Samurai

This place was so awesome. I used to come here every time I was on Bedford. It’s a shame that they closed though. The staff was great, and the Bento Box was my favorite of any Japanese Restaurant I’ve ever been to.

Very sad to report that this place appears to be closed. RIP Samurai, now there is nowhere good to get cheapish Japanese food :(

I used to live in Brooklyn, and flew in yesterday to hang out with my awesome friend. So we’re cruising the streets of Williamsburg and I’m all jetlagged and not sure if I’m hungry but good GOD it is hot and all I can think is «man, I could go for some sushi right now.» My friend indulges me and we step into Samurai. I’m the type who is already salivating by the time we sit down, so you know I’m psyched. However, everything about this experience left me with a very blatant WTF face.
The woman, whom I presume is the owner, was straight up rude. Okay fine, my friend and I were catching up and too distracted to figure out what we wanted, but we had only been in there for four or five minutes when she made her third [!] trip to our table to ask if we were ready. She hadn’t even asked us if we wanted anything to drink, but she [totally seriously] said to us, «You guys take SO LONG!» I’m pretty sure my jaw actually dropped. Who says that to a customer? It had been five minutes! This was accompanied by an expression that looked to me like she was incapable of escaping the smell of her own feces. Feeling rushed, we begrudgingly ordered, which was unfortunate because she had been blocking my vision of the specials board. After she walked off with our order I joked to my friend that I would have probably preferred something from the board. Oh well. Another strange moment was when I ordered a glass of plum wine. She informed us that it was happy hour and that wine was buy one, get one half off. She then turned and offered the half off glass to my friend? Not that I would have been upset at not personally receiving the discount, but… what?! We looked at each other, puzzled, and she declined.
Well, I was right about the specials board. I ordered the lobster tempura roll and it was only so-​so. Dry and uninteresting, I finished it simply because it was sitting in front of me and I have a policy of no-​sushi-​left-​behind. The owner also seemed to make decisions for everyone. My friend ordered a salad, so when she brought it to our table, she told her to share it with me and that we would subsequently share my roll. It wasn’t a question; it was happening. She had decided. Uh, okay. This also happened with a family that came in not long after us. They had a young baby in a stroller and after sitting down mentioned they were considering ordering to go since the baby had woken up. This woman actually told them that they were going to stay and that if the baby did indeed start crying, THEN they could decide to leave and deal with it. And they listened! I get it though, she speaks with such authority that you’re kind of just too speechless to protest.
I left her a tip on the low end of acceptable, which I really reserve for the most ridiculous experiences because I’ve worked in food for 7 years and I always try to be understanding. But this woman was out of control! Cherry on top, she saw me put the tip in the black book, came to pick it up, and opened it and counted it right in front of us. Yeah, awkward for me, but what could I do?
There are plenty of other sushi places in this neighborhood and I recommend you go to those instead. Don’t get too close either because she might just talk you into going inside!

Good. Teriaki tofu not great. Sushi was average and nigiri was over piced as others have mentioned. No wow factor.

It’s too bad, because this place actually does have pretty OK sushi.
BUT the place was understaffed. The woman who I think is the owner or part-​owner was practically pulling her hair out, running around trying to service everyone. Hire some more people, woman! Also, she confronted a group as they were leaving for not leaving her a very good tip. I have no idea if they really stiffed her, or if it was in a gray area and she should have let it go, but she did NOT let it go, and it turned into a mini drama. Needless to say, it totally took away from the dining experience.
I went with my boyfriend, and each of us ordered three rolls, miso soup and shared a seaweed salad. Our bill? Over $ 100 with tip!!!
Avoid avoid avoid if you love sushi but don’t wanna put a hole in your pocket.

Great little eat in Williamsburg. Authentic tasting Japanese dishes and some interesting and creative sushi rolls. The service is excellent. I’ve been twice so far and both times have been a pleasure. The sushi chef greeted me with a free squid salad (which was delish); and their happy hour specials aren’t bad either. Buy 1 beer or wine, get the second ½ off (Mon-​Fri, 4−8pm). Beer and wine are at most $ 5.50.
Be sure to try the rock shrimp as an appetizer and the Marble Roll.

Samurai makes me feel like I’m back home, visiting rural Colorado where the only Asian cuisine in a 70 mile radius is salty, unauthentic plates of crap that they serve at inflated prices because they don’t think any of their customers will know the difference.
We began our meal with miso and two pieces of sake nigiri (salmon). The miso was too salty and the seaweed undercooked. The nigiri was OUTRAGEOUSLY overpriced. $ 2.50 for each piece? I wouldn’t complain about spending a week’s pay on a good plate of sushi, but the cut was sloppy, the taste flat, and the rice sour and warm. Rip. Off.
For our meal I had sukiyaki and my boyfriend had katsudon. Both were extremely salty. This boggles my mind considering that Japanese food is notorious for the gentleness of its palette. Mine was so salty that I had to stop eating, even though I was still hungry.
Also, no rice with the sukiyaki??? I understand no raw egg, but charging for rice with sukiyaki is like charging for the wasabi for your sushi. Fail on their part.
Service was fine, décor was ugly (something from a tacky, black and red «asian» inspired bachelor pad), and food was shitty.
Don’t dine here.

Ah, sushi. It’s like the cocaine of food.
–you don’t get much for your money
–you can eat insane amounts, and ring up absurd bills
–you always want more food about an hour after eating sushi.
Nonetheless, sushi is amazing, and I must dabble from time to time. Samurai, is a sushi spot that delivers big-​time. If you are worried about the cocaine-​ness of this genre of food, hit up their lunch special. It is quite the deal. For dinner, these guys kill it. I’ve had some of the most memorable sushi experiences of my life here.
I was almost going to give Samuari 5 stars, and then I remembered this incredibly awkward experience I had there one time. Picture this: my mom was in town visiting, and wanted to take my girlfriend and I out for sushi. We went to Samurai, had a great meal, got totally stuffed, loved it, et cetera. Then, when it was time to pay, our sassy server gave the check to me and was essentially trying to force me to pay. She wouldn’t drop it. At first I thought she was joking, but she took it way too far for it to but funny at all. Maybe she’s old fashioned; she was almost yelling at me saying that I’m a male and I shouldn’t be letting a female pay. Yea, that got weird. Thanks for the sushi, mom!
P. S. — get the mochi for dessert!

Now, I’m not one to brag, but before I got branded with the name «karate chop» (never mind why, you couldn’t handle the story) they used to call me «Raw Fish.» I know what you’re thinking… you probably think «hey, i bet they called you raw fish because you so stinky!» WELL I’M NOT STINKY… I’m a genius. The real reason they called me raw fish is because I know everything there is to know about sushi. And i’m telling you, Samurai is good sushi.
They probably should have called me «sushi» instead of «raw fish»…would have prevented a lot of awkward and uncomfortable moments for a lot of people. There would have been a lot fewer black eyes and bruised egos in the world… I mean, who calls a man «raw fish» anyway? Great, now I’m upset.

After hearing about this place from a few friends I decided to give a try. I had the fried calamari as an appetizer and it was very tasty. I had a some rolls: Shrimp tempora, Brooklyn and California and they were all very good and fresh.

I was pretty disappointed with this place. I am pretty finnicky about my sushi. After all, I am Asian, I grew up eating it with my grandpa, so I know what is good and what is fake.
First warning sign, all the waitstaff spoke Chinese. This place is not authentic. The Chinese have impeccable business sense and will infiltrate any market if given the opportunity. They will even sell you tacos if you let them. But I digress, this place was not authentic.
We ordered takoyaki, a few rolls and a special roll that was listed on the chalkboard. The tako was chewy and tough. Bad sign. The spicy rolls were fine and decent. What really made me want to vomit was the special roll, it had mango in it (which if done correctly can be good), and also a sweet sauce glazed over the roll. This roll was too sweet, but not in a good way. I had to force myself to finish it.
If you are desperate and have no other choice, then I would say go here. Otherwise, I would look for another sushi place on Bedford Ave.
What a waste of money…

I… Love… Lunch specials…
If it’s a weekday, and I got nothing goin on, I usually goto Samurai for lunch. 3 rolls for $ 10.50, soup and salad? Yes please. The rolls are pretty standard, but yummay. Shrimp tempura and spicy tuna/​salmon are my gotos. Usually get some take-​out and bring it to McCarren on a nice day.
They used to have the lunch special on the weekends too! So I’m taking off one star to use as a toothpick.

Good sushi for a place with such a generic Sushi restaurant name and façade.
I was surprised by how good the sushi was. It was not out of this world, but it was deceptively good. I have been back twice since my intial visit and it has been good every time. Let me emphasize the word GOOD.
Not amazing, but GOOD for a sushi craving. I would say, unfortunately that Samurai is the best in Williamsburg (maybe tied with 1 or 8) for good sushi eats.
Don’t let their shitty sign out front fool you, they are good sushi chefs.

Yummy sushi… good for a little drinky drink too!
Clean and doesn’t smell like fish-​need I say more?

This place is awesome. We moseyed down to the Bedford stop for sushi (thinking there would be a few options) and walked into Samurai. I will forever more go there for sushi.
Everything was really fresh and really delicious. They have a few really innovative rolls, too. (I’d never had peppered tuna or salmon before at a sushi place.)
The prices aren’t bad, either! Check it out.

Samurai is a local Williamsburg sushi house with local Williamsburg attitude, dishing up unobjectionable Nipponese take-​out staples, and occasionally objectionable crimes against common sense.
Example: credit card minimum is an obstinate $ 15, and most kitchen entrees are priced at just slightly, annoying below $ 15. Example: I’ve been denied the ‘salad’ appetizer option arbitrarily on a couple of occasions, and instead served ‘soup’, to precede my entrée order of udon. .. soup. Example: my salmon teriyaki arrived sans teriyaki glaze. And so on.

OK, well documented that the inside of this restaurant is just ugly. That said, this is quite definitely NOT the best place to order take-​out sushi from. The sushi is average, nothing special. The last few times there was like, two packets of soy sauce for six full orders of rolls. Also forgot chopsticks last time. The worst — they’ll stick you for a $ 20 credit card minimum and bark at you to make sure you have cash for the delivery guy. Lots of barking and rude attitude on the phone. The other night I just sighed and hung up mid-​order when I got barked at for the $ 20 credit card minimum (I was at $ 18, just ordering for myself).
Note to Samurai — credit card minimum, while perhaps understandable in NYC, are technically not allowed by credit card companies, and to enforce a $ 20 min. is RIDICULOUS. Either take cards, or don’t, but don’t rudely force me to add more to my order in lieu of trudging through the snow to the ATM. Be cash only, that’s cool, I understand. But please don’t shake me down for a few bucks and make me jump through hoops to order.
Bozu, just a few blocks away, blows Samurai out of the water.

This is the best place to order takeout sushi from in Wburg.
LAPDANCING
SCALLOP!
My roommates have had their intestines rearranged by their food, but I haven’t so what who cares.

We’ve been here many many times…
So we must like it!
The food is great and the service is efficient and friendly., prices within reason (cheap). The «Specials» board is great and we’ve discovered many new favorites on it. Shrimp purses, ceviche (their style) and the list goes on.
The fact that there are many other Japanese restaurants in the area is probably the only reason it’s not crowded.
Also, the sushi is phenomenal.

As far as decently-​priced, no-​frills neighborhood sushi joints go, this one is the best.
The fish is always fresh, though it seems that sometimes the salmon sashimi outshines the tuna and vice versa… never both. The rolls are great and they have a few fun signature ones. Try the Brooklyn roll with black pepper tuna and wasabi mayo (my favorite!). For dessert, try the mango moochi.
It’s usually pretty quiet here, so the service is very attentive. They’ll even bear with me after I say no to more sake, then call them back saying «Wait! I changed my mind! I want more sake, and lots of it!»