Restaurant Week at Megu – NYC

I’ll be making this post short, because I don’t want to waste more time with Megu than I already have. Basically, I went to Megu New York last week because it was Restaurant Week (i.e. participating restaurants offer a 3 course prix fixe meal for $35) and had a very mediocre meal. And for those who’ll say, it’s because I had the food from the Restaurant Week menu and not the regular menu, that wasn’t the case. David, of course, stubborn as he is, refused to order off the Restaurant menu and ordered from the regular menu. In fact, had he not done so, I would have thought Megu wasn’t all that bad. Surprisingly, the non-Restaurant Week dishes were actually worse than the Restaurant Week dishes. It was quite bizarre.

In addition, interpret it as you will, but when we were given menus, the Restaurant Week menu was not given to us. It was after the waiter came to take our order that I had to ask if there was a Restaurant Week menu. When I did, he stuttered a bit, and then returned with two heavily creased menus. No apologies. Was it an honest mistake? I doubt it.

Unappealing as the crumpled menu was, I decided go with the initial plan of ordering from the Restaurant Week Menu. It’s a recession after all. For the appetizer I chose the Yuba Wrap Salad, and for my entrée I chose the Premium Kobe Sirloin Beef Steak served with Platinum Rice. There was no choice in dessert and it ended up being a Raspberry Mousse Cake.

My meal started with an unusually filling amuse bouche of spicy tuna rolls overly dressed with sauce. I can’t be a hundred percent if it was tuna, since none of the dishes that were brought out were explained except my Kobe Beef, but that’s what it tasted like.

The Yuba Wrap Salad was simple yet smart. Salad in yuba (tofu skin) topped with sashimi seems so obvious, but of course, I never thought of doing it. This would make an easy and beautiful starter for a small dinner party. My only problem with the appetizer was that again, nothing was explained, so I was trying to guess what each of the fish were the entire time. I like to know what I’m eating.

The Kobe beef was good and deliciously fatty, but I’m guessing this was Wagyu beef not Kobe. It wasn’t as luxuriously soft as Kobe. The steak also came with a bowl of rice, which Megu calls “platinum rice.” I’m not sure what platinum rice is, but I do know that the rice was cooked with too much water, thus, too sticky. At an Asian restaurant, this is a complete FAIL.

Raspberry Mousse Cake was very light and not too sweet like most desserts at an Asian restaurant. It was decent, nothing to rave about except we got two orders instead of one. The waiter said it was either a mistake in the kitchen or they were feeling generous. Either way, SCORE!

I won’t go into great lengths to cover David’s meal, only because he ordered so many dishes and it was impossible to take pictures of it all, and in general, I try to take the photo taking to a minimum at nicer restaurants. I notice it gets old after a while for your dining companion. But here is a quick rundown of his meal from the regular Megu menu: “Oriental” Salad (Sesame oil did not taste like dark Asian sesame oil, and isn’t calling anything “Oriental” circa 1970?), Crispy Tofu (Tofu could have been softer.), Fried Goat Cheese Sticks (Not bad, but it came in a pot over a bed of rocks à la lucky bamboo floral arrangement.), Spicy Seared Salmon Belly Roll (Horrible. Too much rice and the salmon tasted like it was from a can), and seven pieces from the Megu Contemporary Sushi section (David loved the salmon. Sushi seems to be Megu’s forté, but again the dining experience was slightly marred because the server never explained which piece was which.).

Megu New York seems to be one of those restaurants that flourished during the time Wall Street still had lavish expense accounts. It was a place to schmooze and to be seen by the right people. Unfortunately for Megu, now no one is watching and the focus is back on the food.

Megu New York
62 Thomas Street (betw Broadway & Church St)
New York, NY 10013