After an exceptional omakase, Sushi Sho lets you take the reins - Review - New York - The Infatuation
"For anyone with a deep love of sushi and pockets to match, Sushi Sho near Bryant Park is a must-visit, right up there with Yoshino. If you aren’t in a position to spend $450 or likely double that on a meal, feel free to stop reading right now. Or press on for a little fish dreaming, which is how we’ll always remember a meal here. Served in a small wooden room that could be a venue for chamber music, the (roughly) 20-course omakase is made all the more dreamlike because of the restaurant’s no-photo policy. You’ll really want to capture the bottarga-like dried herring roe, notched into a piece of mullet roe, just to gaze at it months later. But that’s too bad. Enjoy the bright yellow herring that pop-pop-pops between your teeth, and mullet that chews into creaminess like cheese while it lasts. photo credit: Sushi Sho The other unique aspect of this Midtown omakase is its service. Attendants stand behind your seat at the comfortable U-shaped counter, ready to pour sake and tell you about the invisible effort that goes into each bite, and the menu as a whole. They’ll point out local ingredients, like apples diced impossibly small and mixed with pickled ginger, serving as a palate cleanser instead of the usual gari. And they’ll explain the techniques at play in each dish, whether it’s ice-aging, vinegar curing, izushi (fish lacto-fermented in koji rice), or octopus that’s been “massaged for an hour by chef.” Chef, in this case, is Keiji Nakazawa, who launched his career with his first Sushi Sho in Tokyo, then moved on to Waikiki before arriving in NYC and leaving his previous restaurants to former apprentices. At his counter, there are no blowtorches or “smoked” salmon, though the experience is far from stiff. Actually, the most exciting part begins when the omakase is over, and the okonomi (or a la carte) portion of the dinner begins. photo credit: Sushi Sho When it comes time for okonomi, choose at least five more pieces, though the guy next to us, a fan from Hawaii, added on nearly 30. Try some battera—pressed—saba, bluefin tartare, rare cuts of soy-marinated tuna, trout roe marinated in miso tofu, and more. The decision-making during this portion of the meal feels more like buying art then selecting your next few bites of food, and you're not likely to regret them. After dessert, you can, if you wish, drink some tea in the adjoining room before rejoining what is objectively a less perfect society. For those who can’t afford Sushi Sho, there is a silver lining: a $50 bara chirashi for takeaway. The sushi rice comes with some of the same fish you’d get if dining in-house, and it’s a great way to get a sense of the restaurant. But even if you go looking at other high-end sushi spots around NYC, there's nothing quite like the thrill of seeing Sho's chef hold up a pickled baby watermelon before deftly slicing it, or sharing your delight with the stranger next to you as you both bite into a peeled, pickled green grape, or taste something called rice cheese for the first time. Food Rundown Omakase at Hinoki Counter The only dining option, the omakase costs $450, and is typically 20 to 23 courses, including appetizers, nigiri and palate cleansers. Additional pieces in the okonomi portion come in at $25-$50 each, depending on the preparation, and are followed by dessert. The courses change, but you’ll likely see signatures like a “sharisotto,” a play on lobster risotto with sushi rice and broth that tastes like the essence of lobster. You could just do the omakase and leave happy, but we'd budget around $800 if you can for a fuller experience. The paired sake tasting costs $180 with eight different bottles, and there's no tipping. Assorted Sushi Rolls If you’re dining in, you can throw in a few take-out goodies with you at the end of the meal. We tacked on a $60 box of neatly packed rolls (tuna, ume shiso, black cod and monkfish liver with pickled baby water melon encased in vinegary rice, plus a couple of pieces of omelette). It would be a miracle if you were still hungry after the omakase and okonomi bites, but we still appreciate being able to try a more casual vessel for some of the same great fish. photo credit: Sonal Shah" - Sonal Shah
