Osakana is a small fish market in hip East Williamsburg (in our hood!).
Osakana isn’t a typical fish market where you’ll see giant filleted salmon or whole Branzino. In the front, they just have two refrigerated cases of freshly prepared sashimi cuts of fish as well as cook-at-home pre-marinated fillet cuts of fish. You can also order ramen and some other stuff to go too.
In the back, Luke (the manager/chef), and the rest of the team lead regular classes throughout the week as well as private events, like how to prepare sashimi at home or how to make ramen.
In addition to have taken a few group classes and purchase freshly prepared fish for home cooking, we recently had a private Cha Kaiseki dinner for two at Osakana (me, Jess, and Luke)
Cha Kaiseki is the meal served before a formal Japanese tea ceremony. Osakana does a take on this via a tasting menu.
Here’s what we had at Osakana’s Cha Kaiseki:
Amazake with genmaicha, kumquat, shiso, and shredded fish cheeks
This is kinda like congee with a flavor bombs. The sourness of the amazake with the brightness of the kumquat paired deliciously well. This came served as a super-sized portion. Something big enough for breakfast portion — and yes, I ate it all. 😋
Spanish mackerel, black sea bass, and big eye tuna sashimi
Delicious all around since it’s FRESH SASHIMI. Spanish mackerel was lightly torched (I helped kinda) and my favorite. The black sea bass came with two cuts — the loin and the belly. Surprisingly, the loin was tastier than the belly.
Porgy sashimi
Not sure I’ve had porgy sashimi before, but this was amazing. Soft and melty.
Tuna meatball with Japanese and Korean sweet potato
The wrapper is made with 1/2 Japanese sweet potato and 1/2 Korean sweet potato. Inside was a flavorful tuna meatball.
Steamed grouper with ginger and scallion. Served with shitake, monkfish with rhubarb, and a turnip.
The simple preparation of the grouper made this dish shine. Flakey delicate meat matched with some aromatic and subtle flavors.
Salt cured carrots, broccoli rabe, chrysanthemum leaves, with a miso-based dip and mustard drizzle.
At this point, I’m already full. What shined here was the mix of miso and mustard sauces that made the fresh veggies exciting. Ate everything here too.
Miso cod, seven grain rice, kombu, and veggies with sake kasu sauce (miso and sake rice).
So no photo for this one since I ate it before thinking of taking a photo or maybe I had too much sake at this point (HAHAHA). Yes, it was that good.
Harusame (potato starch) noodles, roasted otoro, strawberry
Harusame is Japanese cellophane noodles. The strawberries were a nice contrast to the richness of the always tasty Otoro.
Miso soup
At this point of the Cha-Kaiseki, I was about to explode. No photo here — I’m totally slacking. 🙁
Shinme matcha from Kettl Tea
And finally, the tea part of the Cha Kaiseki. Kettl’s Shinme Matcha is silky and balanced. Kinda like a green esspresso.
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By the end of the meal, I was stuffed and had enough to eat for two meals. If you’re looking for a totally different dining experience than what you’ll get at a regular restaurant, you’ll love this private Cha Kaiseki from Osakana.
Check them out below!
Osakana
290 Graham Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
www.osakanabk.com/
$300 for two people (tip/tax included)
BYOB
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