Ushiwakamaru

Truly the best sushi in NYC. Not even a debate

What an experience. We are here last night, ordering the omakase and the sake flight. The omakase was exceptional - incredibly fresh, creative, unique, many fish direct from japan. Every part of the meal was delicious and of extremely high quality. The wasabi - delicious and flavorful- not your standard Japanese restaurant lasts. Very fresh, beautifully cut ginger. Two Differently flavored rices for different dishes. The owner and head chef graciously and proudly served us at the sushi bar and we had an extremely knowledgeable waitress who explained when there was more to know. The miso soup with two clams that we ate at the end was delicious. The space is simple, elegant, tasteful. This was a truly transporting experience.

Best sushi I’ve ever had. We did the tasting at the sushi bar. Highly recommend!

Best sushi I’ve had in nyc!!!!

this is one of my favorite sushi restaurants in NYC, never disappoints. Kuribara-san is the master of the negi-toro!

food was fresh and sushi chefs were very professional. As a value prop, do not come here. It seats like a 3 start sushi place you find on Oklahoma, and the service was slow. There are much better places in the city of Omakase in the city.

We can enjoy very traditional and authentic Sushi at Ushiwakamaru. I believe Ushiwakamaru and Hide-san is No.1 in New York!!

Nothing special, not great

Didn’t exceed our expectations. Was good. My girlfriend salmon was dry like bread. Really great rice compliments the fish In a very fluent way.

It wasn’t the restaurants fault. Their was one patron who was so loud... his voice was the only one anyone could hear. Why do some people not understand how the room is not interested in his opinions. The staff was gracious... the food amazing. Definitely a exceptional restaurant.

Omakase was the best I have had -- sushi and sashimi were varied and top-quality. It's nto cheap, but it's not as much as some of the competition, and it's better.

Outstanding

I hesitate to NOT recommend Ushiwakamaru because there are many good things about it--in particular the fish, which was very fresh. I doubt that I'll be going back, however. The room itself was quiet, except for the table of women next to us. I know their dating life stories in detail. I reserved several weeks in advance and didn't see any option on Open Table for bar seating, which is what we wanted. Upon arrival, we were told that the bar was fully booked, but then there were empty seats at the bar the whole night. The service like the decor was somewhat cold. That was the first adjective we used when we left. One might say that it was the Japanese way (one of us is Japanese), but we were left wanting something more. The waiter was very professional, which translates as seeming a bit stern. We gave him that. He was taking his job seriously. We did have a lot of trouble hearing his descriptions of the food as it was served. The hostess seemed to be concerned about tables freeing up. She could have hovered less. The bill came to about $425 for a carafe of sake, omakase (chef's choice), and edamame. The chef's selection of sushi and sashimi was excellent, some of which we had never seen before. It's hard to find a Japanese-Japanese restaurant in the area, so if you want good quality sushi, then give it a try. But I so much wanted to like Ushiwakamaru more than I did, and my partner agreed. For the price, I think we hoped to be feel swept off to Japan for a couple hours, but we really never left Chelsea.

The tuna special was fantastic, but I never received the miso soup and didn’t realize it at the tjme. The green tea ice cream for my friends birthday was a nice surprise.

Amazing omakaze

Nice little spot
Sushi was just OK
To be fair, the seared fatty tuna dusted with truffle was very good

Some of the best sushi in NYC at any price point. Location doesn't help them but its worth it if you care or quality of fish over ambiance.

Upon entering the restaurant you were met with the smell of rotting fish. The lights were bright and kids were screaming and the the restaurant was loud.

Despite having 5 open tables, it took us 5 mins to be seated as the hostess had to get changed and it looked like a package was getting delivered to a client or some sort of dispute was getting resolved.

I’m looking at the menu one couldn’t help but wonder how fresh the fish could be with the stench in the restaurant. But luckily the fish was for the most part very fresh. I would stay away from the lobster miso soup. That lobster might have been sitting in there for days and was inedible. The meguro tuna was some of the best I’ve bad in the city!

Overall food great...service was ok...ambience was horrible.

Definitely not a date place and more of a fast food vibe. But for fast food restaurant ambience we paid $225.

Still left a healthy 20 percent tip because the waiting staff in NYC are usually not paid great wages and survive on tips.

Would not recommend this in the future.

A real disappointment. Portions were incredibly small and not generous in their presentation. They should check out some other sushi restaurants to see what they are doing wrong.

While fish was some of the best I have had, the pacing at the sushi was bar atrocious. Slow, with uneven pacing - all we wanted to do was leave

Overall, the fish was outstanding as was the service. However, the prices were extremely high and my husband and I ended up going to a different sushi restaurant that evening afterwards for dinner.

Quality of the sashimi was excellent.

Very expensive restaurant compared with the quality we receuved and the service

Quite simply, this place offers some of the best, if not the best, high quality sushi in NYC. It really is that simple. It's all you need to know.

Made a reservation here for dinner after an art opening, the staff was very accommodating over the phone. The restaurant layout was a little strange in that tables were lined up only in half of the dining area, and the really long sushi bar only had chairs at one end. Despite these slightly bizarre things, and the fact that it took a waiter a long time to come take our order, this is some of the best sushi I have ever had in my life. Sorry, Matsuhisa! Every piece of fish melted in your mouth with such extraordinary freshness and flavor - wow! For a birthday meal, we splurged for the 10 piece Omakase ($100), and it was incredible! The waiter let us know some of the sushi was delicately seasoned and did not require any soy sauce at all. There was a beautiful toro with smoked flakes of salt on top, the sweetest, freshest uni ever, and the most tender seasoned squid - fantastic. I tried Nozawa not too long ago, and I think I preferred this sushi, even though the atmosphere is quite loose.

You don’t go there for the ambiance. It’s simple, austere. You go for the food, and you know you’ll spend a fortune. This is not your normal sushi place. It’s an experience to savor and remember, for very special occasions. For people whose palate is developed and sophisticated. You will not find a dragon roll on the menu.

As a sushi lover, I think this restaurant is okay.
I had a nigiri set(10pieces) and steamed egg custard pudding. The fish were fresh and the price is affordable.
Might be back!

Very reasonable Japanese. Especially sushi is best in NY now.

The best Japanese food we have ever had— including all of the great restaurants we have tried in Tokyo over the years.

Consistently delicious. Great food and service every time I've been here. Amazing quality sushi in an unpretentious setting.

I pulled the trigger on Open Table to make a reso for 2, then realized that I had to call in for bar seating for the omakase. I called the restaurant a bit late in the evening, luckily a man picked up, I explained what happened, and he took down my info & said it wouldn't be a problem.

We made it to the restaurant and were seated right across from Mr. Kuribara, the owner. During the meal he revealed that he was the one that took my phone call & purposely sat us in front of him.. so awesome. We had such a great time & every single bite was incredible..probably one of the best food experiences I've ever had. I would recommend Ushi Wakamaru for an authentic and fun experience, definitely sit at the bar!

It was so yummy...very fresh fish...the service is outstanding and the sushi chef makes the best fish...had a great time with my friends and are very satisfying.

Ushiwakamaru is one of our favorite restaurants. The food and service is always exceptional. My favorite sushi role is the toro with oshinko.

Omakase sushi has too many rice，but the sashimi is really good.

Absolutely the best sushi I've ever had. I have always hated Uni and was reluctant to try it, and even that was absolutely delicious. This is worth a trip and worth the cost.

One of the best sushi restaurants I have ever been to! We didn't have the omakase as neither me nor my husband like uni and substitutions are not allowed. I had no issues with that & happily ordered off the menu. Between the both of us, we had the root vegetable soup (the best we've ever had! So much umami flavor!), an assortment of sushi and sashimi, miso cod, etc....every bite was heaven in my mouth.
Service was good and courteous, restaurant ambiance was fine - comfortable enough but nothing that made me go wow. The nicest thing was the green tea "cake" dessert that was served as a birthday cake. So yummy and so much appreciated! We will be back very soon!

My sister visits us every other month and when she comes to town, we have dinner in the city.
We usually order their Omakase, so we can have the best of the best for that day.
The food was really really good!

Great food and excellent service. Love this place!

It's a satisfactory location - but there were details missing for true sushi lovers.

The restaurant was slightly stuffy, and I think it made the wait staff tired.

The server I had was confused by the term "toro" -- extrapolate from there.

They had no house rolls, which would be fine, but the general choices for nigiri were also limited - they had no hamachi (and the server offered "amberjack" as the "same thing").

They got our order count wrong.

Ok -- so that all sounds terrible ... but it was still quality fish, the sushi we DID have was top line, it passed the "uni test" for quality.

It felt like maybe they'd been a fancy game in town at one point, but now they're a little pressed and doing their best to keep it up.

I doubt I'll go there again.

Restaurant does not have liquor license and does not serve drinks