Robert and I have settled into a fairly strict sushi routine over the past few years. Every couple of weeks, when we are craving sushi, we head down to our neighborhood sushi joint, Hana on Broadway, and every time, without fail, we order the exact same thing. We start off with bowls of miso soup. This is followed by one Spicy Tuna Roll and our three favorite nigiri sushi: Sake (salmon), Saba (Mackerel), and Suzuki with Shiso (striped bass). We typically order one other piece of nigiri sushi, usually Hamachi (yellowtail) but sometimes something else depending on what is on special that evening. We used to get Unagi (barbecued eel) but the Unagi at Hana is never served warm like it should be so we have stopped ordering it. We are currently in love with the Saba which has an unusual, briny flavor that is somewhat of an acquired taste. My all-time favorite, however, is the Suzuki with Shiso. It consists of an oval of rice topped with a shiso leaf, a thin slice of striped bass, and a dusting of togarashi, a Japanese red pepper spice mix. The flavors are so good together; the shiso leaf has a unique herbal, citrus flavor and the togarashi provides just a tiny bit of spice. Delicious!

Last night, we decided to break out of the routine. We headed up to the other place in our neighborhood that serves sushi: Liberty. Liberty is a bar, first and foremost. They have a huge selection of liquor and make some amazing cocktails with it. But, in addition to cocktails, they also offer sushi. Cocktails and sushi, what a brilliant idea! The sushi menu at Liberty ranges from the very traditional (salmon nigiri, spicy tuna rolls) to the wacky (the Fishface Roll, for example, which includes hamachi, shrimp, jalapeño, mango, cabbage and wasabi aioli). Since our plan was to go outside of the routine, we opted for wacky sushi. We ordered two rolls: the Alaska Roll, which is salmon, asparagus, avocado, radish sprouts, sesame and tobiko, and the Jamjuree roll (named after the Thai restaurant located next door.) The Jamjuree Roll is made with shrimp, peanut sauce, mint, cilantro, red pepper, cucumber and cabbage. The sushi was okay but not great. Although the Jamjuree Roll is inventive and had a really good flavor, both rolls were on the dry side and the servings were very small. On the other hand, my cocktails were awesome! I had the Jasmine (gin, lemon, cointreau and campari) and the Dragon’s Toe (bourbon, cucumber, ginger water and a splash of ginger ale). I will definitely be returning to Liberty for cocktails, but I think it’s back to the Hana routine for sushi. Hana is located at 219 Broadway E and Liberty is at 517 15th Avenue E.