Kelly Z.
Yelp
This place use to be Sushi You. They changed the sushi bar to be more traditional but the table arrangement is pretty much the same. We were a party of four, so we called early afternoon to reserve seats for omakase for the same night. We all opted for the $115 set that comes with everything on the $95 set, plus a handroll and the wagyu beef.
First off, we were served our appetizer: monk fish liver (I'm not a fan of the texture), something that was like fish brain (it was creamy, stale tasting, really gross), and oysters (these were good). Then we were served a bowl with a piece of uni, botan ebi and salmon roe. After the appetizers, we waited about 20 mins before we were served our nigiris because it took the chef awhile to prepare every fish. I did not enjoy this part because I felt like we were rushed once the nigiri portion began. We did not have time to take pictures of the pieces and the chef did not seem patient. When one of us was finish with one piece of sushi, he would already serve them the next piece, so he did not wait for the others to finish. I have personally went to omakase that is suppose to be a 30 mins experience, which they sort of rush you a bit because each time slot is timed, which is totally understandable. However, this was suppose to be an 90 mins experience and there was only us at the omakase table and four ladies, who were already having dessert when we got there.
The main reason why I am giving two stars is because the sushi rice was so vinegary that all I could taste was rice vinegar. It was absolutely gross and I am a type of person that enjoys freshly grated wasabi, not to place on the sushi, but to taste it a bit between the nigiri pieces, however, they did not provide wasabi on our plates (something I'm not use to). Also, the dessert was so cheap... it was "black sesame panna cotta" (it is black sesame paste with some gelatin - the black sesame was not mixed very well, so the black sesame is all just settled on the bottom), two small pieces of honeydew and Asian pear. We also ordered a bottle of large sake and we all paid $165/person with tip and tax included. We all left unsatisfied.
Another thing, that bothered me was that they did not ask us whether we would like to opt out of certain pieces (I don't like mackerel) and whether we had allergies to anything (2 of us were allergic to honeydew and pears). I can see potential in this place, but they need to have more outgoing sushi chefs that actually tells their guests what they are serving. After almost each piece, we had to ask the chef what type of fish this is. Each time, he would tell us in Japanese, but what is it in English? The chef was Chinese so he could of told us in Chinese as well.. I really wanted to like this place, so I would not have to travel to Manhattan for omakase.