SUGARFISH by sushi nozawa — Restaurant in New York

Nice service and ambiance but I would not come again.

For $43, the Trust Me “omakase” is less than you’ll pay for any sort of real omakase experience in the city but at this point, I would hardly consider this omakase for the following reasons:

-the fish cuts are crude, doesn’t envelope the rice and nigiri falls apart -for pieces with sauce, it’s overpowering and masks the fish -the fish aren’t premium cuts and tastes bland or “fishy” in a way that omakase-level fish should not -the temperature contrast with hot rice and cold crab was odd -no wasabi on the rice -WASABI ISN’T FRESH (baseline indicator for a place that cares) -the rice has too much vinegar -there isn’t much thought put into the topping pairings on the fish (there was a citrus one but you couldn’t taste the citrus)

I respect the scaled sourcing efforts and attempt to democratize omakase but at the end, this is not omakase anymore. There are SO many more excellent sushi experiences in midtown east for a similar price but perhaps not in an “omakase-style” one-piece-at-a-time service. Try Kaoru and Tsushima for example. There are many more upscale omakase experiences (Nakazawa, Ishikawa, Sasabune) but those are not in the same price range...

We have dined at this place so many times over the past few years, and we don’t get sick of it. We order the Nozawa Trust Me dinner, and add a few extra pieces from their special menu, usually the Pink Lobster pieces. The sushi served here is super fresh, and the rice is slightly warm, making each bite just perfect. They don’t recommend waiting until your partner’s food arrives, they bring each course out as it is prepared so you eat it immediately and as fresh as it can be. It makes a difference too, especially for the hand rolls, as it comes down to eating it with the seaweed crisp or chewy. A few minutes makes all the difference. The biggest downside to this restaurant (all their locations) is they don’t take reservations. I really wish the restaurant would reconsider that policy, as the wait can be over an hour during busy dinner hours. I would dine there more frequently if they took reservations, as many times, I just don’t have the flexibility to wait around for a table. If you haven’t been, and you enjoy sushi, I’d highly recommend giving this place a try. I’ve been to several of their other locations as well, and it’s always been consistent no matter which...

This place felt like a “15 minute omakase sushi on jones” kind of vibe.

We opted for the Trust Me.

Red flag #1, they do not use fresh grated wasabi, they served the HORSERADISH WASABI. For a higher end sushi spot than your typical take out and with the name “Nozawa”, that’s gotta be a sushi sin right?

Red flag#2, my sea bream nigiri had a piece of fish scale on it. Once again this gotta be a sushi sin right?

Red flag#3, It was still prime dinner time at 8:30pm and they ran out of the premium Otoro and could only serve us the lesser cut of Chutoro in replacement. This I wouldn’t mind as much if they offered to comp the substitution or served an additional piece to make up for serving a less pricier cut of tuna. I paid for the set meal and should have been served something that equals the value I paid for.

Service was quick but felt like we were rushed with the pace. The one serving us sped through explaining the fish pieces. I also did not like that they didn’t serve us both at the same time, this made the hand roll seaweed lose its crispness while waiting for the other hand roll to come out for my date.

I am willing to give them another shot, but maybe at...