Japanese Cuisines
Mifune Rolls into Midtown on a Constellation of Michelin Stars
There’s no shortage of options in NYC, for where to plunk down hundreds of dollars for a Japanese feast. And yet, the newly-opened Mifune may just outclass them all, being that it’s helmed by a cadre of Michelin star-wielding chefs & all-star team! Here’s the scoop on this truly exciting midtown newcomer…
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Sen Sakana Settles Down in Midtown
Restaurants rarely open exactly when they intend to, thanks to the reliably red tape-ridden, drawn-out processes of wrangling permits and overseeing construction (not to mention somehow retaining sought-after staff throughout). But Sen Sakana really takes the cake when it comes to a delayed debut, appearing three whole years after their original calculation…
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Sushi Ishikawa Serves An Actually Affordable Omakase
A sizable string of omakases have opened in the past year, with a commonality you can rely on; that they’re pretty expensive. Which is how, in a particular business that’s defined by impeccable fish and the impeachable technique of a series of presiding masters, Sushi Izikawa has set itself apart; bringing an affordable — yet no less ceremonial — sushi experience to the Upper East Side…
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Tokyo’s E.A.K. Ramen Takes on America
The latest Japanese export is E.A.K. Ramen; newly situated in the former Kin Shop space in the West Village. And while New Yorkers tend to think that, at this point, they know everything there is to know about ramen, the prolific chain focuses on a seldom-seen variant known as iekei with a deliciously different broth…
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A Sushi Celebrity Returns with Suzuki
The city’s newest raw seafood destination is run by Toshio Suzuki — owner of the seminal Sushi Zen and mentor to none other than “Iron Chef” Masaharu Morimoto. The master has returned with an ambitious, multi-concept spot, featuring a cocktail lounge called Three Pillars, a kaiseki restaurant named Suzuki, and a 20-seat sushi counter called Satsuki, run by Toshio himself…
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KazuNori — The Original Hand Roll Bar — Comes to NYC
If the lines have lessened at Sugarfish, that can only mean one thing — patrons have transferred allegiance to its little sibling, KazuNori. Also an L.A. import, the wildly popular eatery applies the low cost, high quality sushi theme specifically to hand rolls; cylinders of nori wrapped around cones of fish and rice…
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Ikinari Brings Its “Standing Steakhouse” Concept to New York
We tend to think New York is at the cutting edge of all things food, but we still can’t hold a candle to Japan when it comes to quirky innovation. That’s why we’ve continued to import some of their kookiest concepts; from ramen spots to the newly minted stand-up steakhouse Ikinari, which landed in the East Village this past week…
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Ichimura Outdoes Itself at its Ultra-High End Iteration
After leaving Ichimura at Brushstroke this past fall, chef Eiji Ichimura raised the stakes with his just-opened, eponymous sushi spot. It offers only two services per night, yet at an elite $300 per person (landing Ichimura just behind Kuruma, Onodera, and the wallet-busting Masa), he hardly needs to pack patrons in for this one of a kind sushi experience…
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How Sweet It Is: L.A.’s Sugarfish Has Landed in NYC
As much as New Yorkers would like to believe that we’re the epicenter of the food world, we’ve admittedly borrowed a lot from Los Angeles and this year, we’ve even appropriated a number of restaurants as well, including Sugarfish; an outpost of California’s beloved sushi spot…
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TsuruTonTan is Serving Caviar-Crowned Udon in Union Square
Ramen has reigned supreme in NYC for some time now, but another Japanese noodle is making a serious play for attention. That would be udon — a type of fat, springy pasta formed from wheat flour — and thanks to the first U.S. outpost of TsuruTonTan, it’s finally getting its well-deserved moment in the sun…
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Go Fish at Osakana, an Awesome, New Brooklyn Seafood Market
Before he became a breakout Smorgasburg star (for his mazemen-style noodle stand, Yuji Ramen), and a respected Williamsburg restaurateur (as co-owner of the admired Japanese breakfast spot, Okonomi), Yuji Haraguchi was a successful wholesaler, supplying top-tier seafood to some of America’s top chefs…
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Morimoto Has Officially Entered the Ramen-Ya Fray
The owners of Chuko — considered by many to be Brooklyn’s best ramen restaurant — are quick to credit their mentor, Matsaharu Morimoto, for their expert noodle soups. But though ramen has remained a staple at every one of his eateries, scattered all across the country, the Iron Chef has never run a dedicated ramen-ya. Until now, that is…
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TEISUI Serves NYC’s First Yakitori Omakase
New York has its share of both posh and pricey omakase restaurants, as well as cool & casual Japanese izakayas, and they both tend to exist as totally disparate concepts. But Tempura Matsui blurred the borders last year, when it designed a $200 per person progression around fried and battered meats and veggies, and now TEISUI has done the same, making the grilled and skewered chicken known as yakitori…
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Bar Goto is a Lower East Side Go-To
Kenta Goto is the latest star-tender to emerge from the Pegu Club, following in the footsteps of Phil Ward (Death & Co.), St. John Frizell (Fort Defiance), Del Pedro (Tooker Alley), and Jim Kearns (The Happiest Hour), to open his very own industry-approved speakeasy. Called Bar Goto, the Lower East Side spot hones in on his Japanese heritage with cocktails made with sake, shochu, alongside extensive selection of izakaya fare.
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A New Start for Neta
Nick Kim and Jimmy Lau helped make Neta a star in the city’s already stacked sushi circuit, bringing their staggeringly high-end restaurant experience (at Masa and Bar Masa, respectively) to bear. But when the pair departed last year, to open their own, equally elite kaiseki spot, Shuko, it left Neta in a potentially awkward position — should they stay the course with $50 morsels of caviar-dotted toro, without the firepower of their two sushi celebrities, or find a way to set themselves apart?
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O-Ya – Review
I’ll be honest: I thought I would hate O-Ya. It gave me anxiety right from the start. I mean, it’s not everyday that you have to put a credit card down for a mere two-top reservation. (Not to mention the $100 per person fee if you cancel within 24 hours.) In fact, the cheapest ticket to entry at O-Ya is $185 for an 18-piece “sushi” omakase. And if you’re really hungry or a glutton, you can splurge on a 23-course meal for a whopping $245 per person…
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Inside Ramen Lab’s New Business Incubator
Instead of simply running a standard noodle-slurping counter, Sun Noodle recently decided to use their Ramen Lab space as a small business incubator as well. They’ve invited ramen chefs and fledgling restaurants from across the U.S., and even Japan, to take over the tiny kitchen for three weeks at a time, to refine their concepts, tweak their broths, and…
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Shuko – Review
The thing about Shuko is that it’s strangely not easy to find online. If you google this new, sushi joint in the East Village, a fashion site by the name of Shuku New York comes up for the bulk of the first page, which makes you wonder exactly how it ever became the hottest restaurant in town. And the fact that they have just 20 precious seats along the sushi bar (and a few tables for two) doesn’t help matters much…
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Korean Stew Meets Japanese Ramen at Chelsea Market’s Mokbar
Lately, Korean cuisine seems poised and ready to jockey ramen for culinary supremacy, with newer spots, like Hanjan and Piora, exposing diners to creative, beyond K-Town fare. At Chelsea Market’s Mokbar, chef-owner Esther Choi has managed to brilliantly straddle both trends —using springy Sun Noodles as a canvas, to showcase otherwise traditional Korean flavors and dishes. Choi’s clever fusion starts with…
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Zuma – First Bite
New York is an intimidating place to open a restaurant… to say the least. Even the most celebrated chefs in the world hesitate before dropping a restaurant in Manhattan. And many never dare. So it’s a big deal when a successful chain decides to open up shop on New York turf. Such is the case with Zuma, which just opened its ninth outpost on Madison Avenue near 38th Street…
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