Thursday, July 11, 2019

Wednesday Sushi at The Hideaway in Rochester, NY


       I am officially returning from my short blogging creative break brimming with new places to talk about. Most recently, I've visited The Hideaway in Rochester NY's Park Ave area to check out their new sushi special on Wednesdays. You know I couldn't resist a good exclusive sushi session. I get so excited when restaurants have weekday specials; it just makes the work week a tad more fun instead of always waiting on the weekend for something new to try. The Hideaway, formerly the old Hogan’s Hideaway, hosts a special in-house chef made sushi night with an array of traditional and original sushi rolls, sashimi, poke bowls, and sake available every Wednesday night. When my friend and I learned about this, we made plans to check it out on the spot.



       The Hideaway is centrally located for those who live in the Park Avenue neighborhood. It is right next to the Parkleigh gift shop on the corner of Goodman and Park. We decided to walk there as it was a beautiful evening outside, and when we entered there were plenty of places to choose from to sit. We were captivated by the two chefs making sushi right at the bar instead of in the kitchen. Not wanting to miss out on the free sushi performance, my friend and I took the open seats right at the bar.


       I thought about ordering sake for us to drink, but I grabbed a cold brewski in lieu of sake this time around. I ended up going with the Triphammer IPA which was nice – juicy, smooth, citrusy. Good for a hot day. I will say that the draft list was a bit small, but they did have some seasonal beers available including the Stoneyard Lilac Wheat. I've had a couple of their cocktails before in the past and they are impressive. I consider their cocktail and wine lists to be where their selection of libations truly thrives.


       The menu had a few different special sake options to choose from: a sparkling sweet sake, a cold filtered sake, and a cold unfiltered sake. I'm glad that they offered some nice, cold sake options, and I'm guessing they'll offer hot sake once the weather cools down. I usually prefer my sake warm so I'd love to come back to try them in the fall. I was incredibly curious about trying one of the poke bowls; I had never had one before. But instead my friend and I opted to start out by ordering three easily shareable sushi rolls.


       We ended up choosing the Johnny Cashew, Hella Yella, and Mango Danko rolls. It was so much fun getting to watch our order being made right in front of us, and we chatted with the sushi chef as he was making the rolls. My friend and I actually enjoy making our own sushi at home, so we were mainly taking this opportunity to get some culinary tips. The chef was super friendly and humorous, and also talked with us about his time at culinary school, which he decided to pursue after getting a business degree from college.



       Our Johnny Cashew was one of the specialty rolls made with smoked salmon, steamed shrimp, cashew butter, and cucumber and topped with avocado, a secret chef's sauce, eel sauce, black sesame, and scallions. This roll was my friend's favorite - the smoked salmon was really complemented by the creamy and nutty cashew butter. For me, the Hella Yella stole the show. It had raw yellowtail, onion crunchies, avocado, and a touch of fresh lemon, and topped with that same chef's sauce. I think I loved it because of the crunchies, I can't resist a good food texture combo. And whatever was in that chef's sauce had a very cheesy umami flavor that went perfect with the lemon and yellowtail. The summery Mango Danko roll had raw tuna, avocado, Japanese Kewpie mayo, and mango inside while topped with a special poke spicy mayo and eel sauce.



       My friend and I had never eaten sushi quicker. While we savored every bite, the temperature of the rice and fish was perfect - an ideal component for good sushi - and we couldn't help but reach for more. We also hadn't eaten much previously in the day and came hungry, so we decided to order a fourth roll - the Pokedelphia roll. Usually Philadelphia sushi rolls are made with cream cheese, a strange sounding combo, albeit delicious, and made with the traditional salmon. However, the Pokedelphia substituted this with herb goat cheese and I needed to try it for myself. And let me tell you, it was a match made in sushi heaven. So. Delicious.

After our sushi feast we left absolutely satisfied and positively inspired. Who knows, maybe my friend and I will try to recreate some of these sushi rolls at home! Now to figure out what's in that secret chef's sauce... The Hideaway is located at 199 Park Ave. They are closed Mondays, but are open until midnight on Sushi Wednesdays, until 9pm Sundays, until 10pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and until 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Thank you for reading my restaurant review, keep an eye out for more articles like this by following my Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram for post updates!
All opinions and most pictures are my own - some of these images were taken by my friend, used with permission.

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