SUSHIRO
ADDRESS: 168 7th Avenue S, New York, NY 10014
WEBSITE: https://sushironyc.com/
During the Thanksgiving holiday week, my wife Cami and I took a day trip out to New York City while we were back on the east coast visiting my parents. One of the things that we have enjoyed during our time in LA has been to go to KazuNori for their Japanese handrolls, so we had the idea when planning out our NYC visit to see what the city had to offer for Japanese handrolls as well. A quick Yelp search was how we discovered Sushiro, and we made a lunch reservation for when they first opened at 1PM.
Located in Greenwich Village, Sushiro was a manageable walk from the Pier 57 area, where we were checking out Little Island and Chelsea Market. The outside of the restaurant is very unassuming, but when you step inside, it felt very contemporary and refined, with a lot of wood décor elements and lighting to help accentuate the space. I was especially a fan of the wooden “waves” located on the ceiling, along with the lights over the sushi bar using hollowed bamboo as their housing.
Sushiro’s menu featured two different handroll set options, along with a wide array of à la carte handroll options if you were interested to customize your experience. They also offered two separate omakase options, one with a nigiri focus and the other a handroll focus. Both of these options were priced under $100, and based on our experience with the quality of the food and service, that seems like it’d be fantastic value.
I’m usually a five handroll guy when we eat at KazuNori, and there were definitely enough options at Sushiro that I found five standouts to try: toro, bluefin tuna, king salmon, kampachi, and eel. The last one that Cami and I decided to split was the A5 wagyu handroll that they offered as well. It was a line-up of quite a few different flavors, especially since each handroll was “dressed” differently, so I was definitely excited about it.
To help warm ourselves up from the walk to the restaurant, we started off with two bowls of miso soup, which had a nice richness from the miso paste, but wasn’t too strong. After that, our handroll chef got to work, with each handroll created almost like a work of art. For every handroll, it was served in a special wooden holder to keep its semi-folded shape, and placed on top of a serving plate that was located at each seat at the bar. It definitely had a feeling of being slightly more upscale, and also worked well from a presentation standpoint.
One noticeable difference with Sushiro’s style of their handrolls was the choice to serve them with the top open and not folded around. One big benefit to this that I saw was that each handroll ended up having a significant amount more fish per handroll, which definitely made it a challenge to take bites without some of it spilling out onto your plate. There were a variety of different toppings that the chefs used to dress the handrolls, ranging from scallions to yuzu kosho to crispy rice puffs. I could especially appreciate the texture contrast between the fish and the crunchy toppings used.
Of the various handrolls that I got, I’d have to say that my top three were the kampachi, toro, and eel. All of the handrolls were certainly good, and I’d get any one of them again, but those three just had that “it” factor that helped them to rise above the others. The kampachi blended perfectly with the bite from the yuzu kosho and scallions that made each bite very pleasant. The toro was absolutely melt-in-your-mouth with every single bite, and the eel had an amazing smoky flavor after the sushi chef torched it right in front of us before putting together the roll. The smoothness of the avocado slices was also a good balance to the richness from the eel.
I’m really glad we had the idea to give the NYC Japanese hand rolls a try, which helped us to find an absolute gem in Sushiro. You can certainly tell that the staff are proud of the product that they put out, with the care that the chefs put into constructing each handroll. Our waitstaff were extremely attentive as well, making sure that plates were cleared out quickly after we finished and our drinks kept full. We also had the privilege of being served by Chef Kevin, the head chef and co-owner of Sushiro, who did a fantastic job! If you are looking for a handroll bar experience in NYC, definitely keep Sushiro on your radar for a wonderful experience.
Let’s now take a look at the Sushiro Dish Spotlight. Asterisks (*) below mark my recommended dishes.
** Miso Soup **
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** Bluefin Tuna Handroll **
Topped with crunchy onions and scallions.
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** Salmon Handroll **
Topped with pickle relish and crispy rice puffs.
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** King Salmon Handroll **
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** Kampachi Handroll **
Topped with yuzu kosho and scallions.
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** A5 Wagyu Handroll (pictured left) **
** Toro Handroll (pictured right) **
Topped with pickle relish and scallions.
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** Eel Handroll **
Topped with avocado and crispy rice puffs.
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And finally, here are my rankings for Sushiro:
Food: 5 / 5
Each handroll was truly like a work of art. The fish provided was very fresh and plentiful, and the flavors stood out with each bite. Their handroll menu also provided a number of different options to choose from as well.
Atmosphere: 5 / 5
The modern feel of the bar décor was a welcoming space away from the busy city streets. Plenty of wood and bamboo elements, coupled with numerous light fixtures and the wave pattern on the ceiling, created an extremely pleasant ambiance to dine in.
Service: 4.75 / 5
The two members of the waitstaff who helped us were very kind and attentive, checking with us to see if we had any questions about their menu and making sure our drinks were refilled. Big shout-out as well to Chef Kevin, who helped us have a fantastic experience at the restaurant!
Price: 5 / 5
Even though the price per handroll was slightly higher than what I was accustomed to, I thought that the value for the price point was 100% there. This is especially so given that, with the handrolls served with the top open, the chefs provided more fish than what I have seen at other places.
Overall:
19.75 / 20
(99%)
Categories: New York, Restaurants
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