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$$ | Lower East Side |
Ivan Orkin's improbable but true story is one of the many layers that make New York City's restaurant scene so exciting, authentic, and delicious: the self-described "Jewish kid from Long Island" moved to Tokyo and became a ramen-making master, achieving near legendary status in the Japanese capital. In 2014, he opened this Lower East Side temple to ramen, where highlights include the triple pork, triple garlic mazemen, a type of near-brothless ramen.
25 Clinton St., New York, New York, 10012, USA
Known For
- Japanese fried chicken appetizer
- Rye-based ramen noodles
- Fun Tokyo-style decor
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$$$$ | Upper East Side |
A hushed refuge at the corner of 3rd Avenue and 78th Street, this high-end sushi restaurant offers one of the city's best sushi experiences in a stylish Sukiya-style interior of bamboo and cedar woods. With a seasonal omakase menu curated nightly by Chef Nozomu Abe, known as "Noz" to his friends, including masterfully prepared Edomae sushi with fresh fish flown in from Tokyo, the two intimate nightly seatings at two counters (an eight-seat 200-year-old Hinoki wood counter and a six-seat rare Tamo Ash counter) are intimate, detail-perfect, memorable affairs with Japanese hospitality as authentic as the craft. Chef Noz presents at the Hinoki counter weekdays.
181 E. 78th St., New York, New York, 10075, USA
Known For
- Omakase only
- Elegant setting
- Prepaid reservations
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun., Reservations essential
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$$$ | |
Modeled on Tokyo's intimate brasseries, this hidden Japanese restaurant serves no sushi: they specialize in exquisitely composed small plates, best enjoyed as part of the eight-course omakase (chef's tasting menu), though you can also order à la carte. Instead of a dining room, guests are seated in private booths separated by bamboo curtains, so other diners are audible but not visible. The gracious waiters can recommend sake to pair with your meal. This might be the closest to Tokyo you can get in Brooklyn.
77 N. 6th St., Brooklyn, New York, 11211, USA
Known For
- Japanese omakase
- Private booths
- Romantic date spot
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No lunch, Reservations essential
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$$ | Prospect Heights |
A small, reliably tasty menu of signature ramen bowls headlines this Prospect Heights institution for noodles, buns, and Brussels sprouts in fish sauce. Pork, chicken, and eggs are typical add-ons to any of their flavorful bowls, although any can be made vegetarian. Long waits for a table are the norm, especially during winter months.
565 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn, New York, 11238, USA
Known For
- Ramen
- Very popular
- Decent sake selection
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$$ | Cobble Hill |
There’s something almost zenlike about the food at this open, airy restaurant. The traditional and modern sushi rolls, the Kyoto-style obanzai (Japanese tapas), and the smooth, creamy homemade tofu served in small glass bottles will leave you feeling relaxed and satisfied. The reasonable prices and daily specials keep locals coming back for more.
333 Henry St., Brooklyn, New York, 11201, USA
Known For
- Traditional and modern Japanese
- Daily specials
- Zenlike atmosphere
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No lunch weekends
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Recommended Fodor’s Video
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$$ | East Village |
Crowds still form for the ramen at Ippudo, the first American branch of the famous Japanese chain. Loyal patrons say it's all about the rich pork-based broth (there is a vegetarian version available, though it lacks the depth of flavor), but those in the know also order sleeper-hit appetizers like the peppery chicken wings or pork buns. There are several other locations around the city.
65 4th Ave., New York, New York, 10003, USA
Known For
- Heaping bowls of addictive ramen
- Worthy appetizers
- Classy but bustling atmosphere
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations not accepted
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$$$$ | Financial District |
At this impressive location in a unique setting of Botticino marble that's part of a century-old building lobby, the sushi stalwart serves the innovative Japanese cuisine that namesake master chef Nobu Matsuhisa made famous (though he's rarely in attendance these days). Count on fresh, colorful, daring dishes, or just put your meal in the chef's hands with Nobu's tasting menu ($225), or omakase, then let the kitchen do the rest.
195 Broadway, New York, New York, 10007, USA
Known For
- Trendy crowd
- High-quality sushi
- Omakase tasting menu
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$$$$ | Gramercy |
Some of the nation’s most highly regarded food has emerged from the kitchen at Odo, which serves elaborate multicourse Japanese meals known as kaiseki for lunch ($135) and dinner ($245). With just 14 counter seats around the small open kitchen, the experience is essentially a delicious kind of theater.
17 W. 20th St., New York, New York, 10011, USA
Known For
- Local and seasonal foods rather than imported Japanese specialty items
- Reservations essential
- Impeccable service
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon. No dinner Sun. No lunch Tues., Reservations essential
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$$$ | Lower East Side |
Instead of walking straight into the Moxy hotel, go to the large door to your right and head down the curved stairs to one of the most beautiful new restaurants in the city. Perfect for a fancier date night, Sake No Hana serves traditional and fusion Japanese food with a wide array of menu options. The wafu (a Japanese-style vinaigrette) carbonara is to die (they whip the poached egg yolk into the noodle dish right at your table), and the spicy tuna tartare with fresh crunch radishes is so stunning-looking that you might not want to eat it—just make sure you take a photo before you do.
145 Bowery, New York, New York, 10002, USA
Known For
- Impressive decor
- Maine lobster
- Temaki and sushi
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No lunch, Reservations recommended
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$$$$ | West Village |
It's all omakase at this acclaimed sushi spot from master Daisuke Nakazawa, who practices an old Tokyo style of sushi making—putting all his extremely fresh fish on a thumb-size bundle of rice (sorry, sashimi fans). They only take reservations two weeks from the day. Fans of the 2011 documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi might remember the chef as the apprentice to the Tokyo-based sushi master Jiro Ono, who spent the near-entirety of the film trying to perfect the egg custard; Nakazawa finally succeeded, just as he has succeeded in wooing even the most finicky New York diners.
23 Commerce St., New York, New York, 10014, USA
Known For
- Mind-blowing raw fish (priced to match)
- Hard-to-get tables
- Jiro Dreams of Sushi film
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$$$$ | Upper East Side |
The many options at this popular, casual sushi restaurant range from the ordinary (California roll) to the more unusual, such as miso-marinated cod or Japanese yellowtail with jalapeño. Japanese noodles (udon or soba) and meat dishes such as teriyaki and negimaki (scallions rolled in thinly sliced beef) are well prepared. Some of the inventive non-sushi items on the menu are worth a try, especially the fried cream-cheese dumplings. An omakase-style tasting menu is also available, offering the chef's selections of the day's catch for market price. There are other locations, too, including one across the park on Columbus Avenue and in TriBeCa.
402 E. 78th St., New York, New York, 10075-1676, USA
Known For
- Sushi and rolls with creative sauces and combos
- Omakase option
- A number of locations around the city
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon. No lunch weekends
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$$$ | Midtown East |
Founded by a team led by namesake chef Naomichi Yasuda, and now helmed by chef Tetsuaki Otomo (known as Tomo), this restaurant has a sleek bamboo-lined interior that is as elegant as the food. Here you'll find sushi so fresh and delicate it melts in your mouth, as well as fish flown in daily from Japan and the creamiest sea urchin. The fine selection of sake and beer complements the lovely food. Try to sit at the bar, which was handcrafted by Yasuda from imported Japanese materials.
204 E. 43rd St., New York, New York, 10017, USA
Known For
- Attractive bar
- Some special appetizers change daily
- Good selection of sake and beer
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. No lunch Sat.
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$$$ | Greenwich Village |
An homage to the genre of jewel-box-size restaurant-bars in Tokyo that play vinyl while patrons sip Japanese whiskey and eat feel-good fare, this subterranean, 12-seat spot offers three seatings per night—6:30 and 8:30, and on Thursday to Saturday, 10:30—for a seven-course Japanese-influenced tasting menu. The offerings change with the season and the chef's whims, but expect dishes and libations such as a shiso-wasabi mojito, nuggets of pork katsu paired with shishito peppers, and a caviar sandwich. Take it all in while tunes from Ray Charles to the Beastie Boys to Prince and everyone in between ooze off the vintage vinyl spinning in the corner.
127 MacDougal St., New York, New York, 10012, USA
Known For
- Changing fixed-price menu
- Vintage vinyl on the Hi-Fi
- Intimate experience
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. No lunch
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$$$$ | Chelsea |
This Japanese chain's first U.S. location takes the concept of fishing-pole-to-fork quite seriously: you actually sit at tables on a boat-shaped platform (amid exposed brick walls) and fish for your meal in a plus-size tank right in the dining room. After your fish is caught—there's trout, salmon, fluke, flounder, and others—specify how you want it cooked (tempura, grilled, as sushi), and a short time later, that once-swimming fish is on a plate in front of you, ready to be devoured.
152 W. 24th St., New York, New York, 10011, USA
Known For
- In-restaurant fishing
- Ultrafresh fish
- Large sake selection
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No lunch
