The Pint Sized Palate — A Kids Take on New York Food

Sushi Meets Fried Chicken

By Churchill Stone

Shirokuro
103 2nd Ave.

My mom, my sister and I went to Shirokuro for sushi after a swimming lesson in the East Village. And to be very honest we simply asked Chat GPT to find the best sushi place near us and it recommended Shirokuro! This is a sushi restaurant connected to Boka, a Korean fried chicken restaurant. They have the same owner and even though there is only an open door between them, each place has a completely different vibe.

Boka is darker and smaller. Shirokuro is big and bright with a long bar that is only for omakase dining. My sister and I chose the sushi side because it’s so breathtaking to be in there.

We had visited this restaurant once before and remembered a wonderful server named Madison, the daughter of the owner, James Lim. She had told us that the entire place was painted in a two-dimensional style by hand. It took the artist, Mirim Yoo, three months. The walls are painted white with black outline drawing, almost like a coloring book without using any color. It’s amazing!

Lim told us all about the restaurant and how he decided to start it. He calls Madison his “second baby” since the restaurant came first. Every two years, Lim changes cuisines at the restaurant. In two more years they are considering Italian food.

The staff welcomed us warmly and even let us order fried chicken from the neighboring restaurant, which usually isn’t allowed. (By the way, the fried chicken place is cash-only.)

We ordered the three-roll sushi combo, which lets you choose three rolls for $33 — a pretty good deal. We chose salmon avocado, yellowtail avocado, and bluefin tuna. We also ordered 10 pieces of Korean fried chicken, including wings and drumsticks: half soy garlic and half sweet chili. To drink, we got two Japanese sodas. The mango was fruitier, while the strawberry was creamier, and both were cold and refreshing.

The chicken arrived very quickly and was some of the best food I have ever tasted. It was crispy, saucy, and perfectly cooked and I ended up eating four pieces. The soy garlic was excellent, but I liked the sweet chili even more. My sister usually doesn’t like sauced fried chicken, but she loved this!

The staff also accommodated my sister’s sushi order. Because she couldn’t eat seaweed with the metal expander in her mouth, they served her avocado roll as a bowl instead and it was delicious!

The rest of the sushi arrived shortly after the chicken and was excellent. The tuna roll tasted incredibly fresh and high-quality. The yellowtail was slightly saltier and had a similar freshness.

On our previous visit, I also tried the spicy tuna crispy rice, which was served in a very unique way. The crispy rice looked like little tater tots arranged around a bowl of spicy tuna and avocado. You could dip the rice into the mixture and it was fantastic!

Our waiter also gave us complimentary mochi desserts. We had to wait a little because they were initially very cold, but the wait was worth it. The strawberry mochi was fruity and creamy with a soft, powdered exterior. They cut it in half and gave us little sticks to make it easier to eat, which was adorable.

The vanilla mochi was on another planet! It was beautiful and incredibly soft. It may have tasted even better because I let it sit longer, allowing the ice cream inside to soften. It was rich, sweet, and full of flavor. Vanilla was probably my favorite, although both desserts were wonderful.

The entire staff treated us so well and made thoughtful accommodations for our needs. Between the outstanding food, the restaurant’s fascinating story, the incredible interior design, and the welcoming service, this was an unforgettable experience.

I will never forget the place where I can have Korean fried chicken and amazing sushi at the same time. I love this place.

Thank you so much, Shirokuro!

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Shirokuro 3.5 stars • Boka 4 stars