Christmas @ Kyo Ya (aka a Festivus Feast)

Flash forward to Christmas Day. We'd been back in New York for exactly three weeks, and we had a serious hankering for some good washoku that we didn't have to cook by ourselves. To celebrate the holiday and satisfy our craving, we headed to what is probably the most elegantly authentic Japanese restaurant in all of New York City (I'll leave it to you to look up where it is...I don't give up my secrets that easily!)

We start off with some seafood...

Nanbanzuke (Small fish similar to sardines that are marinated in vinegar)
served with onions 

These succulent oysters garnished with ginger and peppers were as
amazing as they look!

Uni (sea urchin) sashimi. With its impossibly creamy texture, it's no wonder
this delicacy has been referred to as the sexiest food in the world! 

Ebi fry (shrimp) with gobo (burdock)- super crispy!

Move on to some white meat...

Jidori (Organic chicken). See how it's pink in the middle? It does indeed mean that
it hasn't been fully cooked. But since jidori is both free range and organic, the risk
of samonella that scares people into charring their chicken is extremely low.  

Kurobuta (black pork). It comes from the underside, or belly, of the pig, and when
cooked correctly as shown here it literally melts in your mouth.

...And finally, some shime (which is what Japanese people call a rice or noodle dish served at the end of a meal)!

Unagi over rice

Inaniwa Udon, which consists of noodles flatter and a bit finer than your average udon. 

Their display of omotenashi, complete with a gift of chocolate cake that they let us take to go,  made us feel right at home! It was the kind of incredibly attentive service we'd become accustomed to in Japan, right here in NYC.