Saturday night I was treated to a wonderful dinner at CITRUS on the Upper West Side (www.citrusnyc.com at 320 Amsterdam Ave-at 75th St) by two dear friends of ours who live in the city. The choice was mine as I had been to Citrus almost two years ago with friends who live nearby for drinks and hor's d'oevres and really liked it; now I really LOVE it!
We started with martinis and they are nice sized tasty ones, but next time I will steer clear of the Prickly Pear as it is a bit too sweet with Prickly Pear Puree and Triple Sec on top of the Absolute Pears. We had these with some of the best SPICED EDAMAME ever made with three peppercorns, ancho chile and sea salt, which keeps you drinking, of course! Our other shared appetizer was the CHILE LIME SHRIMP CORN & QUESO FUNDIDO QUESADILLA which is a huge portion of six tasty triangles or shrimp and cheese with sides of tasty Guacamole and excellent PICO de GALLO, made of more fresh tomatoes than usual, which I really liked.
A plate of multi-colored chips always come with an intense-smokey tomato salsa that we could have kept eating for days as well! The cuisine here is fusion and I could not decide between pasta (Duck Pappardelle) or the Sushi Combo special, but we all ordered the latter which consisted of several slices each of tender tasty sashimi:
Bahamian Big Eye Tuna (always a favorite)
Asian Yellowtail Sashimi
and Aquanor Natural Farm Raised Salmon Sashimi which was the best salmon sashimi I have ever had anywhere!
A large timbale of RAINBOW TARTARE of spicy Bahamian Big Eye TUNA was topped with Wasabi Tobiko and had a Mango-Yuzu drizzle on the plate for added flavor. There was an 8-piece roll of MANGO & AVOCADO with the Spicy Bahamian Big Eye Tuna as well.
I must note that the ginger was so pale and white, but that it had less punch than usual and was actually better than most I have had in the past.
We asked about the wines and the manager Walter immediately came over and said he recommended a red with the sushi, but he would bring three for us to taste. We tasted the La MISION Sauvignon Blanc from Chile which was quite mild lacking either citrus or grass, the MONKEY BAY Chardonnay from New Zealand which was a bit of a puzzle to me, and decided on Walter's choice the excellent smooth and medium bodied MALBEC 2005 from Fabre Montmayou in Argentina. It was perfect with the sushi!
I can't fail to mention that our server Lydia was superb and constantly checked on us no matter how busy she was or how full the place got; it was literally heaving when we left at 730pm! Dessert was an array of options and they were all excellent, but I think top honors go to the STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE with Caramel Sauce. I also loved the CINNAMON TACO Chips which reminded me of churros. The CHOCOLATE SOUFFLE is dense and rich with a slightly molten center and really for dark chocoholics, and the APPLE TART is made with RICOTTA in the Italian style. Ciao Bella DATE & WALNUT Ice Cream was an interesting and very delish flavor I had never heard of or even thought of prior to this wonderful meal!
I think I have found a new spot on the Upper West side when the time allows the stroll only 10 blocks north of Lincoln Center!
