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Meet the year’s best new seafood dish — a Japanese thriller called nabemono.
The hot-pot stew, sometimes called “Japan’s bouillabaisse,” is the star of the show at Double Knot, a sceney, jumbo, Japanese restaurant that just opened at 1251 Sixth Avenue (entrance on West 49th Street) on Midtown’s corporate row.
As Avra does for Greek and Cuerno for Mexican, Double Knot elevates a greatest-hits of lineup of familiar dishes to unfamiliar star status with loving execution in a cheerful, buzzing setting.
The $41 nabemono is an eye-popping, palate-pleasing combo of mussels, clams, head-on prawns and scallops, all steamed in aromatic sake dashi and the savory Chinese bean paste known as tobanjan. House-made ramen noodles lend a softening carb note. It’s plenty large enough to share — I couldn’t finish it either time I ordered it.
Double Knot is part of a 15-restaurant empire from New York-born, Philadelphia-based chef-owner Michael Schulson. The first Double Knot opened in Philly in 2016 and a Miami location debuted last year.
Since many transplants dumb down the spirit of their originals, I was skeptical when I tried the one in Miami’s trend-obsessed Wynwood district — only to find it was just as great as the many Japanese-inflected restaurants in the Magic City.
There’s nothing like Manhattan’s Double Knot anywhere north of 34th Street, notwithstanding some overlap with Nobu 57. Its nearly 300 seats on two levels flow through a comfy main-floor dining room, and there are separate counters for robatayaki and sushi, plus a cocktail bar, and a brighter-lit downstairs dining area with its own counters and nooks. The main, upstairs palette is brown-on-brown with handcrafted woodwork, bare concrete and patinated metal that supposedly “evoke the city’s grit.”
Business types, party people and Rock Center tourists share both floors without crowding. Tables are wide enough to hold lots of dishes at once but spaced enough to mute the din.
Schulson was the original chef at Buddakan downtown and his way with Asian flavors informs most every Double Knot dish. The menu projects the casual, small-plates izakaya spirit onto a bigger canvas that allows for larger cooked dishes — priced up to $63 for mineral-rich, grilled Japanese wagyu. The scores of options — cold and hot, tiny and large, sushi and sashimi, robata-grilled items, skewered, wraps, and more — are too many to count. Everything I tried in most categories, especially larger cooked dishes, hit the spot.
Pillowy pork bao ($12) are a good place to start. The cured Berkshire belly is braised in sake, soy and spices and finished and brightened with tangy chili sauce.
Even better was the duck scrapple bao ($16), which feature duck confit glazed in maple yakitori sauce ($16). It’s a wonderfully rich, filling starter that skillfully balances salty and sweet. Another strong starter, spicy baked crab and scallop ($21), crackled with rice pearls on a giant seashell.
From the robata charcoal grill, skewered scallops ($14) emerged full of the bivalve’s often elusive mineral essence. The chicken thigh ($8) was juicy and rich.
The kitchen shows a sure hand with meat and seafood equally. The buttery quality of Ora King salmon ($31) played perfectly with a soy marinade and tart-and-sweet horseradish made with golden beets and Granny Smith apples.
Grilled wagyu bavette ($36) was a powerhouse of fatty pleasure, attended by Japanese sweet potatoes whipped with miso butter and tiny threads of umami-rich Itogaki tuna and a sweetening dose of house-made ponzu.
Only one dish, pork tonkatsu ($33), was drained of moisture and without character — the rare flop in my three visits.
Many dishes are surprisingly reasonably priced (I suspect they’ll soon go up) and large enough to share.
Crowd-pleasing desserts sent everyone home happy. They change nightly but soft-serve ice cream in flavors such as miso caramel and burnt marshmallow banana took the cake.
Double Knot won’t open for lunch until March 30. Go for dinner now, before reservations are a challenge night or day.
