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sonoflaw
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Hana Sushi, Red Hook, NY
As far as restaurants go in Red Hook, NY, I never expected them to be on par with New York, NY. Almost every restaurant in town, however, offers magnificent food. The best of the best, surprisingly enough, is their sushi. Hana Sushi in Red Hook, located on Broadway, in the mini-mall with both a Subway and a videostore, may seem like a hole in the wall (it is located in a small building next to a gymnasium). Going inside, however, the restaurant itself has been refurbished into a bright and cheery yet comfortable and quiet Japanese eatery. Pretty much the only thing on the menu at Hana is sushi, so it is not a place to go for soba and teriyaki (they have it, but it does not compare to the main event). The sushi is not only the best in New York, but it is also the cheapest. From the lowest priced Red Hook Roll (Crab, mayo, and crunch for $3) to the $9 Super Eel Roll (that is literally fist size slices full of eel, more than a filling meal) there is really sushi for everyone at this small eatery. My personal favorite roll that Hana Sushi offers is the Volcano Roll, which is a mix of tuna, yellowtail, and shrimp tempura stacked up in a pyramid shape with an eel sauce and spicy mayo mix poured over the top. The service is also fantastic here, with the staff willing to customize any roll, and the owner (who doubles as the head sushi chef) willing to converse about his life and times. Hana Sushi values its customers so much it even takes photos of its best customers and puts them up on the wall for all to see! There is not much I can say negatively about Hana Sushi. When they get crowded the service is a little slow, and they sometimes take a while to give refills on water, but for the quality of food and service, I can’t really complain about little negative points like these. Anyone passing through the Hudson Valley should try Hana Sushi in Red Hook. This little restaurant could really use the PR, as they are small and independently run, so check it out if you are in the area.
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sonoflaw
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Eastern Hudson Valley, NY
When first traveling to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York, I expected to find farmland, country living, and rural food choices. What I did not know that vastly surprised me, was that the towns of Red Hook and Rhinebeck are close enough to the Culinary Institute of America that not only is the area covered in high class restaurants with some of the best chefs in the US, but for at least the past fifteen years, people from the city have begun moving up to this area, making these onetime plains almost metropolitan. Of the restaurants located throughout the Hudson valley, I have been able to sample everything from gourmet farm food to some of the best sushi in the United States. I have even been able to find restaurants featuring Californian Mexican food that allowed me to continue living my Los Angeles lifestyle across the country. While the eateries Terrapin and the Double-O Grill in Rhinebeck offer incomparably delicious gastronomy, many non-restaurants have popped up all over the Hudson Valley since Catskill Mountain skiing made the area famous include the new performance art center at Bard College and many other specialty academies located around the Hyde Park vicinity. There is still plenty of farm-life in the area too, of course. While the nearby city of Kingston in brimming with strip-malls and movie theaters, the east side of the Hudson River boasts numerous freshly made farmer’s markets and antique shops. Drive-in theaters and pick-your-own-fruit farm shops mix with high class restaurants and fantastic country views in a place that I would not have believed existed in the United States had I not been there myself. I highly recommend visiting the Hudson Valley East, as it has more country culture than 100 Woodstocks put together, and gives the best food and trails that American farmland has to offer.
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