15 East Restaurant

11/13/09

Best Sushi!

by NYCGlutenFreeGirl at Citysearch

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!

• Pros: Excellent Service and delicious fish
• Cons: It's not cheap

04/12/09

Go to Nobu or Morimoto

by citymouse at Citysearch

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.

• Pros: Good sushi
• Cons: Dishonest Business

10/03/08

World Class Sushi Experience

by cholomolo at Citysearch

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.

• Pros: Amazing food, best service ever, romantic,
• Cons: Expensive

09/17/08

Don't go here!

by mabcbravo at Citysearch

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!

05/30/08

STAY AWAY! DISHONEST BUSINESS

by thesushimonster at Citysearch

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.

• Pros: none
• Cons: dishonest business

05/18/08

STAY AWAY! DISHONEST BUSINESS

by bugmenot21856 at Citysearch

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.

• Pros: absolutely none
• Cons: overpriced food, dishonest management

02/06/08

Sublime

by matheson23 at Citysearch

Fifteen years in food and beverage industry, there simply isn't a lot that impresses me. It's so difficult to find a dedicated staff, coupled with terrific food and a spot-on chef. But 15 East...?

I wept. No one noticed and I composed myself quickly, but I actually wept. I assure you I don't usually get emotional about food! I was simply consumed by the head chef's dedication to his customers (I sat at the sushi bar...you should too). The service was impeccable, but not overtly intrusive. But the food! It pushed me over the edge. The app was a crunchy seaweed and onion tempura with three salts. I tried the salmon five ways...and all five ways were perfect. I also tried some of the high end tuna. It's simply the best sushi I've had, and I've been to Nobu, Megu (full disclosure: I've yet to try Masa).

Saki selection is wonderful. Staff is serious. A truly wonderful experience. I've been back with friends and not been disappointed. Arigato gozaimase!

• Pros: Sushi, Chef, Service, Food, Saki Selection
• Cons: None

01/08/08

Amazing food for a price

by trusavage at Citysearch

I went to this restaurant knowing I was going to spend a lot of money. With that in mind, I was definitely satisfied. The food was incredible, the wine list was extensive, the service was amazing (my date dropped her knife and before we could even bend down to look, a waiter had picked it up and offered us a new one), and the atmosphere and location are great. We made a reservation at 7, walked by at 6:30 and there was not a single person inside which threw us off, but when we returned at 7 it was packed. Being right next to Union Square makes it the perfect restaurant to go to before going out. Keep in mind, the prices are very steep, maybe even a little too steep, but that is not to say the food wasn't up to par. Definitely some of the best sushi I've ever had.

• Pros: Food, location, atmosphere, service
• Cons: Price

10/26/07

UNBELIEVABLY AWFUL!!!!

by nycgirl13 at Citysearch

A friend and I had dinner last night at 15 East. I've never posted a review before, but after an experience like last night's, I can't help but feel compelled to warn others. I will get to the bottom line... if you love sushi, know good quality sushi and enjoy excellent food and service, this is not the place to dine. The sushi was absolutely awful. Not only is their menu beyond limited and inflexible, but the sushi was so fishy! We had ordered simple tuna and salmon, so nothing out of the ordinary. We had tried their special seawood salad, after being told by our waitress that it was "delectable." Now we both love seaweed salads, but this dish left us gagging. Our main entrees - wild salmon 5 ways - was also rather disgusting. Each sushi roll we ordered was extremely FISHY. The place was extremely pretentious- and I am far from the type of person to ever call a restaurant pretentious- but it was more pretentious than a place that actually deserves to be pretentious. Our waitress was harrassing us to place our order, forgot one of our rolls, and then charged us for it anyway even after we brought it to her attention. At $50 per person for terrible and minimal amounts of food, lousy and obnoxious service, its not worth the bother! We were so disappointed with our dining experience. Don't waste your time.

09/01/07

Slightly above average food and decor destroyed by ridiculous prices & service

by aonamishinya at Citysearch

Being Japanese, I'm always curious to new Japanese food. (La maison Japonais, Asia de Cuba, Basta Pasta, Sushi Samba) After passing by I decided to take a friend & try it out. Upon entering, there is a bad sign as I only saw young sushi chefs. It takes years to master knifework on fish, & that worried me. (Orientals can look young, but these were just young)

Decor is modern, different. It could be more cohesive (I work at the D&D and a buyer in the interiors trade). The repeating sumou wrestlers list is overused and tacky. The angled room layout is nice.

Drink menu is decent, though as mentioned, the prices are quadrupled of the same alcohol you can buy at Astor Wines or the real Japanese joints in midtown or east village. But then again the target audiece for this restaurant isn't Japanese, and I'll leave it at that.(hint)

The food. To see the knifework I ordered the $55 Sashimi Omakase (omakase means to 'leaving it up to you', the chef ). Also we got cooked Tuna (good) & a soft shell appt (blah). But the sashimi was poorly cut (white fish not thin enough & toro no diagonal marks). I've worked in a real Japanese restaurant in college & my parent afforded me to eat well growing up, so to be brutally honest, the chefs here are just plain bad, regarless of price. The fish itself is good, but you can get the same fish at a market. You are supposedly paying for knifework, and there's not much of it here. You are paying their rent & decor.

Now all of that wouldn't have compelled me to sign up here & write this if it weren't for the service. Even though they were friendly, they couldn't stop themselves from rushing us out of the restaurant from the appetizer stage. Even though there were still food on the sparse servings, the waitress kept on coming by & asking if we were done. For both of the main dish it was the same story. At the end, they even slapped the check on the table even though we didn't ask for it yet. We paid up $200 & swore never to go again

• Pros: Different, Moneybag Crowd, Location
• Cons: Price, Food, Service, No Original Dishes