Ninja New York

11/15/09

Horrible experience

by iv445 at Citysearch

Ridiculous that in today’s economy, a restaurant completely does not give a damn about customer service. Just got back home, extremely disappointed, after wasting an hour in dealing with a rude and disrespectful staff. Decided to take our five year old to a “cool themed restaurant,” have never been here before and needless to say would never attempt to go back. Expected a nice atmosphere for a family Sunday night out. Called the restaurant, before driving down from the Upper West Side, the receptionist stated that the restaurant opens 5:45, she “checked” the reservations list and said to just walk in. After parking the car, waited in a disorderly line outside for 20min, the extremely rude hostess said no reservation just wait on the side, after 10 more minutes on the side line, she stated that no tables are available until 8:30pm (leaving us with a more than 2 hr wait,) offensively we where asked “will you wait or not?” After leaving, called the restaurant the receptionist unapologetically stated that there are no tables until 8:30, after speaking to the manager, who frankly did not seem to give a damn, the same statement was repeated. In total 1 hour wasted, extremely disappointed that such a restaurant is still open.

• Pros: Would not know could not get in
• Cons: Very rude staff

10/13/09

Truly Magical

by Jonathan456 at Citysearch

I have to admit I was skeptical coming here, but my girlfriend made the reservation so I went along with it. I thought it was going to be terrible, but boy was I wrong.

First off, the food was great. My girlfriend said the sushi was okay, but I had the steak and it was amazing. At one point a ninja jumped out of no where and scared the crap out of us, that was fun too.

At the end of the meal, there was a magician who came to our table to do magic. Although I thought it would be cheesy and annoying, it was AMAZING. Honestly... it was the highlight of the evening. This guy was incredible. Unlike our Japanese waiter with long black hair (the one who scared us to death) the magician was as American as you could get. He was white, brown hair, and was named Ben. (Can you get any less Asian than that?) However, after a few jokes about being "The Great White Ninja" we all laughed it off and had our minds blown with his skillful sleight of hand. Seriously... it was scary how good this guy was. Maybe he was a ninja after all.

Dessert was also another highlight. I don't remember what it was called, but there was a fresh rose in dry ice that looked like smoke was coming out. Clever idea.

All in all, I would definitely come back. (Especially if you are trying to impress a lady)

• Pros: Food, Magician, Ambiance
• Cons: Very dark and hard to find the bathroom

02/03/09

recommended for kids and adults for an adventure

by panache17 at Citysearch

went there for my b-day and loved atmostphere-- which gave us a good privacy. Even though there were kids' b-day parties going on we didn't get too bothered since we had our own private booth. Their hospitality was great and food was pretty good but pricey. If you are up for an adventure before your meal, or if you want some good quite privacy, this is the place to go!

• Pros: atmostphere, friendly staff
• Cons: food was bit pricey