DISH OF THE WEEK: Grilled Scallop at NETA

Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City

SADLY, NETA IS NOW CLOSED.

As soon as we sat down at Neta, we were disappointed. This reservation was weeks in the making and it was mostly so we could try the much buzzed about uni risotto. But it was nowhere to be found on the menu! The server nicely explained to us that it’s only available certain times of the year when the chef can get enough uni

Fortunately the disappointments stopped there. Our dinner of sushi and small prepared plates was astonishing. And fortunately the two chefs, Nick Kim and Jimmy Lau (who both worked for sushi master Masa Takayama) were able to secure enough uni to still offer the grilled scallop dish.

This certainly quenched my craving for sea urchin. A large grilled scallop shell serves as the vessel for barely cooked scallop flesh united with some of the softest and most delicate tasting uni I’ve ever tasted. The duo is topped with crisp mitsuba (wild Japanese parsley) and seasoned with soy butter and a hint of lime, which brings out the rich flavors of the delicious sea critters.

Our dinner was well-worth the price, from the spicy Szechuan salmon with crispy rice to the meaty grilled king mushrooms to the lusciously fresh sushi. It was so good that it almost makes me want to max out my credit card once again for just a taste of that supposedly heavenly uni risotto. But I’ll call ahead next time.