Japanese: BONDST
I recently checked out the Japanese restaurant BONDST with a few eating buddies. We partook in the omakase, or Chef’s selection, and sat at the sushi bar – one of my favorite seats in the house. Presented with course after course of artfully prepared cuisine, I was stuffed at the end. But how did the food measure up?
First a pictorial overview – there was no menu, so I don’t have the names/contents of everything: We first started with a selection of oysters and sashimi adorned with gold leaf, accompanied by sake:
This next course was one of my favorites – beef carpaccio with shaved truffle and truffle oil – SO yummy!
A selection of sushi – the crab with crispy rice (bottom left) was unique and delicious:
In addition to all the courses, the omakase meal allowed us to order any sushi/sashimi we desired – we ordered several pieces of my favorite, uni (sea urchin):
The sushi bar was buzzing on this warm, summery Friday night:
We ended our meal with a selection of desserts, including one of my favorites – mochi ice cream. We had green tea, strawberry and black sesame mochi, as well as green tea chocolate, fruit gelees, almond cakes and more:
The omakase selection at BONDST was delicious, artfully prepared, and filling – I especially appreciated the “order any other sushi/sashimi you want” perk. The sushi chefs were humorous and approachable, engaging us in conversation and asking what we thought of each presentation. Absolutely no complaints about the food and the sushi chefs!
The only gripe I’d have regarding BONDST is about the hostesses and waitresses – now I *know* that they are hired for their looks rather than their hospitality (every single waitress and hostess was at least 5’10″, slim, beautiful and wearing the “uniform” of a short black mini), but their attitudes were highly unappetizing. I’ve got to give them props for maintaining a consistently condescending demeanor right when we walked through the door to the minute we left. While I might return for the food, I admit I’d think twice due to this distasteful service.
BONDST
6 Bond St. (btw Broadway/Lafayette)
212.777.2500
Food = delicious; service = blah.
Omg, really?! An omakase that allows you to order any sushi/sashimi you want?! Amazing, I'm so jealous!
1oh uni, uni i love you. sounds like the food was really good but yikes that service must have been really, really condescending. that's too bad. but i hope you had fun anyway! could i write a longer comment about nothing in particular?
2Looks crazy delicious. I can understand how the service can make you think twice about the place, it's almost like thinking "why would I come back and deal with such ignorant people when I can have the same great food elsewhere with better service" I hope the owners/managers know what they're getting themselves into.
3Oh YUM! I LIVE for sushi! There is no good sushi in Berkeley. Very sad. (Wait there's one place but surprise! It's impossible to get in because it's good and they don't take reservations.) Some great places in SF, but I'm too lazy to go over the bridge.
Next time I'm in NY I will have to drag you out to sushi!
4ooh everything looks so delicious. I am definitely interested. How was the price though?
5Sushi is my all time favorite food! There is a place in SF called Mas Sake Sushi that only hires skinny blonde girls as servers. The food is good but it's too much of a scene. I prefer the hole-in-the-wall that's 2 blocks from my apartment
6That food looks so yummy, but I hate it when places have bad service because regardless of how good the food is, I can't wait to get out of there when people are rude!
7the food looks so delicious! i just had sushi on saturday and your meal definitely blew mine out of the water.
8Boo to Snooty waitresses!
9YUM. I uni but not snooty waitstaff.
10i hate it when the service doesn't match up to their food. everything looks so amazing… you're making me hungry
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