EE Grimshaw
Google
Full disclosure: this is not the type of sushi I usually eat, and I think this meal officially confirmed that I'm just not a bougie sushi eater. Classy in so many ways, but not this. I came here for dinner last night after work with my Old Man Chum. My office is in the building, so it's a very convenient location (and pretty subtle - it took me a few days to figure out that it was in the back near the southern entrance of 33rd Street since the signage in the front lobby area is minimal), especially on another gross early spring day where sunlight is nonexistent and umbrellas were left at home.
Blue Ribbon is predictably upscale but not comfortable. And it's definitely just not my vibe; like a lot of establishments in this area, you're getting a healthy sample of traveling business people, tourists (you're a stone's throw from Penn Station) and from what we could see on this particular night, Knicks fans with some cash to burn. It's not a coincidence that after this meal, we immediately hopped on the Path to hang out in the West Village with the real NYC-ers.
We responsibly made reservations but I suspect we would have had a wait otherwise. It was packed, and it's not easy to maneuver around the restaurant. That was especially obvious when we were told by a manager to move to another table to accommodate a large party they needed to seat there. A little annoying (I had work stuff that needed to be carried around too) but they DID comp an appetizer, which we 100% took advantage of. My chum spent a good portion of the meal side-eyeing our old table and noting that it never ended up being occupied. A mystery we'll never solve but the upside was it gave us an opportunity to sample the highlight of the evening, which was their Crispy Rice app. Delicious, though maybe a LITTLE too crispy for my liking (hard to get riled up about that given that it's literally in the name), and free items just taste better from my experience. I'd get that again in a heartbeat AND pay for it the second time around.
The main course for me was just okay, and I'm once again acknowledging that a big part of this is a lack of sophistication on my part. I played it relatively safe all things considered, and got two rolls - the yellowtail/tuna/salmon and the salmon/salmon kani. Could not stand the kani. I KIND OF knew that was likely going to be a fish egg situation but I thought it would be more on par with the tiny ones you sometimes get at more mainstream sushi establishments where it's drizzled on the top for a salty tinge. This was hardcore stuff, where I could feel the eggs exploding in my mouth. Nope. A bridge too far. The yellowtail one was better but still probably too authentic, if that makes sense. The fish involved in all of this were very fresh and high class, it just ultimately wasn't as tasty as I'm used to based on my simple palate.
The service was very good, which at a place like this is thankfully pretty par for the course. The table move was handled about as well as it could have been under the circumstances, and our waitress stopped by regularly. I don't recall having to noticeably wait for anything throughout the meal. The people next to us didn't appreciate a good glass of wine and left it there and I DID try to lightly convince the waitress to just move it over to our table but she toed the company line (I know. I'm a barbarian and the overall lesson here is to stick with my kind. You know, the kind who appreciate grapes that died for your sins. Anyway).
MAYbe I'd give this place a try for lunch on a slow day but I'd probably focus on the cattle portion of the menu. I'm willing to throw down some Jacksons for a decent meal but I can't justify the cost of this kind of sushi with my country bumpkin tastes and sensibilities.