…and…. I’m done! Four years of uni have flashed by. A graduation post is coming soon, but in the meantime, I finally found the time/excuse to visit a restaurant I’ve been eyeing. MOLA.
Mola
Mola is modern Japanese restaurant on Penn avenue that serves traditional fare with a twist. Since opening in 2018, it’s been committed to fresh, creative dishes and has earned rave review. The founder, Alex Tang, has quite the credentials. He’s worked at top restaurants in NYC and PGH, including preparing the Peking ducks at Mainland. Their philosophy is putting the sauces away and letting the ingredients shine. Now that’s something I can get behind.
Food
I went in thinking I knew what I wanted. The menu is short and, to be honest, I was actually disappointed by the lack of selection. That disappointment dissapated when I saw the chalkboard menu. Turns out they have a rotating seasonal menu that’s not listed. Anyways, we got started with grilled shishito peppers.
They were delicious! Nicely grilled and very well seasoned. I loved how the slight char brought out the sweetness of the pepper. However, I do feel that they were slightly heavy handed with the oil.
There’s also some little fish plates: Tuna tataki and Yellowtail Jalepeno. Both are served with a light ponzu sauce
Both were delicious! The fish was top notch and I loved the umami and slightly sweet ponzu. Honestly I wish I could bottle that stuff. My only complaint is that the tuna was not seared as hard as I’d have liked
Next, some obligatory sushi. Here’s where the chalkboard shines. Standard menu offers the basics: sake (salmon), ebi (shrimp), hokage (scallops), kama (crab)….The chalkboard adds saba (mackerel), 3 types of uni, 3 types of toro (fatty tuna), and ankimo. yes, ANKIMO! Ankimo is monkfish liver, usually served in a ponzu sauce. When fresh, it’s creamy and mild with a slight funk reminicent of ripened cheese. I’d only ever seen Ankimo at high end places in the US. Of course I got that, a piece of kamatoro and two pieces of saba.
Overall, I was impressed, especially with the ankimo. The fish was high quality and sliced well. My only complaint would be with the uni. It was quite watery. Do not recommend, especially at $14.
For the vegans, they have a rather limited selection of vegetarian rolls and bao. The friend I went with the second time is vegan and she ordered the avocado roll.
It was definitely well made, just nothing special.
For entrees, There’s an assortment of bowls and curries. I’m not really a fan of rice so I stuck with grilled fish.
Round 1: Yellowtail collar
Fish collar is one of the most succulent cuts of meat/fish. It’s fatty, soft and when paired with crispy skin, impossible to resist. I give Mola’s rendition a B. B is not a bad grade necessarily, but, pretty disappointing for what should have been an easy A. The fish was high quality and had nice crispy skin, I also really enjoyed the do it yourself seasoning. However, some of the meat was a tad dry. HOW??? I do think it was worth it though.
Round 2: Bronzino
The second time around, I went with the bronzino from the chalk board. This was a bit of a mistake. 1) I didn’t know the portion would be so large, much less a full meal 2) the fish just wasn’t that good…. Dry and severely underseasoned. Also, they committed one of my biggest pet peeves, serving the fish skin side down. Seriously, why bother with crispy skin if it’s going to be ruined. With that said, that broccolini was AMAZING. They definitely added either miso or soy sauce. I’ll need to replicate this.
Note: Mola is quite bi-polar when it comes to the pricing. On the one hand, the entrees are quite reasonably priced so was the ankimo. On the other hand, the sashimi was very overpriced for the portions.
Service and Atmosphere
Mola has a relaxed, hip cafe vibes. The decour is plain, with “chaotic” touches such as writing on the walls, offset pictures and of course, the chalkboard. It’s also deceptively small. I wouldn’t suggest going in large groups, but it was a lot more spacious than the narrow entryway would suggest. Even during “rush” time, it didn’t feel cramped. It felt like hanging out in a cafe that happened to serve pretty good sushi. The understated casualness was a good change of pace from both the smothering formality of high end places or sketchiness of bargain places. Of course, I’m always a sucker for an open kitchen.
Service matched the atmosphere. Our servers, for the lack a better description, were cool. They greeted us and offered to walk us through the menu. It was also very impressive how quickly they were able to get food out as well as how seamlessly the staff were able to navigate a full house and long list of pickup/delivery orders.
Overall Impression
Overall, I was pretty happy with Mola. The entrees were hit and miss and the sushi was quite pricey, but any restaurant that serves up quality ankimo has my respect. It’s a great place to get lunch with a friend but I’m not sure I’d go back again. 2 times is enough for me.
The Red-braised Twinkie 