What’s the vibe?
This little sushi joint is a New York institution but it could be straight out of Tokyo. On a slightly subterranean level on Sullivan Street, the room is long, thin, and dark, decked out in plenty of natural wood, and is always jam packed. The hustle and bustle all adds to the experience however, and despite them not being the most comfy seats in the house, we’d definitely recommend opting to sit at the beautiful walnut sushi bar if you can. Here you can watch the chefs at work, slicing fish, working the rice and plating up incredible looking platters of rolls and sashimi. Aside from the theatre, you’ll almost certainly spot something you like the look of, scream ‘what’s THAT?’, and immediately order it.
[easy-image-collage id=110898]What to order?
The menu is BIG so choosing took us some time, although we were helped along by the friendly staff. Our main advice would be to try bits from each different section, including the daily specials, so that you get a nice variety of dishes, but whatever you choose you’re going to get super fresh fish flown in daily from Japan, as well as the Pacific and Atlantic.
From the appetisers we can heartily recommend the Maguro Zuke, thin slices of tuna marinated in soy with garlic chip and onion; from the Maki, our favourites were the Kyuri Special featuring fresh grilled eel, cucumber and avocado, and the crunchy prawn tempura roll; and you must get at least one of the lightly-grilled tatakis – amberjack works well here. We also had a selection of nigiri, including fatty tuna, sea urchin, and butterfish, plus an incredible special of soft shell crab tempura which was probably our favourite of the night.
There’s a big selection of sakes too, plus the usual Japanese beers, so it’s best to get stuck in, order as much as you can eat, and enjoy some of the best sushi in town.
Photos: Steve Hill
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