Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill

"Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill is kind of a ridiculous concept on paper - a Frankenstein fusion of Blue Ribbon Brasserie and Blue Ribbon Sushi in a hotel lobby. We’re huge fans of the Blue Ribbon brand, especially the brasserie and sushi outposts. We’re not huge fans of Midtown, especially Midtown hotel restaurants. How is this going to work exactly? Believe it or not, pretty well. The sushi at this Blue Ribbon is excellent (as it should be), and they put some delicious tweaks on a few brasserie classics that will blow you away (see, fried chicken with wasabi honey). This place is, however, insanely expensive. So expensive that we don’t recommend coming unless you’re dropping a corporate card or rolling with someone that’s so rich they eat Faberge eggs for breakfast. Food Rundown Kanpachi Usuzukuri Amberjack sashimi with yuzu pepper. This is in the yellowtail family, and is ridiculously good. The yuzu adds a bit of a kick, and has a little citrus to it, which makes for a tasty appetizer. Kani Sunomono Blue crab rolls wrapped in cucumber and drenched in a ponzu sauce. We recently had a waiter highly recommend these, but they’re not all that. Tasty for sure, but save the dollars for something else. Oxtail Fried Rice This might be the greatest fried rice on earth. It’s a good sized serving of oxtail fried rice with an omelet on top. Inside the omelet? Bone marrow. An absolute must order. Yaki Hama Baked clams in miso butter. These are amazing, but you’ll wish that there were more than four on the plate, and you’ll wish they weren’t four bucks each. Smoked Pork Belly Kushi Yaki Like the fried rice, this is a good sized serving (rare for this place), and is another must order. Basically a pot of pulled pork served with rice and hot sauce. Get it. Fried Chicken “Blue Ribbon Style” Very similar to the signature Blue Ribbon Brasserie version, but with wasabi added to the honey. The chicken is perfect, and the honey has a strong wasabi kick that makes it even better. This is outrageously good." - Chris Stang

"Open since 2015, Blue Ribbon turned one of The Grove’s most cursed and consistently vacant storefronts into a mall staple of sorts. The very fact this upscale sushi bar is still around is a triumph. The sushi and sashimi dishes are solid enough, but you’re going to ignore most of it to focus on their fried chicken wings. They’re crunchy, moist, and served with a wasabi honey sauce that takes each bite to a new level. Paying $22 for six wings is slightly painful, but so is The Grove, and you managed to say yes to that. " - Brant Cox

"Open since 2015, Blue Ribbon turned one of The Grove’s most cursed and consistently vacant storefronts into a mall staple of sorts. The very fact this upscale sushi bar is still around is a triumph. The sushi and sashimi dishes are solid enough, but you’re going to ignore most of it to focus on their fried chicken wings. They’re crunchy, moist, and served with a wasabi honey sauce that takes each bite to a new level. Paying $22 for six wings is slightly painful, but so is The Grove, and you managed to say yes to that. " - Brant Cox

"Take a break from shopping for Blue Ribbon’s modern take on Japanese cuisine. The restaurant features fun dishes like fried chicken wings that come with chile sauce and wasabi-honey and oxtail fried rice with a bone-marrow omelet. There’s even a kids’ menu with simple maki rolls and chicken rice bowls." - Cathy Chaplin, Farley Elliott, Jean Trinh

"Blue Ribbon restaurants are like friends you can still feel comfortable talking to even if you haven’t seen them in years. This spot in FiDi is always a dependable choice—as long as you’re willing to spend a little money. Most of the menu here is Japanese, but you’ll also find some steakhouse staples like a filet, a strip steak, and a whole steamed lobster. The seared sea scallops in miso butter sauce are a good way to start, and you should get the sushi deluxe platter for a nice sampling of nigiri. Order at least one steak for the table to share as well as the required fried rice with oxtail, bone marrow, and eggs (the best thing here). You probably won’t excitedly text all your friends about your dinner, but this is still a good place to have in your back pocket for when you need a solid meal. photo credit: Steve Hill" - Kenny Yang