Shiroi Hana more than just sushi
Kristin Lutz, WG'07
Issue date: 10/9/06 Section: Insider
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Shiroi Hana is a quiet Japanese restaurant located on 15th Street between Locust and Walnut. A long banquette lines one wall and contributes to the overall Asian minimalist theme, while an eight-seat sushi bar can accommodate solo patrons. The restaurant is decorated in soothing tones of cream, black, and gold, although what you'll really notice when you go there is the service. As soon as we chose our seat, our drink order was taken, menus were provided, and I noticed our server offered to take the coats of the party seated next to us.
My dining companion and I decided to try several choices from the menu, not just sushi. I have found that many Japanese restaurants offer fantastic sushi to the detriment of other options, which can leave your non-fish-eating friends in quite a bind: While you're effusing praise for the succulent sushi, they are pushing their sub-par teriyaki around on their plates, counting the minutes until they can get a slice at the pizza place nearby. Shiroi Hana, however, does not suffer from this problem. We began with soft-shell crab tempura, which was just lightly fried, but easily broke apart into individual bite-sizes. It had a crispy outside yet the consistency of the crab was perfect. This dish was served with a ponzu sauce for dipping, and although I'm not sure what that is exactly, it was a salty complement to the buttery crab. Tasty!
Next, our server brought out a plate of Kaibashira, which are scallops sautéed in butter and sake. Talk about melt-in-your-mouth-I could have eaten a whole dinner of these. They were rich without being too buttery and had just a hint of sweetness, which is exactly how I think scallops should taste. I hated to see our server take away that plate, but she replaced it with two rolls. We tried the Christmas roll, which is tuna, yellow tail, avocado, cucumber, scallion, smelt roe, and seaweed flake, as well as the Dragon roll, comprised of eel, avocado, cucumber, and sesame seeds. The smelt roe on the outside of the Christmas roll was a bright orange, and the avocado on the Dragon roll was a vivid green, both of which served to erase my memory of the scallops and entice us to dig into this stunning plate.
My dining companion and I decided to try several choices from the menu, not just sushi. I have found that many Japanese restaurants offer fantastic sushi to the detriment of other options, which can leave your non-fish-eating friends in quite a bind: While you're effusing praise for the succulent sushi, they are pushing their sub-par teriyaki around on their plates, counting the minutes until they can get a slice at the pizza place nearby. Shiroi Hana, however, does not suffer from this problem. We began with soft-shell crab tempura, which was just lightly fried, but easily broke apart into individual bite-sizes. It had a crispy outside yet the consistency of the crab was perfect. This dish was served with a ponzu sauce for dipping, and although I'm not sure what that is exactly, it was a salty complement to the buttery crab. Tasty!
Next, our server brought out a plate of Kaibashira, which are scallops sautéed in butter and sake. Talk about melt-in-your-mouth-I could have eaten a whole dinner of these. They were rich without being too buttery and had just a hint of sweetness, which is exactly how I think scallops should taste. I hated to see our server take away that plate, but she replaced it with two rolls. We tried the Christmas roll, which is tuna, yellow tail, avocado, cucumber, scallion, smelt roe, and seaweed flake, as well as the Dragon roll, comprised of eel, avocado, cucumber, and sesame seeds. The smelt roe on the outside of the Christmas roll was a bright orange, and the avocado on the Dragon roll was a vivid green, both of which served to erase my memory of the scallops and entice us to dig into this stunning plate.
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