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Sushi Sasabune
Photograph: Filip Wolak

The 13 best sushi restaurants in NYC

NYC's best sushi includes old-school tasting menus and more affordable newcomers.

Amber Sutherland-Namako
Written by
Bao Ong
&
Amber Sutherland-Namako
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New York City has all manner of marvelous Japanese food options, including tip-top ramen spots, excellent izakayas, and a fabulous food courts. We also have an abundance of sushi options, and narrowing them down can be a happy challenge. Here, we’ve collected our favorite special occasion destinations and more casual spots, all amounting to the best sushi NYC has to offer. 

RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best restaurants in NYC

Time Out Market New York
  • Restaurants
  • DUMBO

The hospitality group behind Kamasu first got going in Manhattan’s East Village the early days of 2020 before expanding its sushi operations in NYC and beyond, including here at its exclusive Brooklyn location. This carefully edited Time Out Market menu includes maki, donburi and its lovely signature temaki sets. You can also expect chicken karaage and shishito peppers alongside Kamasu’s beautiful fifth floor view. 

Best sushi in NYC

  • Restaurants
  • Japanese
  • West Village
  • price 3 of 4

We were first introduced to Daisuke Nakazawa when he was toiling over tamago as the apprentice to Jiro Ono, the world’s most distinguished sushi chef, in the lovely film Jiro Dreams of Sushi. When we first visited Nakazawa’s eponymous spot in the West Village, we weren’t sure we’d ever really had salmon, snapper and fatty tuna before, not like this, not with flavors, textures and temperatures that have been perfected and then, unbelievably, improved upon. Omakase at the counter is $180, it’s $150 in the chic dining room, and a sake pairing is $120. 

  • Restaurants
  • Midtown West

Kevin Chen and Jacky Ye worked at NYC's top sushi restaurants before opening their own hidden spot through what appears to be a service entrance in midtown last year. Its dining room includes a couple of patio tables and four stark white walls. But the sourcing and preparation of salmon roe ($7), sea urchin ($10) Spanish mackerel ($5) striped jack ($7) are among the best in town. Sushi 35 West's most expensive item is the $110, 35-piece omakase, which you should be prepared to take to go. 

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  • Restaurants
  • Japanese
  • West Village

Although its founders came from fine dining destinations, Nami Nori offers a more affordable menu than you’d expect if you tasted it before spying the prices. Its signature set includes five temaki hand rolls like scallop, sea bass and coconut shrimp for $28. Beer, wine, sake and cocktails are also available in the sleek space. 

  • Restaurants
  • Seafood
  • Greenwich Village
  • price 3 of 4

The omakase at the 20-seat sushi counter from Masa alum Nick Kim and Jimmy Lau has been known to include some of the best bits of marbled toro and sweet Spanish mackerel in town. It’s presently priced at $270 for sunomono and the chef's selection, with an optional $150 beverage pairing. 

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  • Restaurants
  • Japanese
  • Upper East Side
  • price 4 of 4

The tasting here is luxury experiences with the price tag to match. The counter menu includes five (or so) small plates and a selection of nigiri for $495. Accompanying sake, champagne and white wine pairings start at $185, or there’s a $120 corkage fee to BYO. 

  • Restaurants
  • Japanese
  • Midtown East
  • price 2 of 4

The counter at this lovely, bamboo-lined space is a little longer than some, but still a personal experience with a line of expert chefs slicing and plating your nigiri on the other side. Sushi Yasuda’s omakase, which might include amberjack, yellowtail and unagi, is market price, and the restaurant advises that that will typically run about $150-250 before drinks, add-ons, or tip. 

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  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Japanese
  • Midtown East
  • price 4 of 4
  • Recommended

If you wish to spend $450 on the dinner omakase here, congrats on the cash! For a taste of the sweet life at a slightly more palatable price, try the $130 lunch menu, which includes an app, miso soup, 10 pieces of nigiri like exquisitely sliced and presented barracuda, goldeneye snapper and cuttlefish and dessert. 

  • Restaurants
  • Japanese
  • Lenox Hill
  • price 4 of 4

This efficient space with a counter and a smattering of tables was one of many similarly small spots that increased its capacity thanks to the addition of outdoor seating over the past few years. In or out, get a 10-piece omakase for $70, or order fluke ($6), salmon roe ($6.50) and red snapper ($6) by the bite. 

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  • Restaurants
  • Japanese
  • Lenox Hill
  • price 4 of 4

Major-league toques like Eric Ripert and Daniel Boulud have been known to hold court over Seki’s sake and novel flavor combinations late into the night since 2002. Though it presently closes at 11pm, those in-the-know still swing by for the convivial atmosphere and sushi and sashimi sets and individual pieces. 

  • Restaurants
  • Japanese
  • East Village
  • price 2 of 4

The East Village has plenty of reliable, fuss-free sushi joints, and Hasaki is one of the originals. Its menu presently includes a nine-piece sushi omakase for $70, and you can order nine piece sashimi regular for $37.

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  • Restaurants
  • Japanese
  • Lenox Hill
  • price 3 of 4

The late chef Toshio Oguma’s particularly flavor/texture balance conscious “loosey-sushi” is served at three seatings every night. Each of the charming spot’s chefs serves just four people at a time, preparing omakase priced around $110. Tanoshi is also one of a relative few NYC restaurants where you can BYOB. 

  • Restaurants
  • Japanese
  • East Village
  • price 3 of 4

Following a 17-year stint at Nobu, chef Toshio Tomita went solo with a tasting-menu-only restaurant on 9th Street. A $150 omakase option has twelve pieces that may include mackerel, scallop and salmon from Japan. 

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  • Restaurants
  • Japanese
  • East Village
  • price 4 of 4

Don’t let the relatively more manageable prices fool you: This is real deal sushi. The corner East Village eatery turns out top-notch nigiri that stands toe-to-toe with some of its pricier counterparts. Nab a seat at the well-lit walnut bar in the quieter back room and start with the sushi regular, which includes 7 pieces and a tuna cucumber roll for $29. 

See the best sushi restaurants in America

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