SakaMai

Japanese restaurant · Lower East Side

SakaMai

Japanese restaurant · Lower East Side

3

157 Ludlow St, New York, NY 10002

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SakaMai by null
SakaMai by @TheInfatuation
SakaMai by @TheInfatuation
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null
SakaMai by null

Highlights

Chill, stylish sake bar & restaurant featuring many rice wines, plus elevated Japanese cuisine.  

Featured in The Infatuation
Featured on Michelin
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157 Ludlow St, New York, NY 10002 Get directions

@sakamainy

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157 Ludlow St, New York, NY 10002 Get directions

+1 646 590 0684
@sakamainy

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Last updated

Mar 4, 2025

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@infatuation

"In the late '70s or early '80s, sundried tomatoes "arrived" in America, and slowly but surely, they became the coolest thing in town. Restaurant after restaurant started adding them to dishes, because they were fancy and exotic and all around announced that you were classy. Do you remember going to a restaurant in the '90s? There were SO MANY SUNDRIED TOMATOES. Fortunately, the '90s are over and no one has to subsist on sundried tomato and goat cheese paninis anymore (NOT HATIN'). But there is a quickly rising sundried tomato of our time (or at least of hip New York restaurants in 2015). It is sea urchin. A couple years ago, sea urchin, or uni, was mostly known around these parts as an "exotic" kind of sushi - the type that divides tables and makes people say, "That looks like a tongue." (It does look like a tongue.) But now, sea urchin's all over the place - and it seems like every new restaurant serves some kind of uni dish. I'm pretty sure there are at least nine Italian restaurants that opened in the past two years which serve pasta with sea urchin. If you're the kind of person who gets psyched up about uni as if it were a Pokémon card (GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL!), you'll definitely be excited by Sakamai, a Lower East Side Japanese sake bar where a pretty high proportion of the menu includes the ol' sea urchin gonads. The rest of the menu is filled out by other rich, delicacy kind of foods that elicit similar fan-girling: bone marrow, caviar, foie gras. But despite the over the top ingredients, SakaMai is a pretty relaxed place. It looks like a typical Lower East Side wine bar, straight down to the sake that's served in wine glasses, and nearly all of the plates are small and designed for sharing. For the most part, the rich ingredients are mixed into familiar Japanese-inspired dishes like hand rolls, meatballs, and ramen noodles, so it's not like you're not going to be straight up eating a plate of sea urchin and bone marrow. How much you like this place will largely depend on how much you like to get down with the ingredients described above. There are both fancier and dive-ier places to eat this kind of Japanese bar food, where the food may be slightly better or slightly cheaper, but SakaMai's a nice Date Night kind of middle ground, and a good respite from the surrounding wine bars. You know, ones where they have sundried tomatoes. Food Rundown Egg on Egg on Egg A sea urchin shell gets filled with so soft they're barely cooked scrambled eggs, caviar, and uni. If you're here, you're going to want this. Wagyu and Uni Sushi Handroll Turns out raw beef with uni and Japanese pickles in a handroll is really good. Get this. Beef Tartare Not a beef tartare is not for the faint of heart. It's mixed up with horseradish, and there's a whole bone full of bone marrow to scoop out next to it. This one pushed the "do these ingredients all need to be here" line just a bit. Tsukune Meatballs. But with foie gras! And an egg! Of course. These mostly taste like nice, if rich meatballs. Seared Scallops Scallops. But with miso-infused bacon! Again, these taste like nice, if rich scallops." - Hillary Reinsberg

SakaMai Review - Lower East Side - New York - The Infatuation
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@infatuation

"Cheese-haters who love uni will be happy at SakaMai, because pretty much anyone who likes uni will be happy at SakaMai. It also helps if you like eggs, because you definitely want to order the “egg on egg on egg” to start (it’s uni plus scrambled eggs and caviar, served in a sea urchin shell). Get the uni mazemen (with ramen noodles, bone marrow, and bottarga) too, and add a handroll and some steak or sashimi if you feel like momentarily pretending your diet consists solely of luxury foods." - Emma Mustich

Where To Go When Someone Hates Cheese - New York - The Infatuation
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@michelinguide

"At the Michelin-recognized gastro pub SakaMai in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, six-ounce A5 Miyazaki wagyu katsu sandos are served for $85, but the chef, Takanori Akiyama, makes only five daily." - Marguerite Imbert

Don Wagyu Opens in Manhattan’s Financial District
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Food_travel_girl

Google
Delicious delicious delicious! Everything I ate I recommend! Waiters were super knowledgeable and explained everything in detail. Loved the vibe, food and people. It’s a must go!

Winnie Xu

Google
We had a great time at Sakamai seated upstairs in their semi private room for larger parties. The vibes were perfect and we loved the decor. Food wise, we ordered a bunch of plates to share. The dry aged duck was done well, medium wellness but not much flavor. Crispy maitake were yummy pairing to the duck. The charred brocolini with soft boiled egg was decent, not sure if I'd put raw egg yolk texture on my crispy and oiled vegetable normally though. The lightly battered octopus was perfectly cooked and super crispy! Shishito peppers and oysters were good, nothing crazy special here. Karaage I'd probably skip next time, the citrus-y aioli sauce was ok but the batter was really dry and starchy, which is not reminiscent of an Asian style fried chicken. Overall was still a good time, but I think the menu is very similar to other places in the area with a fusion take on Asian cuisine.

Baozhen “Bao” Huang

Google
Everything we ordered was really good. The wagyu beef sandwich probably was one of my favorites. The beef was juicy and tender that melts in your mouth, and the sandwich on the outside was thin and crispy. The uni mazemen is a must try. The noodle was bouncy and creamy, and filled with uni flavor…so umamiiii

Aaron Pan

Google
Really good food. The egg on egg on egg, uni makemen and the katsu sandro are a must try. We paid around 350$ for 3 people, which is a good deal considering the amount of food we got

Grace Lee

Google
this place is suitable for a date in terms of their atmosphere and the menu, the dishes are small but delicate and delicious. It is not recommend to come if you are very hungry as you will need to order multiple dishes somewhat costly. We got shishito peppers, beef tartare, and grilled octopus. all of them are great just won’t leave you feeling full.

Sheng Vang

Google
I went here in October 2017 while I was in NYC for fieldwork. Go here! Seriously try the tasting menu - it was $125 and worth every single penny. The uni was different, I have never had it before and I would definitely eat it again! The salmon and tuna were the best I've ever had (mind you I eat a lot of raw fish). The octopus was cooked to perfection and the sauce on the bottom very much complemented it. The aged duck breast literally melted in my mouth - It was not gamely like most duck breast you eat in restaurants. The dessert was FABOULOUS!!! I recommend going here, the service was great, the bartender made me a few whiskey sours. I have nothing negative to say - they cooked and prepared all my dishes to perfection! Very Happy Customer!

pokelij

Google
Insanely good I came with a huge group of over 20 people (which took up more than half the seating of the restaurant) and even still everything was unbelievable. The Service right out of the gate was spectacular, very fast to refill drinks, picking up plates when used, and always helpful when asked questions. The food was on another level, having me eat a ton of food I never would have eaten otherwise. Massively recommend

Rob

Google
Nice fusion Japanese food - New York trendy Food - some top options served. My favorite was the waygu served in toast. You have to savor each bite. Atmosphere - smaller restaurant ( typical of new York) intimate setting with the dark decor. Cost - in line with New York dining. Pricey, but what do you expect. I had to get french fries next door after because I was still hungry. Service - service was good.