I had this 'creepy' dish on a recent trip to New York. It looks very, very strange. In fact, it moves. But it is not what it seems. Unless you know your Japanese food very well. The menu simply describes it as Aspara, or asparagus. And like all great foods of the world, it comes on a stick. This was part of an incredible meal I had at Soba Totto, in midtown Manhattan.
[Strangely (or not, from my brief experience in NYC), the cabbie had trouble finding the restaurant located at the rather ordinary address of 211 E. 43rd St. Another guy didn't know where St. Mark's place was. But at least you can watch TV in the back of the cab-they even have the mobile map so you can yell out when your driver has missed the turn. "I said Avenue A, dammit!"]
But I digress. I had not just better (which is certainly expected), but cheaper, 'fine dining' meals in New York than I have ever had in Miami, with very few exceptions. The cheaper part is really what irritates me. I also had some better cheap meals, that were also pretty cheap. But I know there is hope for the future-it's crawling here as fast as it can. To be continued.
(Oh, I forgot to mention-this dish was $2.50. Midtown Manhattan. After this, I've put up with the last bit of bullshit whining about Miami rents from anyone-and that includes (especially) myself.)