Japan in NYC

As I prepared to go out on Friday night, I checked the weather to see how bad the night was going to turn out. Reservations for 53 Teriyaki House were at 7:30PM, and I was not going to let Hurricane Earl stop me from celebrating my birthday. Fortunately for me, the city was not going to be hit hard, but I brought my umbrella just in case luck was not on my side.

I met up with my friend and we took the train to 53rd and Lexington. When we arrived at the restaurant, I saw red paper lanterns and Japanese characters on the chalkboard posted on the walls. The waiters were warm and welcoming as they seated us in accented English.

When everyone else arrived, we looked at the menu to see unfamiliar words describing each dish, from “edamame,” to “tobiko,” to “katsu.” Luckily for us, our waitress was very well-informed with Japanese terms and provided us insight with all of these terms.

After dinner, I was surprised when the waiters all came to our table and startied singing happy birthday to me, and presenting me with fried ice cream. I had never eaten fried ice cream before, and the waitress told me that it’s a special dish that some Asian restaurants are known for; it was a real treat and a great ending to my night.

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