Wednesday night I went with two other college-bound friends to my favorite local sushi place (one of two in Newtown), Ota-Ya. We all started off with soup and green tea, they had miso, I had suimono, and though somewhat salty, it was a refreshing appetizer as always. We also got warm towels as is standard in Japanese restaurants: I love that so much. It's a great way to prepare for the exciting meal ahead. I always love to go out for sushi when it's a treat such as this, since I haven't had sushi in quite some time. I ordered up some of my favorites from this place. Their selection is not the best, but they do have more options than other places in town. My choices include amaebi with the tempura-ed heads on the side, kapyo (pickled squarsh) roll, hirame (sea bass), and ika (squid).
The sea bass was absolutely my favorite dish of the night; it was so creamy and tender and paired wonderfully with the little dollop of vinegared rice upon which it was served, that I savored every second the morsel was in my mouth. The ika was a little bit tough, but what can you expect from raw squid. I suppose it could have been cut a bit more thinly, but the thickness allowed its sea flavor to come through and thankfully dominate the roe that topped each morsel. The bits of scallions added a nice textural boost to the ika, and the rice continued to please. The shrimp were indeed sweet as described and raw, since they were amaebi, not simply ebi. They were rather plump and large for that variety, and they tasted wonderful. Unlike last time I had them during a previous excursion, the heads were not the crunchy, crispy delicacy I had remembered. It seemed as though this time they had been sitting alongside the rest of our food while we finished our soup, since they were a tad oily, and the battered bits were not crunchy but somewhat soggy. I wasn't enjoying them enough to finish off the heads; oily food gets to me pretty quickly, and this wasn't good enough to risk ruining the rest of my meal. The kampyo roll, of course enjoyed between bites of other sushi the palate cleansed each time with ginger, was a wonderful contrast to the raw seafood. It provided a bit of a saltiness even without the soy sauce, and helped the ginger to cleanse the palate in between each differently flavored and textured piece of seafood. It was wonderful in its own right, especially since I adore all things squash.
As always, this is a recommended restaurant if you're craving sushi within the area, and I look forward to getting into the city to eat more varied seafood!
