Sushi for the Summer

Yes it's torridly hot out but one must eat. Sushi is the perfect solution - chilled but well flavored salads, rolls, fish dishes. Even the hot pots don't overwhelm in size or scope. Blue Chili (Siam Inn) offers the best of cool Japanese eats with surprise hot (read fire and spice) Thai dishes.

We sit at the Sushi bar. The music is Buddha Bar groovy. The decorations Blade Runner futuristic blue & whites, (without the spattered blood). The menu might be construed as a cheesy melange of Japanese/Thai, attempting to cater to the spectrum of Asian cuisine. But it works. Mostly because of the fresh ingredients, exceptional yellowfin, mango, lime juice, papaya, salmon skin.

I start off with a superbly tempura-ed softshell crab atop a green papaya salad tossed with peanuts, garlic, chili and lime. The dressing is so refreshing I drizzle more and more over slivers of chilled papaya. Apps continue with petite slabs of Yellowfin topped with freshly shaved jalapeno rounds dressed in a sweet soy-based sauce. So good - we order a second round. Mains are a combination of rolls served with a mayo chili condiment we manage to guzzle and slurp with chopsticks.

Dinner's over but eyeing a fellow diner's meal I order the Salmon Crunch - really an appetizer but hearty enough to qualify as a main. Tempura battered salmon & crab roll is deep fried and with a spicy chili sauce. Unfortunately the drink we select to accompany dinner doesn't prove such a winner. Green apple Sake that tastes like apple juice and looks like an Apple Martini a 17 year-old might order. It's sickly sweet, barely chilled and despite the 750 ml size, doesn't induce one iota of a buzz.

Dessert brings redemption. Green tea ice cream is my friend's safe best. Whereas I'm dazzled by the thought of a trio of creme brulees: vanilla, green tea & coffee. They come out in tiny ramekins. The sugar crust is not so overzealously hardened that I need a jackhammer to penetrate to reach the custard. Rather it's nicely browned - barely concealing the trio of custards. Green tea first, it's cool with hints of chocolate. The coffee proves irresistible and I wallow in with my tiny spoon so capture all the contents of the demi pot. Vanilla is so whitebread I skip it entirely. To top it off, the bill proves quite affordable for two. 1 bottle of sake, 3 appetizers, 2 entrees and 2 desserts for just over $100.

Blue Chili (Siam Inn)
251 W. 51st Street
NY, NY 10019
212-246-3330