Simple and Satisfying Japanese Fusion at Ichiro in White Plains

The comfortable and spacious Japanese fusion restaurant, Ichiro, has been gracing Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains for five years, offering a lovely dining experience in which guests can savor the clean simplicity that is Japanese cuisine along with the flavors of other Asian cultures.

Ichiro, on busy Mamaroneck Avenue offers a refined dining experience. It seats from 90 to 100 guests, with an additional party room accommodating 30 to 40. The main dining room is separated from the bar and sushi bar by an attractive bamboo partition. There are several large tables adjoining the bar as well as banquettes opposite the sushi bar. Colorful murals of Japanese food service adorn the walls of these banquettes, where I recently dined. It gave us the opportunity to observe the sushi chefs wielding their knives in preparation of their fish delights.

I enjoyed chatting with the enthusiastic general manager Danny Zheng. He started in the food business as a boy of fourteen and is an accomplished sushi chef, as well as a serious manager. "We care about our food and because it is so fresh, I believe we have the best food. Our dishes are both traditional and creative. "We use no MSG and all of the sauces at Ichiro are prepared by Zheng. Ichiro is a Japanese fusion spot and other countries that are represented here are China, Thailand, and Korea. "In the future I hope to open restaurants in other locations. We pride ourselves in our consistency and have had the same talented chefs since opening 5 years ago. Our menu choices are extensive with the common quality of freshness of ingredients and beauty of presentations. Our use of natural fresh ingredients is the essence of Japanese culture."

To start, we enjoyed several tasty appetizers. Korean BBQ beef short ribs derived their flavor from marinating in a mixture of kiwi to tenderize the meat, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and scallions. The resulting flavor was excellent. This is one of the most popular dishes on the menu. Ichiro uses about 70 pounds of short ribs every week. Fried Kumamoto oysters enrobed in egg and panko crumbs were fried in vegetable oil at just the right temperature to achieve a crispy coating. One bite revealed the tender oyster. Served on a paper doily, which absorbed any excess oil, these were delightful tidbits. A house made duck sauce enriched with fresh apples shared the plate. Duck rolls arrived as tortilla strips filled with sliced boneless duck, cucumber matchsticks and lettuce rolled up and accompanied by hoisin sauce.

The sushi bar is bustling with several very capable sushi chefs creating their wonders with a pristinely fresh selection of fish which arrives 3 times a week. Choose from sushi bar appetizers such as truffle salmon, yellowtail jalapeno, king crab or tuna pizza, toro tartar, or blue crab avocado, or as we did, with new style sashimi. This was yellow tail with a Thai inspired sauce, salmon with a mango and passion fruit sauce and tuna with a foie gras topping, a unique and interesting combination. Sushi and sashimi in about 30 varieties can be ordered a la carte or as combination entrees. Some special sushi bar selections are live orange clam, live scallop, and live uni and Kumamoto oysters. There are Naruto and vegetable rolls and about 20 special rolls. The Mango Hawaii roll was colorful with salmon and avocado wrapped in rice and covered with balsamic glazed mango slices and wasabi tobiko. The angry dragon roll boasted tempura shrimp, spicy tuna, papaya and soy bean paper topped with shreds of spicy king crab meat and a sprinkling of the extravagant slivers of black roasted seaweed. Yet to be tried are other enticing special rolls of Ichiro sushi sandwich, invention roll, California sunshine roll and Chilean Sea Bass roll.

We moved on to an entrée of spicy jumbo prawns in mango sauce. The jumbo shrimp combined with crisp snow peas, sliced mushrooms, onions, red peppers and sliced fresh mango are a popular choice. This sweet and spicy dish appears on many menus but is distinctive at Ichiro because of the use of fresh mango and vegetables. Other Asian possibilities are General Tso's Chicken, ginger duck, Thai style red snapper and sesame chicken. Hawaiin fried rice with shrimp, roasted corn, carrots and peas and pineapple is adorned with a mound of macadamia nuts for an island flair. Steak Kew was wok pan seared cubes of filet mignon with a toss of steamed fresh vegetables with a nuco cham sauce. Teriyaki, tempura, noodle dishes and hibachi meals are popular choices, as well. A selection of gourmet choices include organic roast chicken, roast duck breast with plum wine sauce, rack of lamb and surf and turf, black cod and lobster with creamy yuzu miso truffle sauce and Chilean sea bass are yet to be tried.

For dessert, fried bananas, green tea tiramisu, or cappuccino truffle are some of the elaborate offerings but I chose to end my glorious meal with simple green tea or red bean ice cream. A large selection of sake as well as cocktails and beer can enhance your dining experience here.

Ichiro also offers an all you can eat menu option both on weekdays and weekends. If you choose this option you will be presented with a checklist menu with many sushi and kitchen selections. There is unlimited sushi, sashimi, appetizers, teriyaki, noodles, and the list goes on. The quality of this type of meal at Ichiro is the same as the regular menu, where everything is made to order and the fish selections are top grade. Monday through Friday offers kitchen lunch specials, lunch bento boxes, sushi bar lunch specials and roll combinations.
Ichiro translates as "first rich son." Ichiro in White Plains is a restaurant rich in the fresh and natural tastes that constitute Japanese cuisine. Enjoy a meal here soon.

Ichiro
80 Mamaroneck Avenue
White Plains, New York
http://ichirofusion.com/
914 437 8688

Recipe:
Jumbo Shrimp in Spicy Mango Sauce (Serves 2)

1 pound jumbo shrimp, deveined and shelled
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 mushrooms, sliced
½ medium onion thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
4 snow peas
5 ounces fresh ripe mango, sliced
2 ounces fresh pineapple, diced
2 ounces passion fruit juice
2 ounces sweet chili sauce
½ ounce Sriracha.

Heat oil in a wok. Add shrimp and vegetables and pan fry until shrimp turn pink. Add remaining ingredients and toss until all ingredients are well mixed. Serve.