Ariyoshi — Restaurant in New York

Just to start, I'm new to Sushi Cuisine. A friend has been showing me the ropes. I've been to a few places, Ariyoshi being my most recent outing. When you walk in, the furniture is a little dated. It was as if I walked into a Chinese take out restuarant. It wasn't the best, but not bad enough to make me walk away. They had room for us indoors. The staff was gracious. We were handed menus, and drink orders were taken. We ordered warm Sake. It was brought to the table nice and hot. We ordered some a la carte items, but for the main course we ordered the Sushi Boat for 2. We were served our Miso, and salad first, then our a la carte items came. They were actually pretty good. Best part of our meal. Then the brought us the boat. The sushi wasn't what we expected. It smelled fresh, but something wasn't right. I've only been to a few sushi restaurants. I'm no expert, but I've been to 4 star sushi restuarant, and I've been to a few local spots. I can't tell you what great sushi is. But I can tell you that something was off. It was as if they used cheaper cuts of fish. The fatty tuna was off. The color was off. It was a highlighter pink kind of color. The taste wasn't the greatest. The California Rolls weren't bad, but still not the greatest. We decided to leave not too long after that. We took the rest to go. The desert wasn't bad. Green tea ice cream was great. Red Bean ice cream was enjoyed by my friend. We paid the bill, left a small tip and walked out. We felt so unsatisfied. I've spent the same amount of money in other sushi places and had a way better sushi experience. Not sure if I would go back. After this review, I may be a little...

If I would have to rate this restaurant with zero stars. I 'll do it without any doubt. On Sunday 2/11, I had the worst experience. I called the restaurant for a food delivery service, Erika one employee won't approve my delivery unless its $15. I ordered 2 appetizer (I was sick, so my appetite was not the best). I ordered aprox $13 i asked her to add $3 dollar tip so they could deliver my food. She said unless I tip $5 she would be able to. I've been a loyal customer for many years, I've been given Ariyoshi great business bringing my family and friends and of course I had spent more than $15. What poor customer service from this individual. When I asked her to speak with either the owner or the person in charge, she replied noone is available. Really? How does a restaurant or any business operates without a manager? She was extremetely rude and condescending. I had to find somebody to help me pick up my food order to learn later I was overcharged by Erika. She was not helpful in anyway. I ended up asking for my money back because I lost my appetite. When I went to the restaurant (I was very sick) to confront her I told her expect a bad review and she got the nerve to yell in from of other customers this is a free country. This lady is the best example of poor customer service representing a business. I'm surprised the owner have not realized how of a rude and unprofessional employee she is. Remember her...

Very sad to leave this review. My first experience a year ago (for lunch) was great and I really enjoyed the food. I remember the chazuke being very tasty! But sadly I cannot say my second experience (for dinner) lived up to prior standards. While the service was very good, the food was...very bland! Only the gobo and salmon skin small plates had any flavor. My main dish, ginger pork, barely had any ginger flavor to it and the meat was too thick and rubbery! It definitely seemed like they used a cut of pork that's used for pork cutlet instead of using thinly sliced pork as I've usually had for this dish. Because the meat was so thick and tough, it didn't absorb any of the ginger sauce. And on top of that, the ginger sauce barely had any ginger taste! I was looking forward to this dish as it was something I used to have once a month when I used to live in California. Also, the batter for my boyfriend's tempura was very soggy! I thought it was odd how quickly our food came out. Unfortunately the food quality has gone down while prices go up. I feel like they might focus more on the sushi platters and give very little thought to any other dishes in their menu. I guess I'll be out on the hunt to look for a new Japanese restaurant that has more flavorful dishes and actually focuses on quality for ALL items...