Sushi Zen

So sad to see this one go! It was beyond a beyond fabulous place for true gourmet rolls and sushi items! Will be missed!!!

Folks, get your Sushi Zen fix this week, because I was just told by the restaurant that they are closing permanently on 2÷29÷16! Their lease is expiring, so therefore bye-​bye to my boss’ favorite restaurant. Sigh.

Very quiet Japanese restaurant, nondescript from the outside. Rather standard looking inside. This place serves traditional Japanese food.
I enjoyed the shrimp tempura with pieces of vegetable tempura. It was fried pretty hard.
I ate my first pieces of fugu here — fugu kaarage, which tasted like hard, fried stuff. There wasn’t much taste or meat to the kaarage actually. The fugu sushi was pretty good, the fish had a bouncy texture sort of like squid.
The sushi was all sorts of pieces of fish on top of rice. The fish was not as fresh as at Morimoto, and the rice was not vinegary or warm at all.
Overall, standard, traditional food which I like. Polite and courteous real Japanese staff. Decent place, I like it though in NYC it doesn’t stand out.

I would have to say that anyone who gives Sushi Zen less than 4 stars is clearly ignorant of what good Japanese food is. I am a Japanophile and have been eating at Sushi-​Zen for 25 years. I still go to may other Japanese owned and run restaurants, and Sushi-​Zen always remains in my top 5. Suzuki-​san is one of the best chefs I know. He is always serving fish so much above the norm in both seasonality and quality. I usually do the Omakase which can easily run from $ 125 — $ 200 a person without alcohol or kitchen dishes. I usually ask Suzuki-​san to keep my Omakase at $ 125, knowing I can always order additional pieces if I want. I would give Sushi-​Zen 6 stars, if I could.

My cousin strongly URGED me and my husband to go to Sushi Zen based on his marvelous experience. Therefore, my husband and I decided to dine it hoping for a similar experience. And let me tell ya, not only was our experience marvelous but it was splendid!
Nice atmosphere but a bit tight with the seating. The service was very gracious. A bit on the pricey side but it’s so worth it!
Normally, I would just praise the sushi but this time the praising definitely goes to the sashimi. The sashimi here are exceptionally delicious and top-​grade with sparklingly fresh, often unusual cuts of fish. They have a great variety. They also have a great seasonal selection.
I must say that this is a great place for an elegant sushi meal and all its trappings, including wonderful cooked offerings on the menu.
We are looking forward to coming back again!
TIP: Now, I would highly recommend this restaurant for a quiet evening dinner date, business lunch, or to sit at the sushi bar by oneself.

We got there without planning it, after a Broadway play. We got a place at the bar, that is the best spot. It closes at 10:00 p.m. A quality hidden jewel in the crazy Times Square area. Chef Suzuki rocks, he was very entertaining. The quality of the omakase very good.

The restaurant is conveniently located in mid Manhattan. And the very tranquil atmosphere as soon as you enter, you feel. Very private atmosphere with exceptional service, with detail to attention of presentational culinary art is apparent through their choice of elegantly crafted and chosen each and every plate and extra chosen presentation props throughout. The entire package elevates the sophisticated elegant mood and to show case the excellent quality fresh fish is the final and very important actor and actresses. The stage preparation is definitely there… It is delicious to the pallets as well as the visual beauty is to make your heart dance through our eyes. Oyster was exceptionally decadent. Three of lady friends had a wonderful time. Thank you.

Celebrated my 6yr anniversary here with my girlfriend last night. This was our second time there. The food was great. Ambiance was great and the staff were very warm and welcoming. Overall another great experience.

I don’t really know what to say…
Judge a book by it’s cover?
Marketing scheme of news articles at the front door?
Pictures of the sushi chef?
Interior Design?
Nah, your the dumb blonde believing in their reviews.
DAMN this place was disgustingly nasty and sad.
$ 95 for a horrible omakase experience by true Japanese chef is a disgrace on planet earth.
For this kind of money, you get almost nothing.
— Appetizer
— NO SOUP! WTF?
— Grilled Mackerel
— Sashimi
— Nigiri and Maki.
— NO DESSERT EITHER? WTF?
Appetizer was basically a tomato and a eggplant.
Sashimi was placed on a bowl of ice with little to basic décor. Yes this pleases the eye of westerners whom don’t know anything about kaiseki.
Grilled Mackerel was probably microwaved and not freshly grilled. Didn’t come according to timing. They gave me the mackerel the same time as my sashimi plate. Your suppose to wait, there’s timing for everything.
Nigiri and Maki was horrible to say. Sushi rice wasn’t marinated with vinegar. The chef didn’t know how to grip the rice firmly and each set of rice under the fish was of different sizes. Fish was poorly saw (cut) through. Things were falling apart everywhere. Chef also didn’t know how to marinate, garnish, or flavor the fish. The maki or roll used soggy seaweed. Your suppose to use fresh dry seaweed that is crispy and tasty.
Yes you do get uni and bluefin, but non of those tasted good without proper care.
I ended up finishing the fish on the nigiri and leaving the horrible rice on the plate.
Basically supermarket sushi for the price of a high end restaurant. All the reviews seem to be americans. Non of the customers inside was Japanese. Sorry for being critical, but we’re from west coast. We travel to Japan once a yr and have eaten everywhere in Asia. Your no-​where close to being a proper japanese restaurant.
Good luck and burn a hole in your wallet.

I came here with my fiancé and his parents for dinner one night. Everything that we ordered was delicious and fresh. Oh and their desserts are amazing! I would definitely come here again.

I’ve past this place many times. Finally ate there last night. 3 of us walked in with no reservations. They us within minutes. The sushi and sashimi was possibly the best I’be had. I had the sushi — sashimi combo main course. Very fresh and nice presentation. Fatty tuna outstanding. My girls had different rolls. Very good. Service very attentive without interrupting.

We ordered the Friday special for $ 39. Menu I selected consisted of salad with squid and sesame dressing, vegetable and shrimp tempura, 10 pc chef special sushi and green tea. Everything was fresh and tasted good. The tempura dish portion was surprisingly a decent size. It was crispy and flavorful but it was a tad bit on the greasy side. The sushi was fresh and the wasabi was homemade. Overall, it was a very good restaurant but overpriced.

On the pricier side, but the sushi was fantastic. I had the daily sushi selection and my husband had the premium version. Every piece was great. We also had a few rolls– california and salmon avocado– both of which were perfect. I loved the vibe of the place also. I felt like I was eating in a spa… with a restaurant ambience!

Let me say this first, this meal was free so I’m bias already! (Free as in someone took me out and not free from Sushi Zen)
I was taken out there for lunch, since I tried Sushi of Gari 46, I thought I try Sushi Zen.
You can’t miss this place, it’s right next to the IRS with a big clock indicating $ 18.2 trillion of US debt (that’s 12 zeroes folks) and counting that we owe to the rest of the world. I figure I eat as much as I can before I have to pay that up.
Anyways, I got the HUGE (probably radioactive) tempura shrimp as appetizer. I got the Omakase, 10 pieces of sushi with fresh fish on top. A tuna roll on the side.
The quality was very good (unless you want to go to tsukiji market and eat it straight from the fish market, so I reserve BEST for tokyo, but you don’t have to fly 13.5 hours over there, and save airplane ticket, eat 10 times here at Sushi Zen)
Great lunch!!!
Top quality without having to fly to Japan!!!
I think it’s better than Sushi Gari (Gari likes to put their own cream and sauce on top of the sashimi, kinda ruined the original taste in my opinion).
I would try Gari again just to do another test, but Sushi Zen is SOLID!

5 adults, we all ordered the $ 95 per omakase and some drinks the bill including too was almost $ 900. Started off with tofu with bamboo shoots, then some sashimi, salmon, yellowtail and medium fatty tuna. Followed by tempura then finished with sushi, yellowtail, fatty tuna, 3 different kind of snappers, sea urchins and a couple others. On the expensive side but this isn’t some random sushi joint owned by Chinese (nothing wrong with that) but real Japanese sushi.

SUper Pricey but good!

Sushi Zen is right across from the theater showing Hedwing And the Angry Inch. GREAT COMBO for the evening — fresh, high sushi plus a fantastic show.
We sat at the sushi bar and had (2 – 3) medium fatty tuna, (1) salmon, (1) roe, (1) uni, and then I had (1) red snapper while my friend had (1) white yellowtail sushi. It was very delicious. Total bill was c$ 120 (not including tip) for 13 pieces of sushi.
At this price level, I think Sushi Zen is a quality choice. Very solid and it was easy to get seats on a Saturday night at the sushi bar.

Amazing ginger salad dressing and tasty food. The place needs a good scrubbing since if you sit at the window you can see the dust on the shelf. Still — speedy service and tasty food.
The prices are a tad high which for Manhattan is to be expected. Layout isn’t cramped which is a big bonus in the city. I’d go again.

3.5, rounding up
I’ve always said that I can’t really tell between cheap and expensive sushi but as of recent I’ve been going to nicer places and I am able to discern subtle differences. Sushi Zen is really good quality (although I might also be convincing myself of that to justify the price, ha.)
This is not your typical sushi spot — the lunch menu items range between $ 25 – 40 (and $ 68 for the omakase) but it is a good amount of food. I ordered the special sushi which comes with tuna, white fish, salmon, spanish mackerel, eel, shrimp, seasonal fish, tamago, and 6 assorted rolls. I was actually so full by the end that I just ended up eating the fish (I know, faux pas) and I liked that they were able to take out the wasabi from the rolls because I do nottttt like it.
The ambiance is really nice and they give you a hot towel at the beginning of your meal. Good service as well.

Came here for lunch with a co-​worker.
Atmosphere (²⁄₅): they tried to cram customers in there like sardines. Way too many tables for the space. The décor was pretty neat though.
Service (²⁄₅): they were prompt with delivering our entrees, but had to ask them 4 times for a glass of water. Unacceptable service.
Food (³⁄₅): the food was decent, but way too expensive for the price. Sashimi with a 6 piece roll — not worth $ 65. We got a seaweed salad — 5 different seaweed assortments in one. The wasabi sauce gave it a nice flavor with the salad.
I wasn’t too impressed with this place — the hype is overrated.

Très bon, très fin et l’œil apprécie aussi l’assiette.
Par contre il faut muscler votre porte monnaie: comptez 100 dollars a deux !