Azuki

239 Park Ave. (between 19th & 20th St.)  New York, NY

www.azukinyc.com

Price: $$- The price was pretty reasonable for the amount of food that you are served.
Favorite dish: Shrimp teriyaki

For my first real weekend out in the city, me and a group of my good friends from school met up for dinner and a night out in the city. FINALLY! What better way to reunite with my friends than with a good meal? That's right…there's no better way. My friend (shoutout Erica) recommended that we go to Azuki, a cute little Japanese restaurant in Union Square, which I decided is meant for large parties. The restaurant was completely packed, and had long tables lined up along the one side. The noise level was extremely high, as I found myself yelling to my friends across the table, but that did not stop us from having a great time together and enjoying a delicious meal.

Here's what we ordered:

We're still not exactly sure who ordered the edamame, but regardless, it ended up on our side of the table, and ended up right in front of me. I can eat edamame at any time. Although its hard to distinguish the difference between any two orders of edamame from anywhere, these were still really good. They were steamed really well, and were salted to perfection. Always a good start to a meal!

Erica ordered the shrimp teriyaki, served with miso soup or salad and white rice. Since I arrived to dinner so late,  Erica's dinner arrived before I even ordered, and from the look of the dish, I immediately knew that was what I wanted. It was SO good. I don't know what it was about the teriyaki sauce that made it so delicious and addictive, but it was super sweet, super flavorful, and of course, super tasty. (I started eating the sauce plain once I finished the rest…guilty.)

Ricki ordered the chicken teriyaki, which was basically the same thing as the shrimp teriyaki but with…well, chicken.  

Hey Julia…yummy miso soup?

Julia went for the beef teriyaki…I see a bit of a teriyaki trend going on, no?

A few of my friends ordered sushi rolls, and Azuki certainly had some really good-looking options on their menu. This is just a sampling of what they had to offer. The first roll was the salmon dream roll, with spicy salmon, crunch, and squash, topped with fresh salmon. The other roll was the east west roll, with tuna, avocado, crunch, and caviar, topped with fresh yellowtail. These literally sound like heaven right now... 

Jess, Julia, and I looking very happy to start eating!! (You ok Jess?)

Although this picture is totally awful, it completely represents our relationship and the amazing time we had as a group last night. I am looking forward to our next meet up in the city to try some more of the great food that the city has to offer!! Azuki was a really good place for us to get together, have fun, be silly, and eat, of course, and I definitely recommend it as the perfect option for a night out with friends. The food was tasty, and the atmosphere was just right to get us excited for the rest of our night.

(S/O to Erica, Sarah, Ricki, Liz, Sara, Amanda, Arleigh, Zoe, Whitney, Jess, Julia, and Rachel for an amazing ChiO reunion!)

XOXO,

Danielle