since New Yorkers rarely cook in their own apartments, how will they feel about cooking in a restaurant? And then paying the “privilege” of $50 or more to do so? The answers to those questions may decide the ultimate success of Shaburi, the first U.S. outpost of a Taiwan-based chain of restaurants that focus on the classic Japanese meals of Sukiyaki and Shabu-Shabu. In both of these dishes, the diner does a fair amount of the work, placing the ingredients into the appropriate cooking liquid, swirling them around, and then removing them with chopsticks before eating.(The very helpful staff will teach you how to do this, but after that it’s up to you!) Sukiyaki, which can only be served for two, consists of prime beef, vegetables and tofu cooked in a steaming broth. Shabu-shabu, the more interesting variation, uses a boiling beef broth as its base, to which you can add cabbage, mushrooms, fried bean curd, tofu, daikon radish, tomato, udon noodles, as well as beef, pork and seafood; in fact, you have more than a dozen options of main ingredients. If price is no object, you owe it to yourself to try the Matsusaka beef ($68), a rare variety of meat even more prized than the much-valued kobe. It was intensely marbled, insanely rich and extraordinary delicious. Lobster ($50) proved a little tricky to both cook and eat -- even though the creature came cracked -- but what we managed to taste was also excellent. The house also provides two dipping sauces, one made of sesame and another with a soy-mirin base, both of which can be enlivened by scallions, jalapeno peppers and chopped garlic. While you can make Shabu-Shabu or Sukiyaki your entire meal, there is a small and appealing selection of starters; and you should order at least one to tide you over while your liquid heats up at the table. A carpaccio of fresh fish was superb, accented by an Italian-style dressing and a scattering of chopped onions on top. Slices of seared tuna tataki set atop a salad of well-dressed greens were pleasing if undistinguished. And while I don’t think many restaurants will rush to copy Shaburi’s signature creation of grilled sushi -- large squares of grilled rice topped either with salmon roe or avocado and cucumber -- it was nevertheless quite tasty. So the next time someone asks you what’s cooking, take them over to Shaburi. They will be surprised -- probably quite pleasantly -- by the answer.

 

Review By: Brian Scott Lipton

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