Soto – Pursuing perfection on an uni obsession

2 years ago, I would not touch a piece of Uni.

Uni, which stands for sea urchins roe (or simply innards depending on how you look at it), has long been a Japanese delicacy, and part of every fine Japanese establishment. One wonders who was the first nut-job who opened the spiky sea creature and decided to taste the tongue-looking yellow tissue. Whoever that was, he was genius. Hundreds, if not thousands of years later from that magical moment, my sister and I are hooked, obsessed, and always looking for that perfect uni at restaurants.

Much to my delight, there’s a chef that shares the same level of obsession. His name is Sotohiro Kosugi, and he is the uni maestro at restaurant Soto.

As a 3rd generation sushi chef hailing from Japan, his claim to fame came from his days in Atlanta Georgia, where he handily dominated the local (and much less competitive) Japanese dining scene. When he packed up and moved to New York, many were eager to find out whether this regional master has what it takes to compete in the world of Masa, Megu, Yasuda and Gari.

After a visit from the New York Times, NY Mag, the Michelin critic, and to a much lesser extent myself. It’s obvious, this man is a genius.

Located on the dividing line where Washington Square meets West Village (also known as 6th Ave), sandwiched between tattoo parlors and stores that sell explicit content, Soto has no signage, only slits and portholes on the white facade where you can catch a glimpse of the Japanese restaurant within.

Many times I've driven by without paying attention what's behind the white wall.

The menu was designed as 3 distinct sections, cold dishes, hot dishes, and sushi. We came with one thing in mind, to seek the perfect uni. We selected items from all 3 sections with heavy emphasis on uni, and eagerly awaited the feast.

First came the appetizers. Uni cocktail was a great way to kick off an uni-filled evening, but the uni-tempura was slightly disappointing. Apparently when you deep fry uni, the unique flavor of uni disappears.

Uni in a martini glass.

Tempura uni with smoked uni flakes

Following the uni dishes, we had 2 fish appetizers. The Shima Aji Carpaccio, striped jack in ponzu sauce was nice, but nothing spectacular. As was the Salmon Citrus, thin slices of salmon in sudachi citrus sauce. The fish plus zesty sauce flavor has always been a favorite of mine, but in the day and age when every Japanese chef has a dozen similar dishes, it just didn’t stand out.

Striped jack in ponzu

Salmon Citrus

The serving size of these dishes are all pretty small, and it could be said that all are appetizer sized portions. However some dishes just felt more entree-like, and here they are…..

Deep fried soft shell crab, ordered simply because it’s the right season. You really cannot mess this up as long as it’s fresh. This was followed by the tuna tartare, with pine nuts and asian pear. The fish was fresh, and the contrast of texture quite nice. It could have used a bit more seasoning. Then came the first shockingly good dish of the evening. Uni wrapped with squid, in a bed of seaweed, with a quail egg on top. This was unlike anything I’ve tasted before, and oozed flavor, a bit too literally.

A softshell crab in season.

Tuna Tartare

Uni wrapped in squid, with seaweed.

Just as I was gushing about how each dish was better than the previous, the grand finale (at least up to that point) arrived. The steamed lobster with uni mousse not only made my jaw drop visually, the taste was so complex and full of flavor that this dish along was worthy of the Michelin star. Uni, lobster, truffle oil, caviar, all complementing each other.

The most stunning uni dish in NYC

As if that wasn’t enough uni, I added an order for uni nigiri sushi, just to cap off the evening. You really cannot get enough of this flavor.

One more before we go.

For you uni lovers out there, this is a must. For those who have never experienced uni, there’s no better place to get acquainted.

The maestro at work, daily.

CS

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Soto (Make a Reservation)
357 6th Avenue
New York, NY 10014