Finally Eatin' Bender

Last night, after many months of planning (ok, maybe 2 months) I finally got to meet up again with one of my first (and favorite) “blogspirations,” Ms. Jenn from Eating Bender! The two of us went to the same college and are now both living in Chicago. Of course, being the diligent person that she is, has already posted a re-cap about it!

We had a fabulous time catching up, ranting about being a grown up life, and chowing on sushi at Oysy. Check out what we got!

OYSY – pronounced Oh-EE-She, means “delicious”

I had been once before and was floored by their delicious grilled hot appetizers. After some debate, Jenn ordered us the app’s, and I suggested 2 special rolls to share.

Grilled Salmon with Sesame/Teriyaki Sauce

We weren’t given a choice with the sauce, but I’m guessing it was teriyaki from the taste and color.

Tasty Factor: The fish was grilled till the edges were crispy and the texture of the fillet was flaky. Though some may complain it was a little dry, the sauce was OYSY!!! I couldn’t help throwing my bites of salmon back onto the plate swimming with teriyaki sauce – my favorite. In case you were wondering, the branch-like garnish tasted like ginger but it looked like pickled burdock. Still don’t know for sure what it is.

Flaming Dynamite

Literally a clam shell grilled with a mish-mash of shredded seafood of all sorts, including imitation crab meat, scallop, and masago with a spicy creamy sauce (I’m guessing it’s the magic of mayo) then SET ON FIRE. Well, the dried ice scattered on the serving plate was set on fire. The fire eventually died down when we worked around to it after devouring the salmon.

Tasty Factor: Jenn and I really enjoyed the unique presentation and the spicyness of the dish, which was complemented by the cold creamy avocado slices. The shredded seafood was cut in to teeny pieces but they offered a variety of textures, from chewy to stringy to creamy. The surface edges of the seafood were charred and crispy (yum!) just the way I like it. My only complaint is that it definitely could have been a larger portion size!

Emerald Maki

Sauteed scallop, asparagus, cucumber, green caviar, and spicy sauce

Tasty Factor: Oysy seems to like to dye their fish roe (aka “caviar) multi-colored, and the green worked particularly well in this roll in terms of presentation! The sautéed scallops were pretty much raw, but because they were fresh, I really appreciated its sweetness paired with the crunchy asparagus. The spicy sauce packed a little extra flavor to the roll, but it wasn’t pronounced. Overall, a very light-flavored roll with a good blend of textures!

Summer Maki

Masago, tuna, yellowtail, cilantro, green pepper, avocado, chili oil, spicy sauce, and lime juice

Tasty Factor: Fresh and flavorful! Oysy Oysy! The more I ate this roll, the more I loved it. I thought I would hate the cilantro in it, but instead it worked incredibly well with the lime juice and chili/hot sauces to create a complex blend of flavors! I could definitely taste all the different components, and appreciated all the colors represented inside the roll. Only complaint – chewy, soggy seaweed.

Of course I downed most of the ginger as I couldn’t help but miss GC!   I also couldn’t QUITE understand why the appetizers and entrees came all at once, but hey! It was all yummy.

Dinner was followed by a trip to Trader Joe’s, where I was warned that the Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter might not be as life-changing as it looks, but that the mini vanilla meringues were darn delicious. Of course I took the advice. YES! Do gotta do this more often Jenn!

Lucky’s RATINGS

Taste: 4/5

Originality: 4/5 (Love Oysy’s huge array of appetizers and the more “interesting” maki rolls)

Plating: 3/5 (Japanese restaurants tend to be incredible at doing this, so Oysy didn’t quite stand out when it comes to Maki, but I enjoyed the flames from our Flaming Dynamite!)

Value: 3.5/5 (Dinner came out to be ~$20/person. Not horrid for sushi but not awesome considering the small sizes of the dishes!)

Service: 3.5/5 (Our server was cool and knowledgeable but nothing amazing)

***

And when I got home, it was Apple Pie Time! I’d been craving this for ages but no store-bought pie ever puts enough apple in the pie! I hate when I get a 50/50 ratio of crust and overly-sweet filling. Best solution: bake your own.

When You’re Lazy Apple Pie

1x Pillsbury Doughboy pie crust (yes, this was the cop-out)

5 large honey crisp apples, sliced thinly

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup white sugar

1 Tbs lemon juice

2 Tbs all-purpose flour (makes the oozing “sauce” by absorbing juices from the apples)

2 Tbs cinnamon (and any other spices you want!)

DIRECTIONS: Mix all ingredients (ex pie crust) in a bowl. Roll out dough in a 9inch pie dish. Top with filling, Cover with another layer of dough. Bake for 50 minutes till golden brown. ENJOY topped with ice-cream of your choice!

Taste Test: I never understood why people put butter in their apple pie filling! Our pie was sweet, tart, and complete with gooey apple-cinnamon ooze! The thinly sliced apples were softened but still a little bit crisp (read: not mushy). I love that the pieces absorbed all the flavor of the cinnamon but had a balance of tartness and sweetness from the fruit. If I re-made the recipe, I would make my own “healthy” pie dough…I wasn’t wowed by the Pillsbury dough as it got soggy and wasn’t as flaky as I thought it would be! All the fat but none of the upside to store-bought dough! Guess you gotta pay for being lazy huh?

Apple pie is never complete without ice-cream.

My choice for the night - Breyer’s All-natural Extra-Creamy Strawberry Cheesecake Ice-cream

Stats (per ½ cup): 120 Calories, 3.5g fat (2g saturated), 60mg sodium, 20g carbs, 20g sugar, 3g protein

Review: 8/10. I really love this ice-cream. I’m actually NOT a fan of New York cheesecake, mainly because I feel like its overly-dense, rich texture. However, this is NOTHING like it. The ice-cream has a light “cheesecake” flavor and is swirled with thick strawberry jam which offers the kick of tartness that tones down the sweetness of the ice-cream base. It’s not as thick as Edy’s slow churned or the clearly more “indulgent”/fatty ice-creams, but it’s definitely NOT airy or mousse-like (like a lot of failed light ice-creams). Decadent but still healthy!

Price: $2.99 (on sale at Dominick’s)

And that’s a wrap! Thanks for reading.

What is YOUR all-time favorite ice-cream…and more importantly, why?

Apparently, what flavor your love tells a lot about your personality. I think mine has to be either coffee or mint chocolate chip…or Haagen Dazs strawberry!

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Just for Fun!, Product Reviews, Recipes, Restaurant Reviews

Apple Pie, Blogger Meetup, Breyer's, Chicago, Dinner, Eating Bender, Ice-cream, Japanese, Oysy, Product, Recipe, Restaurant, Reviews, Sushi

October 22, 2009

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