Bondst

6 Bond Street.  New York, NY
www.bondstrestaurant.com

Price: $$$-- The food was a little bit expensive based on the amount of food that is served in a portion. Portion sizes are pretty small, so you end up ordering more.
Favorite Dish: Tuna Tart

Last night, we decided to try an upscale Japanese restaurant for dinner. The restaurant, Bondst, sounds and looks nothing like what it serves. It is definitely one of the nicer Japanese restaurants I've ever been to, with the dimmed lighting and candlelit tables. The menu selections were really surprisingly unique and different, and they all seemed delicious. I was excited to try out some of the cool things they were serving.

We decided to share everything that we ordered, since most things were smaller portions and were served "tapas style." Here's what we ordered:

Our love for grilled calamari led us to order the grilled baby octopus, with caramelized onions, jalapeños, avocado, radishes, and dashi poached potatoes. At first glance, the look of the octopus kind of scared Jaynie and me off, since they were served with scales--we steered away from those pieces. The safe-looking pieces were actually delicious. They tasted great paired with the citrus and avocado.

For our next appetizer, we ordered the red snapper tacos, with mentaiko (fish roe),  a sudachi vinaigrette,  and yuzu avocado spread. These tacos were AWESOME. The taco shell was super crispy, and the yuzu avocado was excellent on the taco. I'm not a huge fan of fish, but the snapper was really tasty. Loved this dish.

While we were ordered, our waiter mentioned how their Big Eye Tuna Tarts are their most popular dish by far.  Raw tuna is my least favorite of all raw fish, but this tart was AMAZING. The tart had a creamy ponzu sauce, white truffle oil, and micro shiso. It must have been the truffle oil that pushed this dish over the edge and made it so memorable. I definitely understand why the tuna tart is Bondst's most popular dish!

The next dish we ordered was the Main Lobster rolls, served with Japanese mustard, a steamed bun, and brown butter ponzu sauce. After having tried steamed buns for the first time last year in Los Angeles, I think they are just so delicious, so I was really looking forward to trying this dish. The lobster rolls were really good. I loved the lobster mixture--it was super flavorful and tasted great in the bun. I wish it could've been a bigger portion!!

As our first entree, we got the grilled rack of lamb, with a shiso and mint sauce, yuzu potato gratin, and Asian pear. The chops were SO juicy. These were great lamb chops. I love the combination of lamb and mint, however I couldn't really taste the mint in the sauce. But truly, I don't think it really needed it necessarily. Again, I would've like a little more, since we each only got one chop.

Jaynie wanted to order the Kamo Ramen, with a soft poached egg, duck confit, and tokyo negi (Japanese onion). The soup came with seaweed pieces to go alongside the dish, and a spice tray to add extra flavor to the noodles. The ramen was a bit bland without any of the spices, which is difficult for eaters who aren't fans of spicy foods. However, I, being a huge fan of spicy foods, loved the ramen with some of the added spice. The egg was a great addition, and the duck breast was super tender, and great paired with the noodles.

For our sushi fix, we ordered two different rolls: the hot eel dice, with eel, sweet soy sauce, and slice almonds, and the spicy yellowtail, accompanied by a red pepper sour miso sauce. Both rolls were great, but my favorite of the two was definitely the eel dice. The eel was quite tasty, and beat the yellowtail in terms of prominent flavor. The sweet soy sauce was delicious, and almonds added an unexpected crunch that I really enjoyed.

After a meal like that, we really felt the need for something sweet. After debating whether to stay or go somewhere else for  dessert, the amazing dessert menu helped us make our decision. We ordered the banana milk chocolate dim sum. Now seriously…how bad can THAT be? The answer: not bad at all. It was served with hazelnuts, and a sweet sour cream dipping sauce. Ugh..these were just so good. I only got to eat one because of the small portion, but that one bite of banana, chocolate, and sweet cream was perfect.

Jaynie and I are obsessed with chocolate lava cakes, so we just had to order the chocolate meltdown, with coffee ice cream and fresh cream. This cake was comparable to Morton's chocolate lava cake--it was that good. The sweet chocolate sauce, the chocolate cake, a little bit of coffee ice cream, and a dip of the cream: the ultimate bite. 

The aftermath...

A great place to go for a delectable Japanese meal.

Keep checking back…there are more amazing posts to come!!

XOXO,
Danielle