Matsugen – 66 Reincarnate (Closed)

***Matsugen was closed in March 2011***

I think I speak for my Asian brethren when I say: white folks, we don’t trust our recipes with you. We brought over some soy sauce and our woks, and you embraced pork fried rice and chicken with broccoli.

The journey to America for food is a treacherous one, few dishes are unscathed by deep fryers or ketchup or enlargement. When I then heard that Jean-Georges was trying his hand at making soba, my eyebrows naturally lifted in disapproval—my grandmother would be so proud.

Before I let forehead wrinkles set in, I decided Jean-Georges was not just any white man who couldn’t use his chopsticks. Despite a failed attempt at Chinese cuisine (66), culinary genius I thought could be given a higher status. So prejudices aside, I headed downtown. Matsugen is another rather inconspicuous eatery, with two dark colored flags marking its territory. Church Street might be out of the way for you but the isolation I think suits the décor and feel. Like the simple, humble character of soba, the coloring and ambiance is sedate.

These are the flags to look for.

There is a sushi bar right up front, but today, we talk noodles. I got the prix fixe for $38, which showcases soba, hot or cold, with some sushi and miso cod. Looking at the menu insert, you’ll notice that the 6-course tasting menu is priced at $60. The difference of $22 seems completely to result from the chawanmushi, which is delightful, but at the end of a day, custard.

Before I even start talking about the appetizer sampler, I want to highlight the edamame. Edamame is actually just young soybean, now ridiculously commonplace in New York. What’s different, and delightful, about the edamame we had that night, was the addition of kuroshichimi. Regular edamame is served only with salt, and you might find shichimi (seven spice mix) on the table of some ramen restaurants, but the depth of flavor of the kuroshichimi (literally, black seven spice) added something terribly addicting. We were told that only one family in Japan holds the recipe to the mix, but luckily, bottles could be bought at Sunrise Mart in St.Mark’s place.

Forgot to shoot the edamame...you know what that looks like.

While we munched away on the edamame, we quickly also got a plate of fried soba, which was really just a high-class version of Asian snack food. The sampler followed, and we were greeted with a combo of four. First is a rather unattractive lump of spinach with soy dressing. Unsightly yes, but absolutely delicious. Crispy shrimp is up next, and was on the light side of fried, so made for a nice starter. The third was yuba with a small seaweed salad. For those who are curious, yuba is the layer that aggregates on top of soymilk mixtures that go on to coagulate to form tofu. It eats like firm tofu, but is more like flan that hasn’t totally formed and has some roughage left in there. Finally, the star of the plate: uni (sea urchin) in yuzu jelly. Sea urchin clearly isn’t for everyone, but I encourage even the most conservative of eaters to try a small bite. The flavor is rich and almost overwhelming. I personally thought that there was too much yuzu. Small bites, be brave.

Four culinary challenges for your palate.

Next on the dinner set was the miso cod. I find this dish synonymous with Nobu, fusion at its finest. This was no different, and the glazed vegetables wonderfully flavorful (no V8 needed for the day you dine at Matsugen).

Sushi's second fiddle in this progression.

Look at that glaze glisten...

Then came the soba. Made daily by the Matsushita brothers hailing from Honolulu. The cold one, the server told me, was much like Chinese cold noodles. It had a dash of spice oil to it, and was refreshing and well portioned. Not a bad showing, but nothing explosive. The hot soba is prepared more traditionally, in fish broth with scallions. Something about soba doesn’t lend itself to stunned silence or amazement, just sounds of happy slurping.

A cold twist on noodles to whet your summer appetite.

The traditional version, from Honolulu?

Last dish of the day was a vanilla caramel pudding. By that they mean caramel. The pudding was vastly overpowered by the caramel sauce, but with a well-dug well in the custard, you could trap the caramel and attack the pudding. Strategically, you can avoid death by sugar.

A troubling caramelize to pudding ratio.

To have the star of the restaurant be buckwheat noodles is daring. Soba noodles don’t make you turn your head, they don’t even make you drool. Despite this obvious handicap, it was a very solid presentation. Not a perfect menu, but one that is sufficiently well executed and different to make the meal enjoyable. To that end, I tip my hat to Jean-Georges, who has taken Asian food and retained its subtle attraction. How much of that preservation is due to the Matsushita brothers operation, how much to Jean-Georges’ direction, who knows?

Chow on,

Jessie

Rating:  

Matsugen (Make a Reservation)
241 Church St.
New York, NY 10013