The Blog that Ate New Jersey

Shakshuka

2012-01-29T14:15:00.000-08:00

Shakshuka is a savory egg dish popular in the Middle East. Eggs are poached in tangy, vibrant tomato sauce, created with a variety of spices. As with any classic dish, there are as many versions of shakshuka out there as there are versions of French toast, if not more. Israelis love and specialize in the dish, as do Turks, Egyptians, and many other peoples of the Middle East.

I proposed to my coterie of home cooks that we have a shakshuka contest, and I would publish the results. Sadly, it is not a well-known dish to people who live outside of the major cities, which is quite a loss to those of us who love eggs and fine breakfasts.

So I was on my own. I attempted two shakshukas, both sampled by my sister, who was familiar with the dish from the Israeli restaurants she frequents. The first shakshuka was a traditional Israeli version with zaatar purchased from a local gourmet shop.

It was good but I was not wowed by it. The best version I've had so far, the shakshuka that sent me on this path, was the version from Sofra Bakery & Cafe in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I believe that shakshuka has spoiled me for any other shakshuka.

I decided to try and recreate it. I read about the Sofra shakshuka in an article by Liz Bomze on Serious Eats. While Sofra did not reveal to her the secret of the best shakshuka ever made (Bomze agrees with me that it's superior), there are some hints:

hawaj: Sofra's chefs include hawaj as the main spice in the sauce. Miles Collins, food blogger of Beyond the Kitchen, describes it as a Middle Eastern garam masala. I think that's a great description. Unfortunately, as in the early days of cooking Indian when I was living in Boston, just like garam masala, hawaj is difficult to find. I live, not in a food cultural wasteland, but in an area with very few Middle Eastern markets. So I decided to make it myself and found a recipe on the ever-helpful internet.

zhoug: A list of the ingredients that went into the zhoug, a dot of green on my Sofra shakshuka but as big a player as the tomato sauce in the dish I concocted at home. No one familiar with shakshuka knew what this was, but I gather it is a sort of pesto of parsley, cilantro, roasted pumpkin seeds and so on. I managed to concoct a decent version just from the list, though no amounts were given.

So there you have it, some hints and descriptions to recreate shakshuka in my own kitchen. I started by adapting a basic shakshuka recipe from Smitten Kitchen, who in turn adapted it from Saveur magazine:

Shakshuka [Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomato Sauce]
Adapted from Saveur and Smitten Kitchen
Serves 4 to 6
1/4 cup olive oil
5 Anaheim chiles or 3 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped (I was nervous and only used 2 Anaheims; I would go for 3 or 4 next time for a more moderate but still gentle kick)
1 small yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon hawaj (use hawaj recipe from Help! I Have a Fire in My Kitchen!)
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
Kosher salt, to taste
6 eggs
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
2 TBS butter
Warm pitas, for serving

Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add chiles and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.

Put tomatoes and their liquid into a medium bowl and crush with your hands. Add crushed tomatoes and their liquid to skillet along with 1/2 cup water, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Add butter and season sauce with salt.

Crack eggs over sauce so that eggs are evenly distributed across sauce’s surface. Cover skillet and cook until yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk. Sprinkle shakshuka with feta and zhoug (recipe follows) and serve with pitas, for dipping.

While the sauce was cooking, I concocted the zhoug:

Zhoug

1/2 bunch of cilantro
1/2 bunch of parsley
1 or 2 roasted green chile peppers (if you can find Hungarian wax peppers, use those)
1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
2 TBS sherry vinegar
1/2 cup of olive oil
1 garlic clove

Broil the chile peppers in your oven until soft and blackened. Remove stems and seeds.
Toast the pumpkin seeds in a skillet and check carefully so they won't burn.
Using a food processor or blender, add the garlic and seeds, grinding them first.
Add the chile peppers.
Add the cilantro and parsley.
Add the sherry vinegar and olive oil to form a green paste. If the green paste forms before you finish the olive oil, don't pour in the entire 1/2 cup, as it will be too thin.

After you have cooked the poached eggs with the shakshuka sauce, serve with a huge dollop of zhoug. The buoyant, summery flavor of the zhoug really springs to life when eaten with the tangy, spicy tomato sauce.

Aromatic, abundant in flavor and unique, your brunch guests will be talking about your shakshuka for months. It's often described as the "eggs benedict" of the Middle East, but not only is it healthier than eggs benedict, as egg dishes go, it's probably one of the most "impactful" out there. As fond as I am of huevos rancheros, shakshuka really blows it out of the water.

Experience Flavor with HerbNZest

2011-12-05T12:22:00.000-08:00

A little while ago I had the good experience of crossing paths with Deboleena Dutta, founder of HerbNZest, an organic condiment company in West Windsor, NJ. Deboleena has an impressive pedigree, which includes an MBA from Wharton.

Deboleena generously gave me some of her condiments to try in my cooking. I am not one to use prepared sauces and condiments when I cook, I prefer to create my own, but some samples of Deboleena’s products convinced me to give it a try. All of her products are organic and use local ingredients whenever possible.

I selected the Fennel Saffron Pumpkin Butter. I am not a big fan of fennel. Occasionally I prepare shaved fennel for salads but do not include it extensively in my cooking. If I did, I am sure to receive complaints from my family, as a distinct antipathy to the fennel/anise flavor exists in my household.

However, I loved the complex flavor of HerbNZest’s Fennel Saffron Pumpkin Butter. It is challenging to describe. It has an earthy, sweet but mellow flavor that is somehow distinctly Indian. I have never tasted anything like it, and I love it.

I also selected the Chive Tomato Spread. The flavor of this spread is excellent. I told Deboleena that it has a fresh, delicious tomato flavor, and that it is hard to believe that it came from a jar. Deboleena uses organic Jersey tomatoes for this spread.

Another favorite is the Peach Raisin Basil Spread. A very atypical chutney, the fruity flavor is so buoyant that it reminds you of summer days and fresh, syrupy peaches. It is not cloyingly sweet, like some chutneys, but will jazz up just about any bland dish and hold its own as a topping for strong cheeses.

For my cooking experiment, I decided to follow Deboleena’s suggestion to top fish with the Fennel Saffron Pumpkin Butter. I bought some hake fillets from Nassau Street Seafood.

Before I baked the hake, I spread some of the butter on top of the fillets. I believe Deboleena intends for cooks to spread the butter after cooking, but I thought I would try baking the fillets with it.

When we tasted the fish, the butter had melted into the white meat of the fish. Hake is not the most prepossessing of fish, so I am going to try it again with red snapper or another white fish such as halibut. However, I have to say that it contributed a nicely savory tinge to the dish, and my family agreed. People may not be aware of how complementary pumpkin can be in certain dishes. For example, it blends extremely well with coconut, and pumpkin or squash in a red coconut curry can provide a fruity zing without being too sweet.

The Peach Raisin Basil Spread is lovely as a topping for brie. The tangy, fruity flavor fits with the salty, rich brie in a deliciously yin-and-yang way. You may want to reserve this treat for a holiday celebration, however, you will most certainly rack up the calories when you can’t stop eating it!

Check out HerbNZest on Facebook. The spreads are available at Whole Earth Center and Olsson's Fine Foods in Princeton. Plans to sell the spreads at Bon Appetite and McCaffrey's are underway.

Zorba's in Princeton

2011-11-07T06:26:00.000-08:00

Ran into Ann Fikaris the other day. Her takeout restaurant, Zorba's Grill, is running an impressive list of specials, such as the Shrimp Po' Boy, Grilled Chicken Fajita on Spinach herb tortilla, buffalo wings and portobello mushroom sandwich. Ann also told me that they are now delivering to patrons who are not around the corner. If these sandwiches are half as tasty as their famous gyro, we are in for a treat!

Zorba's Grill
183-D Nassau Street
Princeton, NJ 08540
609-924-2454

The Bread Houses Network

2011-10-20T14:46:00.000-07:00

Within the last couple of weeks, I have been pleased to makethe acquaintance of Nadezda Savova, a 28-year-old firebrand who is changing theworld through her Bread HousesNetwork.

My initial meeting took place at a kickoff luncheon preparedby Christopher Albrecht, chef of Eno Terra. Nadezhda or “Nadia,” as she iscalled by her friends, is from Gabrovo, Bulgaria, and she initiated the BreadHouses Network while a graduate student in Cultural Anthropology at PrincetonUniversity. In 2008, while working forUNESCO’s Culture Sector in Paris, she founded the International Council for CulturalCenters (I3C), which is a global network of cultural centers andassociations that connect more than 50 countries on six continents.

It all started when Nadezhda inherited her great-grandmother’sruin of a house in Gabrovo, Bulgaria. When she wanted to turn it into acultural center, she met with little interest. In a flash of inspiration,Nadezhda decided to rebuild it as a Bread House and Cultural Center, where the community could meet to bake breadas well as create art and work on other cultural projects. In notime, Nadezhda had the house built and equipped with a bread oven, thanks tolocal artisans and vendors who donated their time and materials.

Within two years, Nadezhda has established Bread Houses in12 countries on five continents. And nowNadezhda has been holding bread making workshops to raise funds to start aBread House in the Princeton area.

To foster interest, Nadezhda is starting a bread makingclub on Princeton campus.

We made Brazilian bread with an interesting flour createdfrom a root called mandioca,also known here as yuca or cassava. There was no yeast in this bread, so wedidn’t need to wait for it to rise, and it made a very chewy and cheesy bread that isquite popular in Brazil. It reminded me of cheddar biscuits.

Nadezhda told us that is “not a typical bread,” and takestime to chew and eat, but “life is slow in Brazil.” Movements are slower than inthe United States, allowing Brazilian citizens time to savor theirfavorite bread.

As we kneaded the dough, Nadezhda told us that bread inEurope is a symbol of unity with all its intricate ingredients joined togetherin one loaf. She told us never to use spoons to make our bread, to maintain thesense of touch, bread making is more about touch than proportions.

She told us the story of a blind woman who was brought intoa Bread House to make bread. The woman was so excited to feel the touch offlour, water and cheese mixed together. It is a sensory image from ourchildhood, Nadezhda said, regardless of whether we grew up baking bread in ourfamily homes.

We added parmesan cheese to the bread, but in Brazil itwould be caja minas.

As an anthropologist, Nadezhda says she always discoversinteresting traditions about every country through their bread. Many nationshave bread making throughout the year. For example, in Greece, there is a traditionalChristmas bread. Bread making, Nadezhda has found, brings people together.

Before we started kneading, Nadezhda handed out somepacoquita, a delicious Brazilian peanut candy. She described what it was likeliving in Brazil: music was everywhere, with lots of colors and exotic fruits.It was a very alive environment. She feels that Brazil can teach us lessonsabout living in the Western world, where everyone is depressed about not havingenough money. We have more money than Brazil, she says, but they are happier.

While the bread was baking, we watched a slideshow thatNadezhda narrated on the Breadhouses Network. We saw photos of Bread Housesaround the world, and she told us the important role of bread in eachculture. In Bulgaria, the word for bread means “little soul,” and in Ethopia,it means “baby.” Bread is considered sacred and a symbol oflife, of so much more than, well, bread, in mostcultures. Even Bethlehem means “House of Bread.”

Patch Adams, the doctor who heals with humor, showed up inone of her slides as a result of a team effort between Nadezhda and himself. People with disabilities such as Down Syndrome also participated in bread making.

Nadezhda also discussed the “Theater of Crumbs,” based onthe “Theater of the Oppressed,” whereby the theater was opened up to anybodyin the favelas of Brazil to reenact social problems and switch roles so theycan solve problems together.

She described the origins of the capoeria and the samba inBrazil, which were invented by slaves to stay in shape for escape. Capoeria is aform of martial arts, and the slaves would practice fighting to music and stopwhen their owners came by.

She also showed photos of the Southbank Mosaics program,which was initiated to re-socialize petty criminals back into society. Even thehomeless were invited in to have tea and coffee and make bread.

One of the best outcomes of the Bread House, Nadezhda feels,is the intergenerational interaction. The Bread House brings people togetherand makes them happy. So far the Bread Houses have been funded through grants; itis one of the most inexpensive art forms that people can create.

Nadezhda has been conducting bread workshops at Princeton Art Museum (“Munching Museums”) and at Eno Terra on 10/19, hoping to raisefunds for Princeton’s first mobile Bread House. It won’t be easy in thiseconomy, but she has started Bread Houses with little funding in much lessdeveloped nations.

If anyone wants to support Nadezhda in this fabulous effort,please contact her through the Bread Houses website.

New Jersey Restaurant Week

2011-09-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

Better late than never, NJ restaurant week ends tomorrow, so if you're interested, make sure to check out the list of participating restaurants. My family and I enjoyed Blue Point Grill tonight. It was a cajun dinner, with creole shrimp and crawfish etoufee. I am glad that I got the RW dinner, because I always order grilled fish, and this meal was one of the more creative choices at Blue Point Grill. Highly successful too, I might add.

Princeton Eats with Luis Martinez

2011-09-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

Folks, I have to apologize that it's been such a long time since I updated "The Blog that AteNew Jersey.” I really don't have much of an excuse, other than it's been a busy summer with traveling, camp, work and Hurricane Irene, the kicker that ended everyone's summer in the Northeast. The flooding and its aftermath were no joke. Luckily,Honeybrook Organic Farm, where we have our farm share, was minimally affected by the storm. We have receivedan abundance of sauce tomatoes, tomatillos, edamame, herbs, summer squash,watermelons, green beans etc. with barely a blip in the endless stream ofamazing produce.

Earlier in the summer, on June 21st, I attended another Princeton Eats program at the Princeton Public Library. Princeton Eats is a program sponsoredby TerraMoma chefs to highlight cooking with locally-sourced ingredients. This class was led by Luis Martinez, chef of Teresa Caffe, which has been a mainstay of the Princeton establishment even before we movedto the area, with Princeton being a town that harbored few decent dining options. Teresa’s hasalways been consistently delicious, with an ever evolving menu, lovely ambianceand owners (Raoul and Carlo Momo) who have a vested interest in pleasing theircustomers because they are also their friends and neighbors. The TerraMomo Restaurant Group owns Mediterra and EnoTerra as well as Teresa’s.

Luis Martinez demonstrated how to make ravioli from scratchwith some of New Jersey’s specialty ingredients. This summer has yieldedsuperb corn and tomatoes,which were used in Luis’ ravioli dish.

Upon starting the class, Luis immediately charmed us with his ebullient andengaging style. He announced “I was born in Venezuela twenty-five years ago (mymother says so) and speak Italian, Spanish, French and English, all with anaccent.” Throughout the session, he madejokes and told stories about cooking with his daughter, pausing intermittently to ask ifthere were questions from the audience.

Luis used an Atlas Marcato Pasta Maker to form his ravioli sheets. It is a manual or“green” pasta maker, as he called it, through which he sent the dough severaltimes to get it to the right consistency and thickness. Luis uses the number eight settingfor the pasta machine when rolling ravioli sheets, the number of the machinecorresponding to the thickness of the pasta. With ravioli sheets, Luis felt that one should make thesheets thinner than that of fresh lasagna.

A surprising tip was to notuse semolina to make your pasta dough, as he felt that it makes the dough tootough. He recommended merely using all-purpose flour.

Luis said that heregretted not being about to conduct the class at the restaurant, where helacked the space and time to have classes. He said that he is working withChris Albrecht, chef of Enoterra, to see what they can do about allocating time for Princeton Eats.

Luis said that he would love to introduce American cooks to creatingarepas, which he called a national dish of Venezuela.

He recommended to be careful not toover flavor your pasta dough, but you can add eggs for richness or a bit of olive oil.

Luis told us about theItalian trick of partially cooking the ravioli and then to finish cooking it in thesauce, which would be the corn, butter, shallots and parmigiana.

To seal the ravioli, Luis used just a bit of water on the corners to seal it after stuffing.He recommended using canola oil instead of olive oil for the basil puree as hefelt a more “neutral” oil would be best for bringing out the flavor of thefresh basil. He also said to blanch the basil for ten seconds to intensifythe flavor in the puree.

The pasta dough can be madeahead of time, Luis told us, but you should leave it out for one hour priorto using.

The day after Princeton Eats, Iwent to Teresa’s for lunch with a friend who had attended with me. Luishad told us that if we came, he would make us a “special” meal. Sure enough, hewas chatting with the bartender when we arrived, and he greeted us witha happy smile. When he asked us what we would like, I suggested a derivation ofthe penne pecorino, one of my favorite dishes. However, my friend suggested theexact same dish, "only more of it," the corn and cream stuffed ravioli with basil sauce and tomatopuree from Princeton Eats. I conceded to her wiser selection and agreed.

Soon enough we were served aplate of verdant, saucy ravioli heaven.

Luis added some grilled shrimp as per my initial penne pecorino request. The addition of the shrimp made an exceptionally delectable dish even more memorable, and the entire experience inspired me to try recreating it with my own pasta maker.

The ravioli recipe follows. Unlike the other recipes on my blog, it was so long that I decided to save it as a PDF file. I then converted it to JPEG so you will be able to read Luis' informative notes, as well as make any of the sauce recipes. Click on the recipe to enlarge and print it.

Miette

2011-06-30T05:20:00.000-07:00

I received an email from Amazon today pitching "Miette", a baking cookbook for a bakery of the same name in San Francisco. It's an attractive enough book, so I went to the website to look it over.

Shockingly, there were loads of comments with regard to typos and inaccuracies in the book. Meg Ray posted a comment that the book went to print with many errors and included the publishers' corrections lis t.

Why is this happening? Cookbooks are one of the worst books in which to have typos. Where are the book editors of yesteryear?

No one is immune. Having taken the English Clepp exam, I found many typos in the testing guide, as well as in a NET guide.

Typos are the bane of a writers' existence. Is there a lack of concern for accuracy pervading the industry or just cost-cutting?

Sad times in the publishing world.

Mother's Day

2011-06-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

My Mother's Day was marked by a superb brunch concocted by Dear Husband and son. You can tell I'm impressed because I am not referring to him by his usual acronym of DH.

Mother's Day is usually celebrated by a trip to the Fame Diner in Hamilton for an early morning breakfast. No fancy brunch at the Hyatt, this family knows what it likes: a simple diner breakfast of eggs over easy, sausage and homefries. However, this year when my husband asked me what I'd like to do, I asked if he could make me shirred eggs. It was a challenge for him, for though he loves to cook and is good at it, he's never made anything like it.

I felt like shirred eggs was a good choice, not only because I love them, but because they are either pretty scarce as a brunch/breakfast menu item in restaurants/diner, and if they do exist, are often poorly cooked. My sister and I ended up in the First Avenue Restaurant for breakfast one day, and I was thrilled to see baked eggs on the menu. Well, the chef left them under the broiler a bit too long, resulting in a hard yolk. Oh, the horror! I will not eat any fried or over-easy egg with a hard yolk. I sent it back and received fried eggs in return, with a barely cooked white, I might add. It was too bad, because they looked beautiful on the plate, with a golden-brown sheen over the top, until I cut into them.

This dish, however, was a Mother's Day masterpiece. I feel quite lucky, to not only love to cook but have a husband who does also. He doesn't even like eggs, and yet he made this fine dish for me. And the son made a wonderful melon, banana and strawberry smoothie.

He used Mark Bittman's recipe, with onions and cheese, and it really did the trick. Bittman can be a bit simple in the extreme, as he tends to break down complex dishes for the home cook. Lots of dishes are good but not fantastic. However, he's an amazingly prolific and knowledgeable writer and cook. I broke down finally and bought the tenth anniversary edition of How to Cook Everything, which is where DH got the recipe. After consulting it on cooking techniques for various vegetables and meats, I would describe it as our generation's Joy of Cooking.

So I have to say that we spent Mother's Day eggsactly the way I wanted (sorry about the bad pun), with delicious food and family. Who could ask for anything more?

Hon Sushi

2011-05-25T06:09:00.000-07:00

On Thursday night I was invited to a blogger dinner by Katie DeVito courtesy of Hon Sushi. Now these events really make blogging worthwhile.

Hon Sushi has been open for around two years in the Mercer Mall off of Route One South. It resides in one of the nooks of the mall, unfortunately sharing its strip of mall with Hooters and Cheeburger, Cheeburger. Nestled near restaurants such as these, it’s a wonder true sushi-loving and Korean cuisine aficionados can find it at all. And it would be a real shame to miss it, as it is a truly superior restaurant.

Hon Sushi is owned by John and Kim Lim. The restaurant interior is stunning, developed by Princeton-based designer James McCue, with Nakashima style tables and lamps over the sushi bar. The lamps, manager Tony Kay informed me, are modeled after a famous Japanese stadium.

Hon Sushi’s chef is from Korea and his specialty is Southern Korean homestyle cuisine. Kay told me that most side dishes in Korean restaurants are bought, whereas Hon Sushi’s chef makes them from scratch and as authentically as possible.

The tables are natural wood with the uneven edges so specific to the Nakashima aesthetic.

The night at Hon Sushi became a sort of gathering place or salon for fellow bloggers in the Princeton area. I very much enjoyed meeting JoAnn from Garden State on a Plate, Grace from Princeton Scoop, and Victoria from Jersey Bites. It was great to meet JoAnn, invited when I mentioned her blog to Katie. “The more the merrier"is a motto I live by, especially when it comes to fellow writers.

Tony Kay was as friendly and welcoming as he was informative. The staff were all very friendly with quick service and helpful suggestions. As per their suggestions, for appetizers we selected Harumaki, vegetarian spring rolls that had a satisfying crunch:

and Job Chae, an old standby that had new life breathed into it by Hon Sushi’s rendition. It was tangy and tasty, with huge pieces of beef, stir fried vegetables and the glossy, cellophane noodles satisfyingly chewy.

Just delectable. The bean noodles don’t expand in your stomach, according to Tony Kay, leaving us room for the superb dishes to come.

Next up was the Beef Bulgolgi. If you love beef barbecue, you’ll love this dish, with the thin cuts of amazingly tender, smoky beef.

We also ordered the pork bulgogi. This is the first time I’ve seen it on a menu, and it impressed me with its spicy zip. Pork was tender and nicely cooked.

Next up was the impressive Fire Viking Roll. This was a flaming roll, on the Special Rolls menu, that contained shrimp tempura and avocado inside, and salmon and avocado on top. The fire sears the salmon and avocado on top, with the maki warm on the outside and remaining cool on the inside. It is formed into the shape of a Viking ship, and lit with vodka and seasalt. Not only did it make an impressive display, it was a unique and contemporary version of traditional sushi.

Once the flame subsided, we opened our foil package to discover the tempting sushi roll inside.

Grace ordered the Dolsot Bibimbop. Great minds think alike, I am a big fan of the Bibimbop rice dish, and dolsot translates to “stone bowl”. The stone bowl is very hot, and the dish is topped with a raw egg that cooks against the side of the bowl. The bowl is so hot that anything that touches it will sizzle. Since the bowl is coated with sesame oil, the rice on the bottom of the bowl continues to cook with the sesame oil, and is golden brown and crispy.

The side dishes were also exceptional. Kim chi, soy beans and pickled onions are all made by hand by Chef Mr. Kim. No store-bought sides at this restaurant!

The pièce de résistance was the Kolbi. If you like ribs, you will really enjoy this dish. We adore Korean barbecue in our family, and it will be on our menu when we return to Hon Sushi. It’s as tasty as it is hardy. You will want to order this dish with a group, so your friends can savor its savory, tasty flavor and tender meat.

As you can see, that’s a lot o’ ribs. You may want to save this one for a stag party or at least for a hungry group. Since we were a bunch of women being plied with delicious dishes, there were some leftovers, but it was definitely worth it. Korean barbecue is terrific, and this was an excellent example of it.

Next up was the Spicy Mexican roll, with yellowfin tuna and spicy guacamole on top. It was an unusual fusion roll and well executed.

We were quite stuffed by now, but Tony told us to get ready for Hon Sushi’s signature dessert, a colorful fruit-filled maki. The fruit was kiwi, blackberry, strawberry and banana. As full as we were by now, we couldn’t resist. This dessert roll will be even better in the summer with farm fresh, seasonal fruit.

So that was our fabulous night at Hon Sushi! The restaurant is tucked away in Mercer Mall, the next entrance over from Houlihan’s. While the prices for the fancier rolls might be considered high, my feeling is that they were worth the price, and the Korean dishes are varied and masterful. It was a cosmic dining experience, one that I intend to repeat with my family, and I hope you’ll try it too. If you enjoy Korean cuisine, IMHO it is the best option in the Princeton area.

Full disclosure: Hon Sushi hosted me for this dinner, but the opinions expressed in this post are purely my own.