Hatsuhana Sushi Restaurant

Sushi here is ok but nowhere near the sushi we have in Los Angeles. Service is great and the sushi is mediocre.

While everyone comes here for their box of dreams, I came here for their sushi because I like devouring a whole piece of well formed sushi than eating it from a bowl. I had the sushi deluxe ($ 39.75), you get ten pieces of their best sushi of the day plus a roll of your choice. There was fatty tuna, sea urchin, scallop, and all the good stuff. For the price, it’s great quality plus quantity. I highly recommend getting the sushi deluxe if you want to try a diverse range of fish than the typical fish you can get basically anywhere else. Each piece I got had their own special taste and texture. I loved every single piece.
Also had the grilled yellowtail collar ($ 12) here, it one of my favorite appetizer at a Japanese restaurant. They give you a really generous piece and it was very meaty. This is the only restaurant that I’ve been to where they give you hot towels to wipe down your hands before and after the meal. It’s really nice, although not really necessary. The atmosphere is very laidback and comfortable like most Japanese establishments I’ve been to. It’s definitely one of the best Japanese restaurants in NYC.

The best delivery sushi ever, hands down. Worth specifically noting that they have hand rolls, which you should definitely be getting.

Hatsuhana was just as good as everybody stated. I ordered the box of dreams with the restaurant week menu. The delicacy of the sashimi’s were exquisite and melted in my mouth. I’d have to say my favorite dish was the salmon and least favorite was the Uni. Although many have complimented on the Uni, I felt that it wasn’t as fresh as I wanted it to be so I can only give a 4 star to Hatsuhana. But all in all, I had a delightful first time here. And even though the pricing may be on the more expensive sides, the service definitely complimented it. Would definitely recommend!

I came here for restaurant week lunch. The food portion is quite huge, but there is really nothing stands out from the menu. It’s like they are trying to stuff you with all the rice and sushi with average quality. I went there around noon. the waiter told me that he can only give me a seat if I could finish my food within 40 minutes. that’s a little bit rush, and rude.

I infrequently pen Unilocal reviews and I very rarely award five stars. This establishment deserves nothing less. Visited for restaurant week lunch. The décor is sublime: from the rice paper screens to the comfortably apportioned dining rooms. The service is superb: both the host and server were welcoming and efficient. The sushi was arguably the best I’ve ever sampled.
Looking forward to returning.

Came here for restaurant week winter 2016. Also tried their well known dish — box of dreams. We made a reservation a week in advance. I came in first but the reception did not sited me until my partner is present. Excellent service, our water/​tea must have been filled 10+ times. Our waiter Nole took the time to explain what we ordered and stop by many times to see how we like our dishes. Sashimi are fresh and my partner really liked it.

Hatsuhana is one of those classic restaurants which «defines» the cuisine of Japan.
Among the plethora and maze of Japanese places in the city these days, Hatsuhana remains one of the «oldies but goodies» where one finds fresh, well prepared, and professionally served sushi, sashimi and combinations.
Situated in midtown just off Fifth Avenue, the establishment has its mix of businessmen, deal makers, and tourists. It’s good to reserve and call ahead. We did not but just got lucky.
Visiting for lunch my wife and I had a basic sushi order; tuna, white fish, Yellowtail, Spanish mackerel, and others was super fresh, well cut, and nicely presented. This is sushi to savor.
For the roll we had California and an amazing Oshinko which was again prepared with fresh ingredients. Service was good and despite the place being packed for lunch, we did not feel crowded. I also noticed the really elegant sushi bar where you can, sit, eat and watch the Japanese chefs up close. Maybe next time.
Though a bit pricey and sometimes with a forbidding wait, it’s worth going here.

I loved everything about Hatsuhana. I arrived here within 30 minutes closing time, but the staff was very nice to accommodate us. There were plenty of open tables at this time and we got a hot hand towel soon after being seated.
Our waitress was so kind and attentive. I will preface food descriptions by saying that the fish here is one of the freshest I’ve eaten. We ordered two appetizers — Hirame Usuzukuri and Salmon Carpaccio. The citron sauce in the hirame dish was just the right amount of tanginess and it was not too salty at all. The salmon dish was really interesting but oh so delicious. It has a fusion-​feel to it, combining the raw fish with fresh slices of avocado, some onions, and caviar.
The box of dreams IS a dream. I shared this with a friend — easily doable. Two cuts of fish per small bowl of rice and you get so many varieties of fish. Such a fun experience! This is a definite must at Hatsuhana. They do offer a mini box of dreams if you want 6 little bowls of fish cuts instead of 9.
We finished our meal with the Matcha Shiratama. SO GOOD. I’ve had this type of dessert in Tokyo and this one was if not better, just as great. It is a small bowl of small round rice pastries (dango) with green tea ice cream topped with red bean. The rice pastries are oh so chewy, just the way I love it. If I could, I would come back just to eat this dessert dish here… Anyway, the waitress actually recommended the mochi ice cream to us for dessert, but we decided to get a more traditional one — the better decision :)
What a smooth and delicious experience here at Hatsuhana! Would definitely come back often.

Noël is the man! Got great service here. Hot towels before and after our meal. Ended up getting the Box of Dreams, 9 cute little dishes in a wooden tic-​tac-​toe grid box as well as a carafe of warm sake.
The atmosphere is upscale and nice, with a bar/​seating area right in front of the sushi chefs. The place did get busy (even at opening at 6pm), so I would recommend getting reservations beforehand.
The place is well lit, and seems to gather a lot of foreigner/​tourist foot traffic.
I’m not a seafood person at all really, but would definitely come back at the request of other people, as the restaurant itself was pleasant, the food was good, and the service outstanding.

First off let me say this, I got food poisoning from this place on ¹²⁄₁₇ and had 1 doctor appointment on Friday and another tomorrow ¹²⁄₂₁ since the symptoms have not subside. If anyone else got sick during this time frame please reach out.
Not sure how this place has good reviews even by low standards. This place is a complete tourist trap and it should be fairly clear if you look at the location of the other reviewers.
A old friend contacted me after work saying he was around my area of town and told me to meet him here. I didn’t want to sound like an sushi snob and agreed. I ordered there 10 piece hatsuhana which allows you to choose 10 sushi items and a roll. Silly me I decide to get real sushi while everyone else was getting cali rolls. I got 2 Uni, 2 eel, 2 tuna, 2 salmon roe and 2 smoke salmon and 1 tuna roll for 38.50. Does it sound too good to be true for this location in midtown, it sure does because I ended up getting sick for low quality fish. Sushi rice is sub-​par, fish is terrible but I will say the service is good but that does not make up for it.
I will admit that I have very high standards for sushi but mainly because I pay for quality. Best sushi is town is Masa followed by 15 East/​Sushi Nakazawa (though both are a bit over hyped). For more of a french hybrid experience give Brooklyn Fare a tried. Do these restaurants cost more… yes absolutely but for all four restaurants you wont be disappointed nor have to call your doctor. Will never return to Hatsuhana again.

I came here a couple weeks ago with a group of friends since I was in town and was craving sushi. The restaurant seemed really busy for a Thursday night even though we made reservations for 8pm. They allowed us to be seated first even though we were still waiting for two people from our group to show up, which was really nice since restaurants these days especially in NYC don’t seem to allow you to sit unless your entire party is present.
The service was good and tentative when it came to refilling our waters and the food came out fairly quickly as well. We started off and ended the our meal with warm towelettes.
Half the group including me ended up ordering the Box of Dreams which is a bamboo box with nine separate compartments filled with different sushi/​sashimi samples. It was very delicious and also very nicely presented. I especially enjoyed the salmon and fatty tuna. For appetizers I ordered the mixed tempura and my boyfriend ordered the chawanmushi to share which is a steamed egg custard with chicken and shrimp and other seasonal things mixed into it. The tempura was nicely fried and was a good portion and the chawanmushi was really good as well. Even though the Box of Dreams doesn’t look like a ton of food, once you start eating it especially after some appetizers, you will get full pretty quickly, I think I was only able to finish ²⁄₃ of my box before passing the rest over to my bf.
Good sushi and good service as well I would recommend you checking out this sushi restaurant next time you’re in NYC. One of our friends also commented that this is one of the oldest sushi restaurants if not the oldest in NYC (not 100% sure if it’s true but maybe!).

Came here for lunch on weekday with reservations and we were seated pretty quickly. Service was great; we kept getting our waters refilled and my friend even had her ginger refilled! As for food, I had the sashimi special. It comes with 9 pieces of sashimi including salmon, tuna, and scallop. Everything was very fresh and I especially liked the scallop.
Would definitely come back again and hopefully try the famous «box of dreams!»

I went to Hatsuhana for my 21^st birthday and I wasn’t disappointed. One of the things that really pisses me off is when you order sushi/​a roll and they give you a minuscule amount of fish with a mouth full of rice. The portions of fish, sashimi specifically, we’re not only big, but generous. The toro melted in my mouth and the salmon was so fresh there was a slight bit of blood on the fish. The rolls as well had a good amount of fish inside. Everything we ate was exquisite and absolutely delicious
Service was fast even though the restaurant was packed. Servers are attentive and you never find yourself flagging anyone down.
Restaurant has a simple but elegant atmosphere. For 7 people including beer and sake it was 860.00(we stuffed our faces) including the tip. Not cheap by anyone’s standards, but If you want the best sushi as well as a variety of other things you won’t find anywhere else, Hatsuhana is a place you must find time to visit in New York City.

Absolutely in love with this place!
I was in town for a couple of days, so my friend gave me a several lunch suggestions and I’m so glad I chose Hatsuhana. I was really excited to try the oh-​so-​famous «box of dreams» and it did not disappoint one bit.
My friend and I shared the box of dreams and the lunch special (10 pieces of sushi & a roll of your choice). At first, we were about to get our own boxes but then decided we should share based on previous Unilocal reviews. It would seem as if you’d be able to finish a box on your own but it’s actually a lot of food. Basically each box comes with 9 mini scoops of rice topped off with 9 different types of sushi. Needless to say, we were glad we decided to share. We both walked out with satiated.
I eat A LOT of sushi. With that being said, the fish here is incredibly fresh. The other Unilocalers weren’t lying. You can LITERALLY taste the quality. I was extremely impressed and will definitely come back here. On top of all that, the staff was attentive and very friendly. It is probably wise to make a reservation. My friend said there is usually at least a 30 minute wait if you don’t make one.

I came here for my birthday – called the night before and was able to secure a reservation on Friday night! (8 people) We sat right across from the sushi bar on the 2^nd floor. Décor could be better. I felt like i was at IHOP.
The online reservations aren’t as effective as calling. Skip the computer work and call them for real availability.
This is a very solid restaurant. Our server was very informative and gave exceptional recommendations. Hot towels were given out as soon as we were seated to cleanse our hands. Popular dishes include the Box of Dreams and the Sushi Deluxe.
Box of Dreams $ 42 — Absolutely loved this! Everything was fresh and delicious. The box comes with 9 compartments containing different types of sashimi placed on top of rice.
From what I remember.
1^st Row Left-​Right — Tuna Tartare, Shrimp & Tomago, Sea Urchin (Uni)
2^nd Row — Yellowtail, Toro, Salmon
3^rd Row — Roe, Eel, Fluke
I highly recommend Toro and Uni. These pieces were mouthwatering with every bite!
There was not a single complaint from the table since service and food were excellent. We will definitely be back in the future!

This review is for delivery only. Among the many sushi delivery options across midtown, Hatsuhana used to be worth a premium based on their fresh fish despite small portions. There is only one dinner option that fits the $ 25 maximum imposed by many firms — the 3 maki roll combo for $ 21. The last couple of times I ordered this I wrote off my bad experience as an off night, but after too many subpar dinners I have to conclude Hatsuhana is no longer trying.
My 3 maki roll combo included salmon, yellowtail scallion, and spicy yellowtail with 6 small pieces each plus miso soup or salad. The rice was overcooked and mushy, the fish was delivered too warm (from only 2 blocks away) and the smell of fish was wafting through the office while it was still in the bag — definitely not a good sign for freshness. I felt compelled to finally write this review when I noticed a sharp fish bone sticking out of one of the rolls. Maybe they save their worst quality fish for the cheapo orders like mine? If I want low quality sushi, I can order from 100 other places on seamless for half the price… I’ll be doing that next time.

Solely a restaurant week experience review: 4 stars because the food quality was stellar, I would come back for the sushi grade itself! And for the great host/​hostess & waitress service!
The portion was slightly small for a restaurant week menu, even at 5-​star restaurants, they still provide decent portions! Once again, the quality of food and slight creativity was still great.
General Negative: their reservation system is a bit antiquated (on their website or by calling in), but at least they take reservations

How can you resist not getting the box of dream when you come here?
Instagram worthy: Check
Freshness: Check
Fun to eat: Check
Small dent in your wallet: Check
Compared to the obscenely-​priced omakases offered by Japanese restaurants in the city, the box of dreams will do just fine.

They don’t open til 530pm for dinner so we waited outside a bit. We have plans to watch Book of Mormons that night at 7pm. We were seated immediately since we have a reservation. The staff was super friendly, however, the service was slow. It took us 30 minutes to get our first appetizer and then another 10 – 15 minutes to get the rest of our food. Our entrée came out faster because my husband asked our waitress to bring the bill out to us because we are in a hurry. I’m guessing she was very busy that she forgot to give us our food? But she was super friendly though. Anyway this place filled up pretty quickly once the dinner time rush hit.
We started with salmon cappacio which was tasty! Love the roe on top. For entrée we had the box of dreams. This was very popular so we decided to order it and it WAS SO GOOD! Both my husband really love it! It’s so cute and tasty at the same time. We also had spicy scallop roll and yellowtail with avocado roll which was okay. We ordered uni from Japan which was so creamy. It was $ 10 each whereas the uni from Maine was $ 6/​each and our waitress said the difference is that the Japan one is more creamy whereas the Maine one is more grainy. Definitely love the Japan one as it melted in my mouth.
We rushed out the restaurant shortly after we finished because we have a show to catch. Really like the food — wish the service was a bit faster so we could actually sit down and relax. We were done with dinner by 650pm and we arrived at 530pm.