dinner at Wasabi's

   It was a Monday night,  just after 8:30 pm and I, my daughter and her friend walked into Wasabi's Restaurant in Hudson NY.  It was kind of late to get there as the website indicated that they close at 9:30 during the week, but it was the best we could do.  My daughter loves this place and wanted to go there before she headed back to college, so there we were.

   We were greeted by a gently gurgling fountain as we walked in.  Only one table was occupied by a couple finishing dinner,  pretty typical for a Monday night I would guess.  We were seated quickly and handed menus, efficiency seemed the word of the day.  My daughter had already given me heads up on what she liked from the menu, so salmon teriyaki was my choice.  Time to take a look around.   The dining room is very small, but decorated in a charming way with fans and mobiles and Japanese beverage bottles suspended from the ceiling.  I thought about going back to the entrance to take a picture of the fountain, but figured that I could so that on the way out.  I would later realize that this was a mistake...
   We were served our miso soup and a simple salad with a carrot/orange dressing.  The soup was tasty with tiny squares of tofu and what I think was seaweed, a connoisseur of Japanese cuisine I am not.  The  salad was tiny and sweet, a nice foil to the soup.  I didn't think that I would like such a sweet salad dressing but it worked.

  It was amusing to note that when one of us was struggling a bit with the chopsticks, a fork was discreetly deposited at the end of the table...
 Very soon after, the main dishes arrived, hot and tasty looking.

  I was so hungry that I started adding rice and nibbling on the food before I thought to take a photo,  so the dish was indeed perfect looking when it came out, this shot does not do it justice.   The teriyaki glaze was very nice, not too strong and with a nice consistency.  The salmon was served on a bed of sauteed onions with broccoli and straw mushrooms.  The portion size was just right, I felt that I had enough to eat but did not feel over-full.  We ate with enthusiasm and before we finished the waitress had already deposited the check on the end of the table.  Oh, the perils of arriving late...  It was 9:15 so we decided to push our luck and see if we could get some dessert.  The girl did not look thrilled but was polite and brought us the ice cream that we requested, one mango and two green tea flavored.  I know exactly how she felt,  so I  appreciated that she accommodated us.  I had selected green tea ice cream and it was very good,  a bit milder in flavor than I had expected.

 As we finished our ice cream, we noticed some of the lights turning off and the stopping of the gurgling fountain.   I realized that I missed my chance to photo it,  maybe next time I guess.  We took the hint and paid promptly and took our leave.  I  would definitely eat here again, many tempting items on the menu but I would not want to arrive so late, it certainly affected our service and the speed of our dining.