Hama Japanese Cuisine

Great little gem in the heart of midtown. If you’re not looking for it, he might actually miss it. It has a well lit sign but the restaurant itself is in the basement. That said, don’t think gross basement, think awesomely renovated basement. The restaurant itself is gorgeous and has lots of great seating including bench seating on the sides and a large sushi bar. Because the restaurant is reasonably large you can actually hear people at your table which in and of itself a differentiating factor from most restaurants in the city. Note that I have only ever come for dinner so the crowd might be/​is likely to be bigger at lunch time.
The owner (or who I presume is the owner) is always at the door and he’s the nicest man — making jokes and talking to you as wait to be seated (two seconds top).
FOOD: This sushi itself is fresh and a good deal. I got the sashimi special for $ 25 and it was a huge portion with a decent selection of fishes.

The «kitchen» food is pretty good. I recommend eel don. Sushi is ok, but I am surprised that they serve two pieces of salmon in the 9-​piece plate. I think you will get obviously better sushi or sashimi at hatsuhana (only a 10-​minute walk away).
What really annoyed us was that the soy source dish was not clean. I will attach a picture.

A friend suggested we go to this place as a get together and I am so glad she did. We were seated almost immediately and it was not packed at all. It was a very nice atmosphere and the waitress were really attentive and would refill our tea soon after our pot was empty.
It was 4 of us but we ordered the sushi and sashimi for 3 and an additional special roll. The fish was so buttery and scallop was included it. It was so sweet and just melts in your mouth. This is definitely one of the best places I have gone to for sashimi. So worth

Trying out this place for the first time based on Unilocal review. I’m quite impressed by the spacious seating area and the good quality food.
We ordered the sushi & sashimi for two. The portion was huge for $ 55. The fish was really fresh and presentation was great. The miso soup was also light but flavorful and not full of MSG.
We will definitely come back next time to try other stuff. Really glad we found this place.

What a wonderful little gem we found!
It’s 4pm on a Friday and I get a text from one of my friends that she wants to do dinner and sushi. Of course, what do we do? We go to Unilocal and throw out some places. I throw out Hatsuhana Sushi, 4 starts, 700+ reviews, $$$ 3 dollar signs — sounds great! We all check it out and decide to go there —
None of us thought ahead to make reservations =(
We all arrived at 7:00 pm but the next available table would be at 8:45pm. FAIL.
The nice gentleman host was dressed in a black suit, very nice but very stern. He literally looks like and reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry and Elaine are waiting for dinner at a Chinese restaurant and of course, they have trouble getting in and Elaine gets hangry! And yes, we was HANGRY too so that was a no go.
We peaked inside and it was quiet and empty. I wasn’t feeling the ambience anyways so we all get on our phones and start Unilocaling the nearest sushi place. My friend calls up Hama and they happen to have a table ready. She tells them we can be there in 5 minutes. We hightail our asses from Hatsuhana a few blocks away — mind you — me in heels and this is during Christmas time. We have to cross 50^th Street and 5^th with all the tourists from Rockefeller and the Christmas light show, ugh.
Finally, we arrived, sweaty and hangry. We sit down and realize, well, this place isn’t even packed but who cares, we hangry!
I ordered my usual cabernet ($ 8) and was surprised to find that I really liked it. I wasn’t expecting much but was pleasantly delighted.
The highlight of the night — OMAKASE FOR $ 50! In NY? Never seen that before! In case you don’t know what omakase means — it’s when the chef selects everything for you.
DONE!
That’s what we all ordered. I devoured my meal in minutes! All in all, fish was fresh, we loved our meal, our waiter was funny, service was GREAT, and the price was just right. This is already on my list of favorite places to eat! I can’t wait to come back.
Oh, and the vibe is young and lively. Not dead like Hatsuhana. =)

I ended up coming here with my mother because it’s right near Rockefeller Center. The lunch special was delicious! Good prices too! We got there just in time because their lunch special ends at 2:45. I had the chicken katsu (chicken cutlet) and my mom had the nabeyaki udon (noodle soup with shrimp tempura, chicken, egg and veggies). Both were delicious! Their special katsu sauce is yummy & unlike any other sauce I’ve ever had with my katsu. Service was quick and the staff was pleasant. The facilities were clean with a pleasant ambiance. I’d definitely eat here when I’m in the area again!

High quality sushi and sashimi but quite expensive. Worth it though! I came here with a friend and we ordered the sushi and sashimi for two as well as the St. Patrick’s roll. All of the fish was fresh. Anything that involved tuna tasted especially good. The staff was also very friendly and came back often to check on us. I’m confused as to whether happy hour existed or not though, as we were never informed of this though we were there before 7 pm. One important thing to note: do not waste your money on the drinks. I had the lychee lover cocktail and there was just something off about the entire thing. It didn’t taste bad, but the combination of flavors (sake, gin, lychee) just didn’t seem to combine in the right way.
The environment is very nice! Modern and buzzing but not too loud at all. Would come here for a date or with a group of friends.

My sister and I ate here with family on Black Friday and both paid separately. It was the only place that we both spent money in one location while in NYC. A few weeks later both of our credit card numbers were stolen and used at Saks in the city. In addition to that my girlfriend got food poisoning and was sick the entire day. I spoke with the owners daughter and we are working with our credit card companies to investigate.
Important: They (the owners) have been very helpful and open in working with us on this.
This review reflects my experience and it’s important to note that I don’t any hard proof that someone who works at this restaurant was involved in the theft.

My wife and I love this place!
This place is next to Rockefeller center Christmas tree, after visiting the tree we looked for place for dinner and this place just less than a block from there.
Although it is underground but not that difficult to locate. I love the atmosphere, the interior design, staffs are very friendly.
I ordered the bento box B (chicken teriyaki combo) and my wife ordered the sushi sashimi combo and a fired oyster as appetizer. Overall quality are great, sashimi are fresh especially the fried oyster is very tasty. I believe price are reasonable in Rockefeller area.
Only cons is that theres no internet signal maybe due to its underground location, but it’s not a big deal for us.

Best happy hour sushi I’ve seen in awhile! Everything is $ 5 and $ 5 beer/​wine/​sake. Loved it the sushi was super delicious, best spicy tuna roll I will be back.

The first time I went here was for lunch with some family members. The place is quite discrete but it’s very well worth the find. The place is clean and the décor is pleasant.
We ordered off of the lunch special menu. We had ordered the sushi bento as well as the sashimi lunch special. Everyone at my table was floored as to how good the sushi was. It was probably the freshest fish I’ve had. The quality of the fish is superb and everything else in the bento box was tasteful and well prepared. Disclaimer: the Bento Boxes don’t include rice and would need to order that on the side. Other than, I’m definitely coming back and referring this place to friends.

The do some things very well and some things they should either not do or get better at.
It looks like quite a modern place but it’s not super expensive nor was it that busy. We were greeted and seated by the host straight away and then our server bought out warm hand towels which is a nice touch. We each got a miso soup and a bento box. My husband with shrimp tempura and I got the one with sushi. It all came out quite quickly which was good. So I’ll give a run down of each item below:
Miso very good
Edamame how can you get this wrong? They were not cooked enough and didn’t have enough salt.
Chicken teriyaki dry poached chicken with a bland teriyaki sauce
Gyoza bland and potentially could have been straight out of a packet.
Californian roll really good fresh ingredients and not skimpy on them either.
Sushi really fresh, melt in your mount, perfectly sliced. Fish to rice ration was perfect too, just the right size to pop in your mouth.
Tempura this was shrimp and vegetables. I ate my husbands pumpkin slices as he isn’t a fan and they were lovely, crispy batter and the sauce was tasty too. He enjoyed the shrimp.
So overall it was ok. But I would only go back if I wanted just sushi not if I wanted anything else really.

As other people before me– I found this place by chance. I was looking for in-​expensive and classy place to eat in midtown, a nearly impossible task.
So I came across this place.
I left this place not only fully satisfied, but now this is my new favorite place. The design is amazing. Their entrance makes them look like a fancy restaurant and it definitely creates the right atmosphere. However, this place is very friendly and quite. Helps to escape the noise of NYC!
I had their tuna tartar, and it was magnificent– utterly fresh, well-​marinated and just delicious! I always judge a Japanese place by their tar tar, and Hama passed the test with an A+. I also had their bento box. Yes, it is more expensive than in other places– but it has more: 4 pieces of sushi, edamame, 4 goyzas, 6 pieces of roll and chicken teriyaki for $ 20: who can beat that? Fish is very fresh and tasty.
They also have a very nice selection of beer and sake.
I loved this place and I would definitely come back!

Just a great bento box and decent enough sushi in a neighborhood where such fare runs ever upwards. Very kind and attentive wait staff. Sushi chefs aren’t exactly on the gregarious side. And gregarious sushi chefs DO exist. Data science could prove it. Don’t dine alone so you don’t have to pay that mind.
Much effort as well on décor and presentation where credit is deserved.
Closer to a 4.5.

I found Hama by chance. My friend and I were on the way to Hatsuhana, famous sushi place in town, crossing 51^st street to 5^th ave. But their nice store-​front display made us try this place.
Edamame and Shumai were just ok.
We ordered bunch of sushi a la carte, including toro, uni, botan shrimp and more. we enjoyed each pieces one by one. It’s not only fresh but all fish were well-​prepared and served pretty neat on nice plate. Sushi rice is a bit hard but nigiri is soft, so it’s like melting in mouth. I’m very sure I will come back Hama very soon.

This place is just down the street from my office. We have held a few happy hours here and I’m pretty happy with the price of food and drinks, especially drink happy hour. $ 5 can get you wine and beer, as well as some rolls. The sushi is pretty fresh. A-​Ok in my books. Definitely a spot I see myself coming again and again. I would like to come back for dinner, but their happy hour menu is hard to resist, especially for the Midtown area…

Hama has a nice décor, is a clean restaurant, and the food was very good. The Miso soup came covered and was HOT which is great… and tasted great. The softshell crab roll was very good, and this place also passed the «California Roll Test», however, once again the roll did not include cucumber. Had to ask for them to include cucumber which of course they charged me an extra dollar for??? Cmon now.
Plum wine was excellent, filtered water tasted good, green tea was also good.
Service was very friendly and respectful, which was nice.
Thumbs up overall, nice place to go to dinner.

Came for lunch. Had the sushi lunch special for $ 17. Good sushi but could use a bit more variety for the price (from what I can tell, mislabeled as $$, really a $$$). Was really hoping for something like what I saw in the Unilocal photos, but those must be for dinner or a la carte.
Compared to most other midtown sushi spots (I only mean «real» sushi, rule of thumb = Japanese owned), it was maybe marginally better quality, but had a price to match, and the food seemed to be just as generic — in terms of using very common types of fish, more American rather than «Japanese from Japan» presentation, etc. (Why am I seeing KALE garnish on my sushi platter…) Also a personal pet peeve, they serve escolar or «white tuna», which despite being widespread in the US, is not good for you, and banned in Japan for human consumption. (Just google it.). It doesn’t taste bad, but I consider it a sign of chefs giving up authenticity (hence quality) of sushi.
So I would say 3.5 stars. Rounding down to three only because I can already think of 2 other good sushi spots in the same neighborhood.
Hopefully menu expands with time. Or just find me a sweet spot by offering more culinarily interesting lunch specials.

On the plus side, zero wait. Service is good. Tea was good quality.
Tl;dr: another generic midtown sushi lunch spot. Not bad, not great. Personally didn’t enjoy as much as more traditionally «Japanese» restos.
(As of October 2015)

Came here on a Monday night after watching a show in Rockefeller. This is a really great spot for tourist to stop by after doing some shopping, but I was surprised to find this place pretty empty. It’s downstairs, but a pretty big spot with lots of seating. Very clean and nice atmosphere. Most happy hours end at 7PM, but this one is from 5PM — 8PM which is pretty awesome!
My husband and I were walking around and it was 7.55PM, we went downstairs and asked if we could order immediately for happy hour since we pretty much knew what we wanted. The guy was super nice and sat us down. We got served immediately — (a pet peeve of mine, when a place is relatively empty, there is no excuse for bad service). Hama staff was completely on top of it and was incredibly helpful the entire time we were there.
There’s a TV at the bar that was playing the football game that was on that night, so my husband was happy.
The Food:
Shrimp Gyoza — 4 pieces $ 5 Happy Hour
It’s gyoza, I feel like they’re always overpriced since you can easily make them yourself at home, but they were good, and my husband loves them.
Pork Buns — 2 pieces $ 5 Happy Hour
I don’t like fatty meat, especially pork, but took a bite to try it and it was pretty good. My husband loves pork buns and he really liked them, pretty good quality!
Spicy Tuna Roll — 6 pieces $ 5 Happy Hour
I loved that there were actual chunks of tuna, usually it’s just a mesh — which means lower quality. Came with 6 pieces per order, which is typical. Was tasty and fresh. Not as spicy as other spicy tuna’s I’ve had, but still very good.
Spicy Salmon Roll — 6 pieces $ 5 Happy Hour
Pretty much the same comments as spicy tuna roll. Honestly there was only a slight difference between the two.
Broccoli Tempura Roll — 6 pieces $ 5 Happy Hour
Great vegetarian dish, was fresh with crispy tempura. Very tasty and delicious.
The prices are pretty high for non-​happy hour, but I was very happy with the quality of food, so I can image it actually being pretty worth it. Really enjoyed the happy hour choices, food and beer. Great environment. The large space is good for groups. Would definitely recommend to others and come back here again!

I met a friend for lunch in the Rockefeller Center area. I looked around and found this gem.
We both had bento boxes. My bento box had sashimi which was fresh and tasted wonderful. Likewise, the chicken teriyaki was cooked perfectly, and the gyoza was great. Our bento boxes also included edamame, which I always love to order as an appetizer.
Considering the location, the prices were very reasonable. In fact, the prices were cheaper than many of the other places in that area.
The service was friendly and efficient. They also didn’t rush us through the meal.
The décor was very nice.
One additional note: the restaurant is in the basement, so there is no cell phone reception. For many people, that will be a big plus. However, you won’t be able to look out to Rockefeller Center.