Sushi By Bou - NOMAD NYC @ Hotel32|32 — Restaurant in New York

I've had the pleasure of sitting for many Omakase experiences but this one is in the top two.

I discovered this place walking down the street while shopping for some earrings and the diamond District. The outside looked a little funky, so I decided to look up the spot and see what it was all about. After checking out the stellar reviews, I decided to make a reservation for one to treat myself for my birthday.

Made a same day reservation, paid my deposit and I was in there! Got there a little early and was immediately drawn in by the 90's and early 2000's hip-hop coming through the speakers outside.

Once inside from the frigid NYC air, I was greeted by "The Jasons", took off my jacket and had a seat. Jason #1 came behind the bar so I asked him to make me a drink, Mixologist's choice. He made me an incredible rum based drink with passionfruit and a special liqueur. So good, i ordered another (maybe two).

The 7 pm seating was taking a little longer than anticipated so I was offered a welcome shot of house made sake and chatted up Jason #1 about how much my city has changed. Song after song was a hit and took me back to my Bronx days.

Once sat, I was taken care of by the amazing Obrey, the Omakase Chef, and we chatted the whole night in Spanglish. I did the 12-course Omakase and here are a few standouts: Salmon roe was so sweet and briny (ended up ordering an extra) Chopped tuna - seriously wow (yup, extra of this one too) The scallop was so soft and tender and the wasabi is strong but not overpowering The toro will blow your mind. The truffle shavings are the perfect touch. (Yup- twice on this one too) Bbq eel - was warm almost hot, sweet and savory- just woww

I cannot say enough good things about this dinner. Delish, good convo, company, music was BANGIN!' (Thanks Jason G.) and I left there feeling full and lighthearted.

I def plan to go to the one in DC to scope out the scene and hopefully order...

We made a reservation for two for a Friday evening at 6:30 about two days prior, via Yelp. This particular Sushi by Bou is located inside of Hotel 32. The sushi bar seats 8 people, and you have 30 minutes for a 12-piece omakase. This was my first time trying Sushi by Bou and it was a nice experience. It is not your typical affordable omakase place, with the simplistic Japanese style. Instead, it has a grittier feel to it. It almost feels like you’re at a club. Hip hop music playing in the background, and a mural of Biggie to your right.

I like that they display the menu and actually go in that order. That way, you know exactly what you’re eating, what’s coming up, and how many pieces you have left. The pieces were hamachi, lean tuna, Chu-toro, botan ebi, ikura, albacore, scallop, uni, fatty tuna, salmon, wagyu with uni, and unagi. My top four were the seared albacore, scallop, fatty tuna (of course), and the wagyu with uni. I normally don’t like ikura or eel, but even those weren’t terrible. I wish they didn’t finish with the eel though. I probably would have picked the surf and turf for the grand finale.

We decided to try the Big Mac ($18), which was wagyu, uni, scallop, and fatty tuna. In theory, this sounds amazing. All of the best pieces, together. But everything kind of got lost in translation. The texture of the scallop was there, but the uni overpowered everything. Which was a shame, because the wagyu and fatty toro had very nice flavors, but they ended up being masked.

Overall, the pieces are not very innovative. Yuzu on salmon was as adventurous as they got. I like yuzu and I love salmon, but something about this didn’t do it for me. But the quality of the ingredients definitely made up for it. If you’re looking for a standard omakase, you really can’t beat Sushi By Bou, especially at its...

UPDATE: I was able to contact the team by email and a successful refund for this visit has been completed.

The quality of the sushi was completely overshadowed by the shockingly unprofessional conduct of the manager, Razo. What should have been a special and memorable evening (one we had explicitly noted in our reservation as celebrating a special occasion) ended with us being berated and humiliated in front of our family.

We encountered a simple and honest misunderstanding regarding the bill, which came out to nearly three times what was advertised on the restaurant’s own website. While this may have stemmed from confusion on our part due to the site’s unclear UI and booking layout, we approached the situation calmly and politely, seeking only clarification. Instead, we were met with outright hostility. Razo was defensive, aggressive, and condescending, cutting us off mid-sentence, interrupting our questions, and refusing to help us understand the discrepancy. He escalated the situation unnecessarily — at one point threatening to involve security and even the police, despite our entirely reasonable efforts to communicate.

What makes this even more disappointing is that the chef and remaining staff were gracious, professional, and clearly embarrassed by their manager’s conduct. They went out of their way to be kind, and even apologized for Razo’s overtly rude comments that made not only us but also the surrounding guests visibly uncomfortable.

For a restaurant that markets itself as offering an “elevated” experience, this was a disgraceful display of poor management that completely ruined our night. We will not be returning — and strongly caution others to consider whether this is the kind of treatment they are...