Roy's Fish Market — Restaurant in New York

Anyone who believes that enjoying fresh, delicious, and well-crafted sushi in NYC comes with a $$$$ price tag at the finest sushi restaurants hasn't tried Roy's - if you have, you'd know that you've found a true gem in NYC for fish and sushi.

What makes Roy's different? There's no special sauce or secret method - it's simply in the freshness. The owner makes a daily pilgrimage to New Fulton Fish Market to handpick the freshest daily catch, so that any choice of fish that you pick at Roy's is already a winner. All the fish is sashimi grade, so however it's eaten, you're getting the freshest fish available. Quality-wise, the fish is on par, if not superior, to the high end Japanese restaurants, which also source their fish from the New Fulton Fish Market. Whether or not they go every morning is a different matter, and that's what sets Roy's fish quality apart.

Service wise, you can't really ask for a more friendly, efficient, and knowledgeable fish purveyor. Roy knows his fish - which is the freshest catch of the day, which country each fish came from, and how to best cook each type to bring out its best. He also is extremely quick with his sushi-making, as all sushi is made to order and takeout only. The sashimi is cut generously but expertly as well, so you get the most in each bite without having just a mouthful of fish. His maki rolls are delicious as well - rice has vinegar at the right proportion, vegetables are freshly cut in front of you, and the fish portions again are liberal yet controlled to give you the best ratio of fish per bite.

Coming to Roy's is an experience - the quality and service are top notch, and while the basic fish are always available (salmon, yellowtail, tuna, scallops, eel, halibut, sea bass), Roy may sell more eclectic and rare finds if New Fulton Fish Market has a fresh batch on any given day. Extra special choices that I've had are: chutoro (fatty tuna), bay scallops (sweeter than regular sea scallops), and uni (sea urchin).

Just look at the picture I snapped of dinner the other night - Roy's Special Combo ($28 for sashimi/sushi platter PLUS 3 maki rolls) and another sashimi/sushi platter ($18). The salmon had excellent marbling, the scallops had melt-in-your-mouth texture, the tuna was smooth and not grainy, and the yellowtail had a bold fish flavor of the best kind. As for the uni, you'll only understand if you've had it before, but it had the freshest taste-of-the-sea sweetness that you can expect from uni. It was essentially an omakase (chef-selected fish) meal of the freshest fish I've ever had in NYC, from both restaurants and fish markets alike, for MUCH less. Affordable and high quality seem to be contradictory for the NYC food scene, but Roy's does it right.

You won't regret coming here, and you'll realize after your first experience at Roy's that you've found a treasure of a...

I read the reviews before coming here and some said Roy wasn't very friendly. Despite the negative reviews on the service, I called to order a large party platter anyways. I heard great things about the quality and how he sources the fish, and makes sure he is serving the freshest and best quality sushi. Roy charges around the same price as other sushi platter places so why not order from a spot that guarantees freshly sourced sashimi!

When I called to order the platter a day before, it was very quick and easy. He asked about any allergies, and my boyfriend does have an allergy to shrimp crab and lobster, he confirmed with me again before asking me what time to pick up. The ordering process was quick and easy.

When we got there, I walked in to pick up. I was the only one in the store to pick up at that time. He quickly finished up with my platter. I waited less than 10 minutes. Which wasn't bad. I was looking around and going over his menu in the store. We talked a little and I thought he seemed very nice and genuine. He isn't like a very openly optimistic and energetic person, but he was nice. He packed up everything and I paid $130(including tax). When I received the platter and a bag of something, I was curious to why the chopsticks and napkins were so heavy. He gave me whole bottle of soy sauce. I thought the gesture was very cool. I read other reviews and saw they also got the soy sauce. There was a container of ginger and wasabi too. I'm not sure if he cuts and prepares his ginger himself or what, but instead of the flimsy ones, the ginger he gave me actually has a slight crunch to them. I actually really enjoyed them. They're so good.

The sushi was also very fresh and lived up to the hype, I agree the rice could be a little softer, I didn't eat the sushi right away so maybe that's why the rice didn't taste that great to me, but overall the sashimi was VERY fresh! His spicy tuna was REALLY good too, I highly recommend trying it, it is different from your typical Chinese or Korean versions of spicy tuna.

I will be ordering all of my sushi platters from them...

I'm not too familiar with UES, but this place feels like a hidden gem to me. it's a super small hole in the wall fish market where you can get fresh seafood at a good price! usually you're supposed to call in the day before, but i had no idea about that and called in at 1pm on a Sunday for all the food you see here and by 3pm it was still ready!! felt bad for rushing Roy though, so will def give a bigger heads up next time!

party platter ($75). this was a behemoth of a platter for only $75... the sheer quantity of rolls, nigiri, AND sashimi was insane. on top of that, the variety was amazing - never seen scallop sashimi in a platter before until today. the scallop, yellowtail, and salmon were amazing, and the tastiest roll was the spicy tuna roll (judging by the taste, i think he uses kewpie mayo which gives it a sweeter flavor. best spicy tuna roll I've had, hands down) ... Roy mentioned he gave us extra sashimi as well, such a kind dood

scallop, sweet shrimp, and uni ($3-4 each). these were also so tasty! the sweet shrimp was fresh and creamy, scallops were tender and sweet, and the uni tasted like the ocean. Roy also gave us extras here... we only ordered 3 pieces of each but theres way more than that!

salmon nigiri ($2), salmon avocado roll ($4.50), yellowtail handroll ($4.50). these were bomb too... the yellowtail piece in the handroll was huge!

wakame salad ($?) Roy also gave us two of the seaweed salads for free!! and a whole bottle of soysauce not pictured here... sooo appreciated

if y'all are ever in ues, please visit roy's fish market!! it's an awesome, local spot with a hardworking owner and great seafood!

EDIT:

We came here again a second time a few weeks after and it wasn't as fresh as before. Fish selection wasn't as great either. However, still love the place and...