A Japanese restaurant group that operates 50 restaurants worldwide brings a casual seafood concept to Murray Hill with the opening of Wokuni, serving an assortment of seafood that's flown in daily from Japan. Parent company Tokyo Ichiban Foods owns several aqua-farms in Hirado City, Nagasaki, where they raise Bluefin Tuna and King Yellowtail; other seafood items will be sourced from parts of Japan or locally, when appropriate. The fish will also be sold at a unique retail counter at the restaurant, a break in tradition from the chain's other restaurants in Japan.
The extensive menu offers seafood—and some select non-fish dishes—in a variety of cooking methods, from fried tempura preparations to tartares to sushi and sashimi platters. Yellowtail can be find in dishes like a Carpaccio ($12) with yuzu citrus pepper sauce and or grilled in a sweet soy sauce, Buri Yuan Yaki ($17). The tuna shows up in the Magura Tail Steak ($28) glazed with teriyaki sauce and in several raw forms including a tartare ($12) and several cuts of sushi and sashimi.
The restaurant is izakaya-style, with many dishes specifically designed to accompany glasses of sake and shochu, dubbed shukous. These include the cold Ankimo ($10), a steamed monkfish dish with ponzu, and Dashi Maki ($9), a Japanese omelette that's steamed and rolled into a log shape.
325 Lexington Avenue, (212) 447-1212; wokuninyc.com
WOKUNI Dinner Menu by Nell Casey on Scribd
