Osakana East Village — Restaurant in New York

I have only been to Osakana once, but as someone who has been buying sushi-grade fish all over NYC for years, this place has some of the highest-quality fish I have encountered.

On a recent trip, I ordered 1/4 lb. of O-Toro, fatty salmon, and Hamachi to try their fish. This amount is a typical order for my wife and me when making sushi at home. Many other choices were on the menu when I went, but I wanted a baseline before going further afield.

The fish was exceptional. The O-Toro melted in my mouth; the quality and the flavor were what one might expect from a four-star sushi restaurant. The salmon was equally impressive, rich with oil and a thin layer of belly fat on the top of the fish. Lastly, the Hamachi was also excellent, super supple, and tender.

One unique thing about this fish market is that nothing is on display. The entrance is tiny, and the only things to see are some dry goods and the list of fish on offer. The selection is broad, but I did not see the fish before or after it was wrapped up. After I paid, my order was handed to me in a brown bag. Given what I came home with, I am completely fine with that.

The service was direct and cordial but not overly friendly, which is normal for a fishmonger. If you have a question, they'll answer it; otherwise, they will be busy at work.

Also on offer is meal takeaway. I did not try this, and as previously mentioned, I prepare my food; if you are coming here for a takeaway, you should read other reviews, but I will say one thing based on some of the reviews I have read. The people at this fish market did not MAKE the fish; they only prepared the fish. So please remember that some reviewers with an axe to grind and three reviews to their name might be best ordering DoorDash and leaving quality to those who know it when...

Have been going to Osakana since they opened in the East Village. What they had to offer initially was great when they started but it has progressively deteriorated over the two almost three years.

Forgetting orders, sinewy tuna, variety of offerings in their bento box has also shrunk, and overall freshness of seafood is not quite there. There were enough times when the fish inside the bento box was so sinewy that it was impossible to eat - quality should be consistent but when it’s consistently bad to the point that you just can’t stomach it anymore - it’s time to walk away.

The last straw was a very recent experience when the uni had such a strong smell that as soon as you opened the bento box you could smell the funk. The salmon roe (Ikura) was all lumped together, not delicate and fresh tasting at all. It is sad because Osakana had such promise but operations have gone downhill. You overlook employees who use same gloves to take care of the garbage, handle cash payments and cut/prepare seafood. You overlook sushi that were ordered a day in advance that were not fresh as it has been sitting in their fridge for many hours (imagine rice soaking up raw seafood fluid for many hours when you pre-order a day in advance or overnight. We find that if you order an hour or two before pickup slot we usually don’t have this issue except for the recent order with the funky uni) because you have faith that they care and that it’s an oversight. But when you were presented with questionable seafood and have stomach issues enough times, you correlate the two.

Really hope that they get the consistency and quality back bc they were initially such a repertoire in our weekly dining but...

I will be very straightforward with it: The food is great for the price, yet the customer service breaks my day, always.

I ordered from this place three times: First visit, they got my order wrong and charged me with someone else’s order. I caught it before I left so they fixed it. Spent extra 20 minutes fixing my order, but I was able to tolerate that. However, later experience tells me bad service apparently wasn’t a one-time thing.

Second time visit, I placed an order over the phone for pick up and they told me to come at a certain time. I came at the "assigned timeframe" and they still had not starting to make my order. Wasted another 40 minutes waiting.

Third time visit, I came in person to order a pick up to go, and was told to come back after 10-15 minutes. I, again, came back after 20 minutes, and was told "Ops I forgot about it. Can you come back in another 10 minutes-ish?

Honestly i just want to give up eating sashimi when I was told that I need to wait more at the third time visit. I think i started to catch a pattern here: they apparently do not appreciate my time.

Sorry but time is my most precious commodity, so…

Maybe delivery is a better option, but I don’t know next time that I will order from this...