Oh! Taisho

9 St. Marks Place

Oh! Taisho in the heart East Village is a true Japanese establishment. One glance at the menu and you might think you are in the center of Tokyo, rather than New York City. The menu is in part kanji (Japanese characters) and part English, but there are pictures in case you get confused. Overwhelmed with the many options, I was more than happy when Sir Fancy Pants insisted on ordering for me.

With a little help from the waiter, I decided on one of their more popular sakes, and Sir Fancy Pants ordered the following for our meal:

scallops wrapped in bacon
quails eggs wrapped in bacon
chicken skin
quails eggs (for me)
tofu gratinee, no anchovies (for me)
tempura (for me)

Everything was unusual and delicious. The tempura was the best I’ve tasted in the city; the quail eggs were a first and tasted somewhat like deviled eggs; and the tofu dish was unlike anything I ever tried before. Made of silken tofu and smothered with cheese, it had a slight mustard taste to it. I am not mustard’s biggest fan by any means, but I actually liked the taste of the dish.

The server was walking around with a pitcher of what looked like hot sake, refilling mugs around the room.

I still have no idea what was going on with that place, making it all the more intriguing and worthy of a return visit. I did learn from the server “taisho” is the equivalent to owner in Japanese.


DAMAGE ~ $40
VERDICT: GO NOW!