Auzura

Ben ran off to the district meeting, leaving Jimmy and I to just kind of hang out and relax. Since we ate lunch so late, it was a while before we got hungry.

Again, we couldn't decide where to eat, so we ended up just driving around Montclaire until we found a place. We decided on Indian, but as we walked by the Indian restaurants, we were kind of iffy. Then we came across this Japanese fusion place called Auzura.

The place was pretty nice. Very SoHo and very yuppy. Both of us felt very awkward eating at a place like this because it felt so datish.

The prices were pretty steep. Appetizers started at $5 and went up to $15. Entrees started at $17 and went up to $35 averaging $25 a plate. They also had sushi a sashimi starting at around $8 per role.

I ordered a duck spring roll and a red spider roll. I was still pretty full from lunch, so I didn't need that much to eat. Jimmy ordered this scallop with rosoto.

The spider roll was excellent. The best spider roll I've ever had. It was made from a huge piece of soft shell crab. It also had a bit of scallion in it which gave it a nice flavor.

The duck spring roll was so so. The duck was a little tough and lacking in flavor. The peking sauce that came with it was very nicely balanced. Not too salty, not too sweet, acsentuating the flavor of the duck instead of overpowering it.

I tried a bit of Jimmy's scallop and rosoto. The piece of scallop I had was a bit on the over done side, but still had good flavor. The rosoto was chalky in the middle and just unappetizing. The rosoto was covered in a bed of alfalfa and button mushrooms. The mushrooms were excellent, with good flavor.

Overall, it's an interesting place with atypical food. The food isn't great and you're paying more for the atmosphere of a yuppy restaurant, but I wouldn't mind trying it again.