I had previously noted the opening of Momoya on the Upper West Side. Last night, I finally got a chance to try it. The lovely wife and I were headed to a party at, of all places, the Dublin House, and wanted to get something to eat before going. Momoya, on Amsterdam between 80th and 81st Street, was close, sushi is usually reasonably quick, and so we went. The first thing you see when you walk into Momoya is, as opposed to most of the other sushi bars on the Upper West Side, someone took some time to think about how to decorate the place. There is an attractive white marble sushi bar, and the walls are decorated with cut out pieces of the wood blocks that sushi is served on. It looks good. The music playing reminds me of the CD they provide for you when you stay at a W Hotel. The place felt cool, and you felt cool being in this place.
As opposed to the service at the W, the service at Momoya was excellent. We told them we were in a bit of a hurry, and they did everything possible to get our food to us as quickly as possible. The people at the bar next to us were in some deep and long conversation, and the staff let them talk (and talk. and talk.). I should add that the bathrooms were nice, too.
The food is good, but the lovely wife and I agreed that the sushi at Matsu was better. If you were getting take out, there would be no question as to which place you should order from. But walking into Momoya is like leaving the Upper West Side and heading downtown. And when it comes to restaurants up here, thats a pretty strong recommendation to go. I will be back.
4 comments:
There's nothing fishy about matsu's ambience!
fishy no. cool. absolutely not. very serviceable. this place is cool
As a keepsake moment, the cool sushi place used to be at a place called the Framers Market. It was a beautiful sign - green and yellow, backlit. Was it named on honor of the famous Framers of the Constitution. Perhaps it was the site of a former photography framer. Took us weeks to figure out they meant Farmers Market. Very nice Korean family - hard working, spent lots of money to fix it up, until I imagine the rent got too high.
As a keepsake moment, the cool sushi place used to be at a place called the Framers Market. It was a beautiful sign - green and yellow, backlit. Was it named on honor of the famous Framers of the Constitution. Perhaps it was the site of a former photography framer. Took us weeks to figure out they meant Farmers Market. Very nice Korean family - hard working, spent lots of money to fix it up, until I imagine the rent got too high.
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