Epic. That's really all I can say. Or maybe Holy Shit, did that meal just happen? Ever since the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi came out, people have been literally flying to Tokyo to get their chopsticks on his delicious sushi. Luckily for those of us in NYC, one of his apprentices in the documentary just opened his own sushi restaurant in the heart of the West Village not so long ago. As if that having the backing of the movie wasn't enough, Pete Wells from the New York Times just gave it the coveted four star rating. There are only 4 other restaurants in all of NYC that have the 4 star rating and now Sushi Nakazawa joins the ranks as the only sushi place on the list. Also, if you Google Map this place, it will show up as "Omakase for high rollers". Funny and yet kind of true at the same time.
Luckily, I was able to snag a random reservation about 2 weeks ago for a Tuesday night. There are 2 types of seating: at the bar for $150 and in the dining room for $120. The meals are exactly the same: omakase style, meaning chef's choice, no menu at all. I opted for the $120 version but I do kind of regret that I didn't just go the extra mile to sit at the bar to watch the master at work. The service here is impeccable and very high end - usually not my thing but after tasting the food here, I get it. The meal is 10 plates, 20 pieces of sushi and of the utmost purist form - there is no soy sauce, no extra wasabi, or ginger in sight. What you get is what you eat. Besides, every piece has a small but perfect dap of wasabi underneath each piece of fish. We started with the salmon plate:
One type is fresh king salmon and the other version is a smoked style. As Janet said upon our first bite, "Did that just melt in my mouth? I didn't even need to chew." It was pure heaven and it wasn't just because of the fish. I thought that the rice was amazing. I've heard that the key to a good piece of sushi isn't necessarily the fish, although that's important, but it's the rice. It was perfectly cooked with the right firmness to it. Meanwhile the fish went down like butter. The 2nd piece tasted a bit like lox which isn't a bad thing either.
Second plate:
The 2nd plate consisted for raw scallop and clam. Raw scallop is one of my favorite types of sushi and this literally blew my mind. First of all, it was the biggest piece of scallop I have ever seen in my life and it just tasted like the ocean in a fantastic way. Amazing. The clam dish was also sublime. I'm usually not a huge fan of clam sushi but of course, like everything else here, it changed my mind about it.
3rd plate:
The 3rd plate included bass and barracuda. I've never really had bass sushi but this made me want to order it every time I'm in a great sushi bar. I can't quite explain it but it was just mouth watering. The barracuda was also another type of fish that I've never had before and this had a very smokey taste to it but it wasn't an overpowering flavor.
4th plate:
This was the plate that I thought I would like the least because it consisted of Spanish Mackerel, Shad and Saba - all usually very fishy tasting and generally my least favorite fish at most sushi joints. This was still probably the fishiest of all the plates of he night but like everything else here, still mind blowing. Clean, surprisingly mild and fresh as can be.
5th plate:
This plate had blue shrimp and squid with a piece of mullet roe. The shrimp was enormous and had terrific sweetness and a nice crisp give. The squid piece was actually my least favorite of the night. It just didn't really taste as buttery or amazing as all the other types of fish.
6th plate:
This plate had 3 pieces: striped jack, yellowtail and bonito. There was this bright red piece of sushi in the middle of the dish that we thought was sushi, but no, it was yellowtail! I had never seen red yellow tail before but who cares, it was spectacular. I'm running out of words for amazing and mind blowing, but you get the picture here.
7th plate:
Ahh, the tune plate - one piece of fatty tuna and one piece of medium fatty tuna. Fatty tuna - enough said.
8th plate:
Now this is the part of the meal where I might have actually started weeping. This beautiful piece of sushi here is Santa Barbara uni. It was quite possibly the best pieces of sushi, not to mention uni, I've had in my life. Words don't do it any justice except it was creamy and earthy and amazing. Along with the uni, this plate had the salmon roe sushi - they had the fun pop and saltiness to it that you come to expect with a quality salmon roe piece.
9th and final sushi plate:
This dish consisted of eel and the famous egg that Mr. Nakazawa obsessively slaved over in the movie. If there was one small fault to the meal, it would be that I didn't think the eel dish was as strong of a bite. In fact, I would say I've had better elsewhere, but that being said it was still good but definitely one of the weaker pieces.
Lastly, the egg dish. The famous egg custard doesn't seem like it would be a big deal, but it was the ideal way to end the meal. It tasted just like a sweet egg custard dessert. It's nothing like any of those tough eggy triangle pieces that you normally get in a sushi restaurant.
The last meal of the night was a refreshing serving of cut up pineapple and yuzu sorbet with pomegranate, raspberries and blackberries. They were light, tart and a good palate cleanser for the night.
I've always known that there is a huge difference between bad sushi and mediocre sushi and even good sushi. But now I know the difference between great and sublime sushi. I'm almost regretting that I came here because it's not really a meal or experience that I can do or afford on a regular basis and now every sushi meal I have will be set at an unrealistic and unattainable comparison.
As we were walking out, we saw all the sushi chefs focusing diligently on their craft and they were just the cutest things ever. The service here was extremely attentive - to the point where every time we took a sip of water, there was someone right next to us 2 minutes later refiling out glass. If you are a serious sushi lover, this place is a must. But just know, you've been warned that the rest of your sushi meals after this will pale in comparison. Total bill: $330 for two includes 1 glass of wine, tax and tip.
Photo Credit: Janet Fu
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