Kondo is an amazing little sushi bar and restaurant in Astoria. Last March when we first stayed in Astoria, we were walking past when I noticed a hand-written menu with hand drawn fish and seafood. This got me curious and we had an fabulous meal. So when we scored merrily tickets for our anniversary, we planned a return for an omakase meal.
The meal started off with a small bowl of okra and shirasu (tiny fish). The shirasu was flavored yielding the fish brown. There was a touch of wasabi in the marinade and the okra were perfectly tender crisp. We knew we were in for a spectacular ride
Next up was a matsutake soup steamed in a teapot with chicken and shrimp. This was deeply flavored yet light. We each got about 4 small cups worth. Lovely
Then came kisu tempura. The fish was buttery and soft, the batter light, crisp and clean. Simple and superb.
Sashimi course.
Spoons of Hokkaido uni (my favorite hands down by far)
Hokkaido scallop (my favorite hands down by far)
Chutoro
A mackerel called Sanma (my favorite hands down by far) (hidden behind the lemon)
Kanpachi (my favorite hands down by far)
Squid
Something I don’t recall with white shreds
Salmon: judging from the fatty streaks and rich flavor, I am pretty sure it was king salmon (my favorite hands down by far)
Hirame (Kay’s fave)
I seriously have to say each fish was as good a version we have ever had.
As we were enjoying the shashimi, more cooked items arrived. A wonderful black cod roasted with a hint of tare
And a bowl of fried oysters in dashi. The first two oysters were crispy as they were piled so they sat above the dashi. But the remaining ones were soaked in the dashi making the batter soft in a wonderful way.
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Now approaching the end of the meal, we were served an exquisite nigiri plate. There were tempura shrimp heads and the shrimp itself. Wonderful. Next was Ikura cured with a touch of soy. Wonderfuller. Earlier, Kondo sliced two cuts of salmon belly, king salmon i think, and marinated them in something dark but it wasn’t just soy. Then the salmon slices disappeared but that was so it could be blowtorched. Wonderfullest. Otoro was the final nigiri except i asked for a piece of uni which was wonderfullester.
By now, three sake in plus a glass of something rare from yamagata from Mrs Kondo, we just had a lovely matcha icecream parfait. They serve their sake in 8 or 10 oz waterglasses, so I am happy to recall the dessert much less take a photo.
The best part was the warm reception we got. We told them it was our 35thanniversary and they were honored by our coming from Baltimore to celebrate with them. Mr and Mrs Kondo were enjoying beer and sake and we went from customer to regulars.
You will note that I did not describe the sakes except to say we had 4 large glasses. Senility, inebriation, or overload, your choice.
We told them we will be back up in November. They invited us to their by invitation only Thanksgiving party the Sunday before Thanksgiving. And gave us tee-shirt as well.
This feast came to just over 300 with tax before the gratuity. We rarely spend this much on a meal but this was a bargain delivered with love.
