Manhattan's Japanese Street Food

I recently ate at Saki Bar Hagi, which is located in the theatre district in New York City. I heard a lot about the subterranean restaurant, which serves diners Japanese street food and was featured on Anthony Bourdain's show "No Reservations."

I had the octopus balls, which reminded me of Spanish croquetas, just with tentacles instead of ham. Surprisingly, they were tasty and satisfying, and the octopus wasn't overcooked. In contrast, the marinated eggplant appeared to be packed with flavor, but we quickly realized that it had a bland taste instead. Afterwards, we ordered the fish collar which had a wonderful, fatty flavor. To finish off our meal, we had a plate of skewers which included quail eggs, steak cubes, pork belly and lamb. The skewers were exactly what you were expecting from protein dishes sold on the street and nothing more.

While Saki Bar Hagi's Japanese street food certainly beats the hot dog stand around the corner, the flavors did not meet up to the hype that so many foodies raved about. Perhaps it's because I'm Asian and the unique ingredients don't surprise me, or perhaps it's because I don't have the nostalgia for Japan that its regulars have. Nonetheless, the restaurant was okay...nothing more than good, old street food.