There are tons and tons of sushi places that I haven't been to in NYC, especially the higher tier, pricier places. I was thinking we could try Sushi Yasuda or Sushi Abuzu or 15 East, but for some reason I just can't pull the trigger on places where you could easily drop $100 a person on a few (but I'm sure supremely fresh) pieces of sushi. So after researching forever, Kanoyama came up as a good compromise. It's not a dingy low budget place but it was didn't seem like it would break the bank either. I think I've actually been there before years ago but have no recollection of my meal there.
Even though this place is in the city, it's fairly quick for us to get there from Williamsburg. We arrived at 8pm on a Wednesday and it was surprisingly packed but we were able to get a table all the way in the back. The menu has a nice selection of specials in the front and I had heard the omakase is one of the best deals in town. But Dan and I wanted to share a bunch of stuff so we ended up getting the East Coast Oyster Sampler ($15), the sashimi deluxe ($28), a spicy scallop roll ($11), a lobster tempura roll ($14) and a rainbow roll ($15). The waitress was extremely soft spoken and had a major accent so it's a miracle that we were able to communicate well and that we understood her when she asked questions.
They had 2 oyster samplers on the menu: the East Coast or West Coast and they each came with 6 oysters (3 of 2 different kinds). If I wanted to ball it up, I would have ordered both coasts to try and see the difference. But we stuck with East Coast and they were fairly good. The oysters came with ginger, scallions and a light soy-like sauce. The first kind I tried was a bit too fishy but the other two were good but not plump enough for me. Sorry that I can't remember the exact kinds they were. The sashimi deluxe came with 3 pieces of salmon, 3 pieces tuna, 3 pieces yellowtail, 3 pieces red snapper, 3 pieces white fish and 3 pieces octopus. They were all very fresh tasting and the pieces were cut to the right size (although I'd always appreciate bigger pieces I know that's just not the sushi way). Of the 3 rolls we got, the rainbow and spicy scallop were good and the lobster tempura was a bit of a disappointment. The spicy scallop came with fresh large chunks of scallop but it wasn't very spicy which was a bit of a bummer. The rainbow roll was done right with no complaints here. Unfortunately the lobster tempura seemed a bit soggy and Dan got a piece where is was basically all shell and he was kind of freaked out by it. I generally don't like any kind of tempura roll but I was open to trying something new, especially if it had lobster in it! Next time I should stick with my gut. The overall atmosphere was nice and intimate but without feeling too snooty. Our total bill was $100 without tip (includes a bottle of sake). So it was a pretty hefty bill for just a night out, but for good sushi, it's hard to not spend crazy money. Maybe for our anniversary I will finally suck it up and go to Sushi Yasuda or Sushi of Gari and treat myself, but meanwhile Kanoyama will do just fine for those mildly special occasions.
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