Natsumi — Restaurant in New York

Lapin and I came here for dinner on a Tuesday night. We had made reservations according to the LivingSocial voucher. We made reservations for 6:30pm but we still had to wait even though there was seats in the back. When we were finally seated, they gave us these two tiny side seats but that could barely fit one of my butt cheek (sorry..for the image).

The waitress came over and filled our water within 5 minutes of us sitting down. When I pulled out the voucher, she yelled “LivingSocial” three times loudly while pointing to us, like we were the plague. According to the voucher, the deal was only good in the bar and lounge area, however, we were not told that when we made the reservation and assumed they knew when they seated us. We were moved into the bar and sat awkwardly in this white table with sleek adult high chairs. We were given the menu but no water or acknowledgment. Finally, the manager came over and moved us to the couch near the window. It was a bit squashed because this loud and rowdy group who were talking over Rodan + Fields (yes, I am calling you out for being inconsiderate) products took over most of space. They use most of our small chair as a coat rack and leaving us to put our stuff on the floor. They were throwing their elbows around almost crashing into our tapas plate and wine.

Our voucher included 4 tapas to share and 1 bottle of wine. The lounge was packed but died down around 8pm. They did have a live jazz band playing but it was quite loud but died down after the crowd from R+F left and the music stopped.

We ordered a bottle of Riesling, which was tasty but a bit sweeter than Lapin wanted. The bottle wasn’t the standard bottle size but almost a half bottle. This could be because we used a voucher. I ordered the rock shrimp tempura, it was delicious and came with a good size portion. I also ordered two maki rolls - the california roll and rock shrimp roll (6pc each). They were okay; the seaweed was a bit chewy. The rock shrimp roll was a bit bland and had no sauce with it. They also forgot to serve us soy sauce even though I tried asking several times for it. Lapin ordered the fried Japanese chicken and was unimpressed by it. He thought it was going to be tastier and it was a bit plain -- he said he could make better. He also ordered the chicken and shrimp dumplings. The dumplings did have a whole shrimp in it but he thought it was on par with the Trader Joe’s ones.

The service was a hit and miss in the beginning, but when the manager came to check in on us he saw that we weren’t have a great time. After we finished our meal, the server came over to surprise us with four pieces of tempura cheesecake on the house. This was a good job on behalf of the management, I went from hating being there to actually wanting to go back (but ordered something else). Never have I seen a manager who actively took steps to make an unhappy diner happy and for that, they deserve a 4 star review instead of the original 2 star review I was...

Terrible. Terrible. Terrible. The atmosphere of this restaurant is great and the staff was great in getting my boyfriend and me a table even though we didn't have a reservation. We ordered the omakase, in which there were two choices 1. take (~$78) and 2. matsu ($98). We asked the server what the difference was between the two, and he informed us that the matsu comes with two appetizers as well as higher quality fish. Upon hearing that, we ordered the matsu. I still remember how dumbfounded we were when the server came with the first appetizer WHITE TUNA. If you know anything about white tuna, you would know that it isn't tuna and something that you should avoid. Not only is it terribly unhealthy, some countries (such as Japan and South Korea) ban white tuna from being sold because it is deemed toxic. Upon arrival of this appetizer, we immediately asked the server to take it back because we will not be eating it. Trying to calm ourselves from the shock of seeing escolar in a Times Square restaurant, we waited for the next dish, which turned out to be salmon. We each took a piece to eat, and almost gagged from the smell of the fish. I had the hardest time trying to keep it down, and I still regret not spitting it back out. The salmon tasted cooked and the smell was unbelievable. That was enough for us to ask for the check as we were not going to sit through the whole entire night trying to force down what other unimaginable food they were going to serve. We were truly looking to enjoy a night of good food in good atmosphere before our flight back home, and Natsumi truly ruined it. Thankfully, the next day we were able to find Sushi on Jones that served absolutely fantastic omakase with...

We ate here prior to going to a show and it was perfect! Perfect in terms of portion size, tastiness and timing so that we finished the meal comfortably to make our show.

We arrived a bit after 6pm and we didn't have a booking but since there was just the two of us, we were able to get a counter seat. Had no issues. The service was quick and our waiter attentive. We ordered the Matsu chef selection menu for two which came with sake, and we ordered beer and edamame to start. The matsu menu came with 2 appetizers and a sushi and sashimi plate with a roll. The oysters at the start definitely got me excited about what was to come. The second appetizer was a tempura fried roll which I've never had. Really enjoyed the sweet soy sauce and the wasabi cream sauce it was served with. The sushi and sashimi was beautiful. The o-toro sashimi was a thick cut and melted in my mouth. The sake paired complemented this dish perfectly. Then as we we finished our meal content, the waiter brought over a chocolate mousse cake as he picked up on my partner saying it was my birthday. This was a nice surprise. It was a nice light dessert too that left us finishing the meal on a high note, and ready for the show.

Will definitely go back for a pre show...