Rakuzen — Restaurant in New York

I was starving for a meal and then it hit me why not sushi? So I googled up this place I have passed by many of time but never dropped in. So today was my lucky day and theirs As well as theirs. I was greeted by an attractive semi plus size Asian woman very pleasant. She sat me after I informed her this was my first time here. she explained to me the menu and what it entails. A lot of people seem to get the idea that an all you can eat means that if you leave food on the plate it will just be tossed with no charge but not when dealing with sushi spots. What I don't understand is why people grab up so much food when there's a 2-hour window and you can order right after you finish your first or 3 or 6 maybe even 9th plate. This way the food always remains fresh when you receive it. But people will be people correct? So as you see from the picture I had two Philly rolls some other type of sushi roll. I don't remember what it was but I got to admit it was damn good. I must admit the wasabi was weak very weak It did not have that losing my breath sensation that I usually get I don't know if the ginger was fresh because it was a lot dry I'm used to my ginger being a little bit more wet and pungent. The place was clean Even the floor. The table that I sat at was not sticky or no soy sauce on the table as I've had experience at another spot. The waitresses were pleasant although they did not speak very much just the common English to get by at least the one that I encountered. LET ME WARN YOU ALL THE PARKING AROUND HERE IS HORRIBLE. HORRIBLE. HORRIBLE. SO IF YOU CHOOSE TO DRIVE MAKE SURE YOU LOOK FOR A PARKING LOT OR READ THE SIGNS CAREFULLY. THERE IS A PARKING GARAGE BUT I MUST ADMIT IT IS EXPENSIVE. However I wasn't there to make friends I was there to eat lol. I ordered the rainbow something of another as you see in the picture which was absolutely phenomenal. I will be back in this time I'm not bringing my starving stomach I am bringing my empty stomach. I noticed on the outside the rating was an A however I hope they aim for an A+. I know there's not such a cold however it never hurts to improve upon anything. The one thing I can say is I did not like how they kept the bathroom This is the reason why I'm rating a four star and not five. The rating is based upon everything not just the food but customer service as well as presentation, decor, and all things in between. The bathroom had a very nauseating odor the floor was scattered with paper towels and the stall to the left was not kept clean. I had to rush through while holding my nose especially after just eating such a great meal. Perhaps on the regular the bathrooms I kept clean is just so happen that I came in during the time in which it wasn't. I don't know but I will return. And I hope to update this to a five-star. Has Arnold would say...

My friend and I have gone twice. The first time was experimental. I remember us getting a lot for the AYCE dinner. The acoustics are great, as even with an almost full restaurant, you can still hear what people at your table say. The decorations are quaint as well. The male waiter was generous in explaining the contents of the sushi, as he saw me write down the contents on my phone (they have free wifi) as I looked it up--not just the specials--which are (sort of) listed on the laminated menu. They have a wide assortment of general Asian and non-Asian dishes in addition to the sushi and sashimi. We went through 2 paper slips, but got a lot--keep in mind it was just 2 of us. The first time the wait staff was quite attentive to the table.

We tried again and the experience was not as pleasant. The food was almost the same quality, but the service was ... different. It seemed like an off night. We came in about 845 pm, which did worry me, since I did not see their business hours on the front door, so thought they may be closing; they close at 11 pm, I saw once I looked at the chalkboard inside. Despite this, one of the sushi rolls I ordered the first night, which was not spicy, and the description menu did not list as spicy, came, and we could tell it was different. I don't like complaining at restaurants, so I asked them what the sushi was, the waitress said what it was--dynamite roll--and I asked why it had spicy mayo and spicy red eggs on it, which the menu did not list in its description. She came back and said that the menu does not list the spicy mayo or spicy red eggs in the description of the dynamite roll, but the contents come with it. I replied that the menu needs to be updated with the correct information if that is the case. Obviously, the waitress isn't the menu writer, so what can she do?

In addition, 2 of our dishes actually never showed up. That was fine ultimately, because I accidentally ordered 2 whole rolls of tamago, when I just was trying to get 2 slices. An odd thing in NY sushi restaurants is to not just serve tamago without rice. It always has to come in a roll, so... I ended up having to eat 12 pieces of tamago sushi.

Lastly, my friend told the waitress that this night we were celebrating my birthday. It had seemed there was miscommunication. Do they do a free small dessert or something for birthdays? Unsure. Will we...

Wow, I'm surprised at how many negative reviews there are from people that don't know how All You Can Eat Sushi works... If you go anywhere in the country (& at least 4 places I know globally, in Tokyo, Venice, London, & Helsinki), All You Can Eat Sushi works the same way; if you can't finish your roll, you have to pay full price for the roll. Itamae's/Sushi chefs do this so you don't just eat & fill up on the fish (like it was sashimi), the expensive part of the meal, & leave the rice to make more room. The restaurant looses money this way & it's highly disrespectful. And don't confuse All You Can Eat Sushi with buffet; although it's unlimited, they prepare the food just for you instead of it sitting out in hot trays. This is done EVERYWHERE. Just order little by little & you'll be fine.

That being said, this is a very decent All You Can Eat Sushi restaurant. I really like how they have a variety of tempura/fried sushi, as well as a very large kitchen section within the all you can eat option. They also serve a few dishes from other Asian countries (Korean, Thai, Chinese, etc). You can technically come here, get only kitchen stuff, & no sushi (for those who do not eat fish, if you're maybe going with others who choose to come here for the sushi). Kitchen items, like I said, are vast, and probably have the most kitchen items served from any of the all the other All You Can Eat Sushi places I've been to (Las Vegas follows). From the kitchen, you can get goyoza, ramen, Udon, chicken teriyaki, katsu, etc... & The options are decent size so you can try a bit of everything. If you get 3 sushi rolls alone, the all you can eat pays for itself already (we easily went way over that). Dessert, if you have room, is about $5, so not bad. If you choose not to do the all you can eat option, they have A La Carte prices as well (aka, full price). Workers were friendly & efficient. & Last but not least, all the food we tried was delicious!!!! Highly recommend, & definitely...