Jōji — Restaurant in New York

What can I say about what I experienced? Coming from the background I had, I made a promise to myself that if I returned to New York, I'd treat myself to a special experience.

Joji was a holiday gift to my inner child.

The space is very clean and contemporary looking, with nice wood accents. From the person at the entrance, to servers and sushi chefs, all of the service was polite (and I know not everyone claims to experience this but I did), warm and kind.

I read online it's impolite to try to talk to sushi chefs while they're working so I was pleasantly surprised when our sushi chef (and Owner, Executive Chef George Ruan) engaged me in conversation! It was fun to learn his favorite fish, and then try it!

Perhaps it is better I didn't know I was served by the owner of the restaurant until I read about it later, as I may have been intimidated. He's so kind and humble, and takes the craft of preparing each dish with care.

My family didn't want to join me, so I went by myself. I was next to 3 couples, and while it was nice to see people on dates, I do think they seems distracted and may have missed out on experiencing the full flavors--just my opinion. In hindsight, I was glad I went alone to savor everything in quiet contemplation, at my own pace.

We joked that my favorite fish wasn't available, and as I took the next bite I said "maybe this is my new favorite!", and smiled.

Perhaps it may seem like "well, obviously", but it was really the most flavorful and soft fish I've ever eaten. Some of the textures felt like they melted as I ate.

My favorite bites (seasonal picks so it may be different fish served for you): Toro tataki Aka ebi caviar toast Shiro ebi Uni caviar Saba Chutoro

What I enjoyed most, though, was how attentive everyone was as I experienced delicious bites. It's the small details/considerations like replacing ginger or finger wipes that I really enjoy in addition to the meal.

Matt was the server for drinks and I watched as he went from person to person ensuring that our cups were full with whatever we ordered. I think because I was by myself, he checked in on me a little more which was nice. I do feel bad I was a little overwhelmed with the final bill I could have tipped (a lot) better. Next time I'm bringing family and maybe friends, and we'll tip a lot more. In the meantime, I hope my review drives business more!

Recommendation: have a light breakfast and/or lunch and leave room because you will be satisfied by the end of the Omakase experience..something told me to show up hungry and I'm glad I did!

If you plan to have tea and/or drinks (and I do recommend either), you can expect to pay $350 give or take.

On its own for lunch, Omakase experience is $275.

I don't know if I will ever crave sushi again, unless it's Omakase with a highly...

First off, if you coming for first time, good luck finding the place. Hint: you won’t. I almost gave up after asking several ppl but kept on looking only because I know they will still charge me for no-show. I won’t be able to describe location much only that there are no present signage and it’s basically in sub level of Grand Central Station. Like I said, good luck.

It’s a nice place inside and quite modern looking though as with most Omakase rooms, windowless. But duh, it’s in the basement level.

Food is good but value not so much. You can argue a Porsche is quite expensive but can you buy another car that drives like a Porsche? Highly unlikely. There are cars close or better but if you want a Porsche, you wud have to pay for one. No so here because while food is great, I can have sushi equal or better for much less. And there was really only one hand roll with tuna and caviar that really stood out.

I rarely come out of these Omakases full and normally I won’t complain since it’s mostly fish with some rice but you wud think at this price range, you be full but you wud be wrong and mind you I ate immediately before this dinner and had a lobster roll and salad and was worried I ruined my appetite.

There are some pluses like always able to get a seat since it’s so hidden and if you enjoy chatting with the chef, he is quite friendly so this wud be the place for you. I find some to be not too friendly or chatty either because of personality or language barrier.

Getting the bill, I feel I shud appreciate Tock where they usually charge you one fee for food and your choice of gratuity beforehand. Here, food cost, tax, tips, and some cheap drinks ran me nearly $600! Ouch. And I was...

TLDR: for the takeout boxes, wasn’t too impressed with the quality or originality of the fish pieces. If you have had sushi on the west coast or in Japan, then I’d say this won’t live up to your expectations.

Joji box 1: 4/10 - The tuna and salmon nigiri were sub-par for the price point. We liked the hamachi nigiri though and thought it tasted quite good and fresh. The salmon avocado roll was decent, but wasn’t much of a fan of the spicy tuna roll as the tuna tasted kind of mushy (perhaps a personal preference but it just being slightly mushy and lukewarm wasn’t a good mix in my opinion). I feel like if you to are spend this amount of money perhaps just pay for the in person omakase experience for the same price elsewhere.

Omakase Chirashi: 5.5/10 - We liked the uni and the roe best out of this box. The fish quality itself though, just wasn’t impressing us for some reason. The rice at the bottom of the box didn’t taste too seasoned either.

The packaging is in a box included with soy sauce, chopsticks, napkins, ginger, and wasabi. The wasabi didn’t taste like the authentic fresh grated kind you normally get at omakase restaurants as well as the soy sauce tasted like the kind you get from the packets when you order grocery store sushi. I guess given the fact that the restaurant experience is more elevated and had seemingly good reviews, I expected the same level of quality (or at least slightly lower not significantly lower) in the takeout as well. Overall was looking for more here, and it just kinda fell short in...