Sushi & Sake – Albuquerque, New Mexico
“If white wine goes with fish, do white grapes go with sushi?“ – George Carlin A reader once asked Washington Post humorist Gene Weingarten what he was a snob about. His reply, “I am also …
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Iron Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico
“Ramen is a dish that’s very high in calories and sodium. One way to make it slightly healthier is to leave the soup and just eat the noodles.” ~Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto America may be …
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Asian Pear – Albuquerque, New Mexico
“Careful Father, this stuff will melt your beads.” ~Lt Colonel Henry Blake, MASH 4077 Just as Hogan’s Heroes helped establish the perception many Americans (at least of my generation) had about German food, the television …
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Fun Noodle Bar – Albuquerque, New Mexico
By definition, many, if not most noodles are fun. No, not fun as in luxuriating in a tub filled with ramen (albeit non-edible, synthetic noodles) with real tonkatsu (pork bone) broth. Yeah, that really is …
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Ohana Hut – Albuquerque, New Mexico
In horse racing, the Triple Crown signifies winning all three of the sport’s most challenging thoroughbred horse races—The Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. This is considered the greatest achieved in thoroughbred racing, a …
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Oni Noodles – Albuquerque, New Mexico
In retrospect, the monsters and bogeymen who frightened impressionable children of my generation were pretty lame. Perhaps the most lame of them all was Frankenstein, a lumbering behemoth who walked around with his arms outstretched …
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528 Sushi & Asian Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)
“No lady likes to snuggle and dine accompanied by a porcupine.” “He lit a match to check gas tank. They call him skinless Frank.” “A man, a miss, a car, a curve. He kissed the …
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Nori Ramen & Sushi Bar – Rio Rancho, New Mexico
From our home in northeast Rio Rancho, it’s about thirteen miles to the Nori Ramen & Sushi Bar on Southern Boulevard. It would have been safer to run with the bulls at Pampalona than it …
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Aya’s New Asian Japanese Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED: 2018)
There’s an unspoken reciprocal arrangement between restaurant guests and the restaurant personnel with whom we interact. As guests, we show our appreciation for a dining experience well executed by tipping generously and maybe complimenting the …
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Fareast Fuzion – Albuquerque, New Mexico
A Journal of Consumer Research study published in 2012 revealed that consumers equate eating meat with their concept of masculinity. To the dismay of spinach-lovers like Popeye, respondents indicated meat has a more masculine quality …
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Amerasia & Sumo Sushi – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Carpe Diem Sum–“seize the dim sum” at AmerAsia, the Alibi’s perennial selection for best dim sum in the city honors (diem sum, as spelled on AmerAsia’s menu is also a correct spelling). Dim sum, a …
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Mogu Mogu – Albuquerque, New Mexico
In the 1970s, comedian Norm Crosby based his schtick on the use of malapropisms (the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with unintentionally amusing effect). The “master of the …
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Nanami Noodle House – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)
If Chinese superstitions have any credence, some of us may not be long for this world. Chinese superstitions posit that long noodles symbolize a long life. Ostensibly, if you cut your noodles, you’re cutting your …
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Sakura Sushi Thai & Laos Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Opinions vary as to what the next “hot” cuisine in America will be. As an independent observer of the New Mexico culinary condition, I’m more interested in how long it will take for that heat …
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Naruto – Albuquerque, New Mexico
During a 2015 episode of the Travel Channel’s Delicious Destinations, glaborous host Andrew Zimmern articulated what may be the very best–or at least most comprehensive–definition of comfort food ever. “Comfort food,” he explained, “makes us …
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Magokoro Japanese Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Emeril Lagasse, the jovial master of the culinary catchphrase, has been known to exhort his studio audience to “feel the love” as he adds a dash or two of something special to a dish. Indeed, …
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Albuquerque / Asian / Closed in 2015 / Gone But Not Forgotten / Japanese / New Mexico / Sushi / Thai / Vegetarian/Vegan
Loving Vegan – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)
My adovada adoring amigo Ruben likened the irony to an episode of Seinfeld. Two weeks into his experiment with an ostensibly healthier vegan diet, he was craving sushi and needed his sushi-specific pangs of hunger …
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Nagomi Japanese Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Everyman philosopher Homer Simpson once posed the profound existential question “Donuts. Is there anything they can’t do?” One thing at which donuts seem especially adept is ensnaring the hearts and affections of youth—and not just …
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“Food, like a loving touch or a glimpse of divine power, has that ability to comfort.” ~Norman Kolpas According to most online definitions, the term “soul food” defines the cuisine associated with African-American culture in …
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Ichiban – Albuquerque, New Mexico
In an episode of Friends, Joey Tribbiani starred in a commercial released only in Japan for Ichiban men’s lipstic. His friend Chandler’s response upon viewing the commercial: “he really is a chameleon.” In Japanese, the …
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Gen Kai Japanese Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico
In Japan, ramen is so revered that diners line up, sometimes for hours, at ramen houses for homemade noodles tangled with such ingredients as dried fish, pork and chicken. Connoisseurs make pilgrimages to a popular …
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Izanami – Santa Fe, New Mexico
“Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us without words.” ~Marcel Marceau When the Spaniards first gazed upon the setting sun as it hit the towering snow-capped mountains and appeared to bathe …
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Ahh! Sushi – Rio Rancho, New Mexico (CLOSED: 2015)
The year was 1997. Recently thawed from a thirty year cryogenic state, Dr. Evil addressed the United Nations about his diabolical scheme to hold the world ransom: “ In a little while you’ll notice that …
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Clancy’s Pub – Farmington, New Mexico
Characterized by writer Tom Wolfe as the “Me Decade” and derided by cynics as the “Disco Era,” the 1970s witnessed an explosion of copycat fast food chain restaurants and the birth of innovative fusion cuisine …
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Sushiya Asian Fusion Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico
“I don’t eat anything that a dog won’t eat. Like sushi. Ever see a dog eat sushi? He just sniffs it and says, “I don’t think so.” And this is an animal that licks between …
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Sushi Xuan Asian Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Nay-saying economic analysts who perpetuate the notion that even neighborhood monopolies would take advantage of a captive market don’t know Carter, chef-owner of Sushi Xuan Asian Grill. Rather than taking an oligopolous stance as owner …
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Mr. Tokyo – Albuquerque, New Mexico
In a 2011 interview, Green Bay Packers Superbowl winning quarterback Aaron Rodgers revealed that during the National Football League season, the comments he hears most often from fans and the questions they ask him most …
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I Love Sushi – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)
According to the US Census Bureau, more than half (49.3) of all Americans reported they did not “dine out” between Fall, 2009 and Fall, 2011. That’s the lowest percentage since 2007 and could be indicative …
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Hakata Asian Cuisine & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)
“Grrr! What’s wrong with those Vietnamese?” That’s not a bad bowl of pho prompting a xenophobic rant on my part. Those were the words of my friend Huu Vu when I told him a new …
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Japanese Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico
For generations, traditional New Mexican food as it had been served for generations by Hispanic families in Northern New Mexico was surprisingly rare in restaurants throughout the Land of Enchantment. Many restaurants throughout the state …
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Pacific Paradise Tropical Grill & Sushi Bar – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Shangri-La. Eden. Paradise. Heaven on Earth. The concept of a remote and exotic utopia, a faraway haven or hideaway of idyllic beauty and tranquility, has long intrigued mankind. Paul Gauguin, the famous French post-impressionist artist …
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Sakura Sushi & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico
In describing “food porn,” The New Yorker once wrote, “The point is to get very close to what you are filming, so close that you can see an ingredient’s “pores” which then triggers some kind …
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Noda’s Japanese Cuisine – Rio Rancho, New Mexico (CLOSED)
Note: On December 16, 2010, Noda’s Japanese Cuisine, a Rio Rancho institution for a dozen years, closed its doors. Owners Masayasu and Setsuko Noda have retired and will be relocating back to Japan. It was …
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Sushi King – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I– I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. – Robert Frost The path to becoming a sushi aficionado is, in some …
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Jasmine Thai & Sushi – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Sometimes the most delicate and beautiful things in nature are spawned in conditions that are wholly antithetical to their survival. The delightfully fragrant jasmine flower, for example, is thought to have originated in the Himalayas, …
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Japengo Sushi – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)
The Chinese philosophy of yin and yang posits a dualistic universe in which both sides of opposite forces are each part of a whole and work together. Examples include good and bad, male and female, …
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