Recommends

KGirl1010

Joined 2 years ago

Great by Japanese and American Standards. I came here with my mother and my Japanese friend.

We all loved it. I got avocado rolls and a sea-vegetable dish. The plum wine is delicious, too-- not to be missed.

My friend got some more classic Japanese dishes that she eats at home, and she deemed the restaurant really good.

If you are not an adventurous eater, I'd say stay away from 15 East because the food is definitely more particular, but it is great. The atmosphere is really nice, too.

Doesn't Recommend

Robert in the Village

Joined 4 years ago

Alas Not What it Once Was. Used to be a zen like heavely place, worth the high cost fro sensational foood. But the sushi quality dived and the noise level exploded. Now it is sushi samba at twice the price

Doesn't Recommend

wallystump

Joined 3 years ago

5 Star Deception. We visited 15 East for Valentine's Day. Prior to our arrival we received one email and one phone call confirming our reservation. Once at our table, the waiter took our drink order (though he didn't know that the restaurant only offered one kind of hot saki - we had to advise him) and subsequently our sushi order. Five minutes after ordering, the waiter returned to advise that the menu for the evening was prix fixe at $110 per person. We could order the sushi a la cart so long as we ordered the prix fixe. Needless to say we didn't stay. Apparently, this scam didn't work on two other couples as they departed when we did. Was management looking to embarrass the male in the group into paying for the expensive dinner? Perhaps, but it looks like they had a 20% failure rate.

We have eaten in many sushi restaurants around the city. We had heard that the quality at 15 East was great. Perhaps it is. But the business integrity isn't. Take your business where you can enjoy the food and be treated properly.

Doesn't Recommend

jlubert

Joined 5 years ago

Good sushi, but everything else was poor. I go tp a lot fo the high-end city sushi restaurants and this place was pretty mediocre. The sushi was good but everything else was mediocre. Me and my wife ordered the chef's sushi and kitchen tasting menu and I would definitely avoid this. The hot meals lacked any creativity. Quite frankly I could have cooked more creative tasty food myself. While the sushi was frech and good, it was nothing sepcial. no creative pieces or sauces. Basically I learned nothing and there was no wow factor. Finally, there were tons of waiters, perhaps two for every patron, but they were unorganized and not working together. As a result, service was very slow and unorganized and it was hard to get anyone's attention. as a result of these factors this place was pretty slow on a Friday night at 9PM. My guess is they won't be in business long. For the price, I would recommend Sushi Seki, Ushi Wakamuru, Yasuda, Gari, Soto, Blue Ribbon, Nobu, Bond Street and Sushi-Ann before wasting your money here

Doesn't Recommend

meng522

Joined 4 years ago

Worst dining experience so far... Terrible Experience, Please be patient and read on.

After we were seated, the manager gave warm towels for our hands. After wiping, I noticed that my hands smelled like shit, literally, so I asked the manager over and said "The towel smelled really bad" and waved my pooh hand at him. He said "I'm terribly sorry, I'll bring another towel." I seriously doubt another clean towel would do the job so I said, "it's ok, I'll just go to the restroom and wash." I spent 5 minutes in the restroom trying to wash away that smell, and when I finally came back, I noticed that my hands still smelled like pooh and went right back to the restroom. Needless to say my mood (kimochi) was totally ruined and all I got out of it was a very unremorseful "I'm terribly sorry" from the guy. Really? Did you bother going to the back of the room and check to see how stinky that towel was and how it could have happened so that it may never happen again?

As I was busy wiping my hands with the shitty smelling towels, the guy asked what we'd like to drink. I said water and hot tea. Both came promptly but throughout the hour or so time that we were there, the waiter came by to refill the water constantly but never the tea. My gf and I thought it strange but were like, whatever. At the end, when we got the check, we were surprised at the "Hot Tea $4x2" line on the bill. REALLY? When we went to Morimoto and asked for hot tea in the beginning, the waiter informed that the tea would cost extra and we ordered Sake instead. I don't know, is it too much to ask for a restaurant like 15 East to inform their customers if they're charging for tea?

We ordered two 10 pc $55 Chef Omakase Sushi. I thought, alright, we've had the 10pc combos at Tomoe $36, Sushiden $45 & $50 and they were all pretty alright, so this $55 combo can't be too bad right? When the $55 Omakase came, we were not impressed with the selection of fish. There were medium-fatty tuna (9) and the bright red lean tuna sushi (5) you see in whole foods and korean deli/marts around midtown, Tai (5), scallop (4.5), sea eel anago (5), namero (5), Kohada (4) and Kamasu (5), Hamachi (5), king salmon (5). That's a total of $52.5 on the a la carte menu... I don't know what to say.. I'm at a loss!

What was consistent throughout all the pieces of the sushi was the quality of the rice. BAD, really bad. It didn't taste like the usual sushi rice. Too dry, like the ones you get at those Korean Deli/Supermarts for lunch around midtown. I have not had such bad sushi rice in a sit-down restaurant, ever.

Recommends

NYCGlutenFreeGirl

Joined 4 years ago

Best Sushi!. Chef Masa is fantastic. He always makes it a memorable experience. When you go, you must sit at the sushi bar and order the omakase! There is no other way to do it. Enjoy!

Doesn't Recommend

citymouse

Joined 8 years ago

Go to Nobu or Morimoto. I have to agree with the most reviews: Good sushi but dishonest management system will deter return customers. I love their sushi, but I'd never go back to 15East. Go to Nobu or Morimoto for better food, atmosphere and price.

Recommends

cholomolo

Joined 8 years ago

World Class Sushi Experience. I?m new to NY and wanted to try to best sushi it has to offer. Having researched NY sushi joints online, I decided to visit Yasuda or 15 East. As a purist, I considered the former. But, I wanted to support a younger chef, so I opted for the latter. I've had exceptional sushi in Tokyo, LA, Sydney, and Masa and Nobu in NY, so I had high expectations.

My girl and I sat at the bar to get the full culinary experience. We felt as if we had the chef to ourselves. The one odd thing, however, was the music-- a mix of old school pop. I like that music, but it felt out of place.

Chef Shimizu is dedicated, informative, fun, and talented at preparing raw fish. We started with the tai appetizer, which, I must admit, did not meet my expectations. The dipping sauce (ponzu, yuzu, and Japanese spice) was tasty. Perhaps the fish was just sliced too small (in diameter) for my personal taste; and the ice presentation seemed a bit over indulging.

Then came the omakase. All were exceptional, but the highlights were as follows: Golden eye tai: I?d never had this type of snapper; it was fabulous. Mackerel: The chef accepted my challenge of getting me to like mackerel, so he presented a heavily seasoned Aji. Whatever he did to it worked. Salmon: This was a big surprise. This fish has never been my favourite, but this piece was amazing. I don?t know what it was. Sea water eel: I had read that the chef prefers this over Unagi, and I had never tried it. It was definitely unique. otoro: I love the taste of this raw, unseasoned fish. So, you can imagine my surprise when the chef grated salt & pepper on it, searing it with a torch. However, it was great and I will be ordering it again.

The service was is the best I have ever had. I never notice service unless it?s particularly bad, but this was extraordinary. Although I still would love to try Yasuda one day, I am certain that the next time I splurge on dinner, it will be at 15 East.

Doesn't Recommend

mabcbravo

Joined 5 years ago

Don't go here!. I had the same exact experience. It was 4 of us and before we even ordered they brought usan appetizer from the Kitchen and then they charged us $15 dollars for something we thought it was on the house, something we didn't even order! They also ration the soy sauce and the wasabi, they pour it onto your plate and then they ask you to give it back! I've never seen this!

Long story short, our bill was $700 for 4 people... This was not worth it! The sushi was ok, but you can go somewhere else and pay half of that for better sushi.

DON'T GO HERE, if you want good quality sushi, go to sushi Yasuda!

Doesn't Recommend

thesushimonster

Joined 5 years ago

STAY AWAY! DISHONEST BUSINESS. We went to this restaurant and we were so disappointed! The Caucasian male waiter lacked communication skills. When we sat down, he asked "Are you guys thirsty tonight?" At the time, it sounded very odd, ambiguous, and like he was trying to get us to buy expensive drinks. It me us felt not at ease. After we ordered, the waiter failed at his attempted at flattery by trying to utter "It's refreshing?um?that?you guys know what you want."

They first brought out some sugar-cube-sized tomato tofu in 2 small bowls and said "this is a starter from the kitchen." We did not order the tiny tofu and thought it was on the house. When the bill came, we were surprised that they charged us $15 for the tiny tofu that we didn't order. And they didn't list this "kitchen starter" at the top of the bill...they cleverly hid it in the middle of the bill.

The manager that night was spending most of his time & attention on a wealthy family's table. When asked, the waiters had no idea the English or Japanese names of the sushi we ordered...they just brought it and said "enjoy" with a funny look.

I know sushi. This restaurant is definitely overpriced for the food quality and service. And I wouldn't recommend this below-average sushi place, especially because they have deceptive billing. They rather trick you to pay $15 more, than do honest business that would keep the customer coming back.