Modern Japanese, Rich and Refined, at Lan

Published on Monday, August 6, 2007, by Mark Hokoda / Edit Post

Serious deliciousness is bursting out at Lan, a Japanese restaurant that’s gotten little hound attention. This East Village spot recently introduced eight-course tasting menus, a chef’s version and a sushi version. E Eto says both are inventive, well conceived, and a relative bargain at $58 and $68, respectively.

A rich, complex dish that comes midway through one of the set dinners is a good illustration of Chef Takanori Akiyama’s take on modern Japanese food. A wedge of foie gras, infused with miso then grilled, is poised atop a layer of ground, miso-seasoned duck. Both are served over a round of daikon, simmered in the traditional way with dashi, soy, and mirin. “It worked well,” E Eto reckons, though he allows that some will find it too busy. “The miso marinade gave the foie gras a pleasantly sour finish, and the duck paste provided a sweet element to go with the sweet daikon.”

Another highlight of the chef’s menu is Kobe beef, gently simmered shabu-shabu style, then arrayed in a salad of baby arugula and other greens with sesame dressing. Duck pâté, flavored with miso, gets a lift from sansho pepper, whose citrus note plays nicely off the earthiness of the liver. A comforting chawan mushi (steamed egg custard) is put over the top by foie gras and duck scallion sauce. At times, the chef seems to be trying too hard: Miso-marinated broiled black cod, a Japanese standard, sits in white miso foam that really isn’t needed, though it does add sweetness and miso intensity.

Japanese expats know Lan as a meat specialist—Akiyama put in a stint on the grill before being elevated to executive chef—but it also comes up with first-rate seafood. The sushi tasting menu includes a sashimi course, which on E Eto’s visit comprised excellent o-toro from Spain, botan-ebi (large sweet prawn), and snapperlike ma-dai. Later in this dinner comes assorted nigiri sushi, which might include relative rarities like ma-saba (Japanese mackerel) and Hokkaido bafun-uni (a variety of sea urchin). In between, there’s a sunomono course; E Eto enjoyed a refreshing rendition made with zuwaigani (snow crab) sashimi, with cucumber and jellied vinegar.

Both tasting menus wind down with tart, sweet yuzu sorbet, followed by a soufflélike molten chocolate cake with raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream, decent but disappointingly pedestrian. Finally: matcha-flavored French-style macaroons, thick with green tea flavor yet without the bitterness, “a great finale to a very good meal.”

Lan [East Village]
56 Third Avenue (between E. 10th and 11th streets), Manhattan
212-254-1959
Location

Board Link: New Tasting Menus at Lan

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  • I visited Lan for the first time this weekend. I had chicken with scallions (basically chicken yakatori) as a first course and sashimi as the main, both were very good. The fish was fresh and the yakatori was delicious (although it tasted very much like the kabob's you get from Flushing street vendors for 1/8 the price). I also had sake called "moon after rain," which was the best sake I've...+READ

    I visited Lan for the first time this weekend. I had chicken with scallions (basically chicken yakatori) as a first course and sashimi as the main, both were very good. The fish was fresh and the yakatori was delicious (although it tasted very much like the kabob's you get from Flushing street vendors for 1/8 the price). I also had sake called "moon after rain," which was the best sake I've tasted, I highly recommend it.

    Although the food was good, the best thing about this place is the service, even though I was dressed in jeans and a sweater, my wife and I received impeccable service, which from my experience rarely happens in upscale Manhattan restaurants unless you're dressed to the 9's.-COLLAPSE