Sushi by Bou- Chelsea NYC @ Bosque Flowers & Coffee — Restaurant in New York

Sushi By Bou 7th Ave (Chelsea) gave me & my partner truly such a personal & amazing experience for his birthday! Really special thanks to Sam, Sarah, & Ymax (spelling?), & the quiet gentlemen (unfortunately didn’t get his name but he seated us at the counter & answered our questions about how to eat the sushi — with your hands btw, the chopsticks are for the ginger!). This was an excellent first omakase counter experience for both of us.

My partner's friend had recommended another Sushi By Bou location, but we secured a res at Chelsea for Thurs 8pm because we wanted to visit some bars nearby.

After mistakenly attempting to barge into an apt bldg with the same street number, we confusingly entered a flower-covered café with an easy-to-miss Sushi By Bou logo projected on the sidewalk. The lady inside confirmed our res & led us to the back door. A short hallway then revealed the omakase bar, which was a speakeasy surprise that we loved!

Though the back wasn't as dimly lit as a real speakeasy, the mid-sized area crafted a nice club-ish vibe with a luxe look. We saw the omakase bar was entirely full, with a handful of loud gentlemen on the other side by the drinking bar. We were seated in the small comfy lounge area to wait for our seats.

Every single cocktail we had at this place was amazing!! Sarah the bartender took care of her patrons at the bar while also personally delivering our drinks to our table (except when we were seated at the omakase counter)... Where else do you get table service straight from the bartender, what?! I was impressed with each drink, even starting with the mocktail Easy Peasy. I don't like the taste of alcohol & my partner enjoys spirit-forward drinks, but when I sampled his, it was evident that Sarah's skill is above even normal NYC speakeasy standards. My partner had the Barkeep’s Special, which was a "Banana Old-Fashioned" unique to Sarah. Each sip began spirit-forward but masterfully blended away into sweet/delicious when you swallowed. Following our 30-min omakase, we continued drinking in the lounge area, & Sarah spent quite some time with us answering our questions. My partner & I took notes on her ingredients, technique, & knowledge, since he enjoys mixing cocktails as a hobby. Sarah is truly a generous, knowledgeable bartender, & her creations, energy, & service were highlights of our night!

The other highlight was the omakase counter experience itself. We watched attentively as Sam our chef pieced together each item, as well as the differing items for the 1h course of the couple next to us. Sam also answered all our questions about his preparation or the ingredients, and it was a true pleasure to see him at work, calm & meticulous. The "Surf-n-turf" piece was particularly delicious, prompting us to order the Big Mac x 2 from the à la carte menu – which is ~$20/per piece, btw, so if you like Wagyu beef, it might be worth getting the 1-hr experience anyway just FYI. We had also indicated on the reservation that it was my partner's birthday, & Ymax (sp?) served us complimentary sake! It felt really great to be able to share a toast with Sam our chef, who was giving us such great service and flavor.

After this excellent 30-minute omakase experience, it seemed they had a lull in customers & the omakase counter was unoccupied until maybe their 9:30pm reservations. As mentioned before, at this time Sarah generously answered all our questions by our table in the lounge area. We were going to host a house party in a few days, and she spent so much time giving us her recs for drink recipes and sharing her techniques. Ymax returned with more sake & chatted with us too.

Everyone’s energy at Sushi By Bou Chelsea made sure we had an amazing night, and this was even though we had initially arrived in a cranky mood LOL…. I’d never before left a dining experience knowing or wanting to know everyone’s name who had taken care of us!

P.S. I was told the bar is open without reservations, so I hope this "speakeasy" stays low-key for us to return for more drinks...

Food - I would give food a 3.5 out of 5. This was my second ever omakase after Tanoshi, and as a result I did do a lot of comparing. Tanoshi was a life changing experience but I would say this was just a very good meal. Compared to most sushi places, this is high level pieces of amazing quality. However I wouldn't say most were greatly innovative. The miso cod and chopped tuna were the only pieces I feel I couldn't get anywhere else. The wagyu uni was my favorite but I think I got less uni here than at Tanoshi (it is cheaper I guess). Finally the final piece of the unagi I got had a weird sharp edge or something. I managed to wash it down with sake so I didn't order additional pieces and at this point my companion and I decided it was better we fill up l elsewhere. I will say - I don't think the 12 pieces is sufficient for most people unless you're planning on adding pieces! Maybe the 15 piece experience is but for the cost and service, I wouldn't necessarily do that here.

Service - the non-chef staff are very attentive and kind. I really appreciated how prompt their service is and how attentive they were. For our chef we had Orly who was fun and engaging - except I think he interacted far more with the couple in front of him than me and my companion. I was seated in the far corner so unfortunately it felt kinda like I was a wallflower. There was a point where he lets you torch the wagyu - that was the most interaction we had.

Atmosphere - like I mentioned above, I was unfortunately stuck in the far corner so I did feel a little trapped and not engaged at some points which really stinks. In my first and previous omakase experience I felt a lot more free to engage with our sushi chef and there was a semblance of more privacy and care even though it was also counter seating. I will say the speakeasy experience was really cool introduction to the restaurant but it's only a short part of the whole experience.

Finally - we went to celebrate a work promotion for me and I paid. I didn't realize they calculate the tip on the amount with the free drinks added - which was very nice of them to give us free drinks but the tipping calculation just felt like a hidden/sneaky thing if that makes sense.

To wrap it all up: would I come to Sushi by BOU again? Maybe but I wouldn't say the experience was so unique that I won't just try another omakase experience where I think I can have more of a conversation with the chef and really fall in love with each bite. I didn't get that from Sushi by BOU but for budget omakase I think it's a pretty...

I love it and many other people seem to as well. I first met Monica, the Director of Success, several months ago. She has an amazing energy and ability to make everyone happy. I then met Paul who is a strong gentle soul very supportive and caring. The place looks like a regular coffee shop and the coffee is great. I usually get the cappuccino with oat milk. The place is very popular especially with residents of the Hamptons and out-of-towner's. From my experience, Fridays tends to be more of a local crowd where you can meet awesome neighbors with similar interest of great experiences like this one at Sushi by Bou. Saturdays seems to be Hamptons night. Celebrities and influencers are there regularly as well. The atmosphere/vibe is very different on any given night because each experience is tailored for the person that made the reservation. My first time it was like a funeral/library because the person that had reservation was an old man; it was probably also a Thursday. On a Saturday night, with a Hamptons party of 10, it was a hip-hop vibe until 2am the most fun I've had so far and I go regularly. I've heard NYE was legendary but this particular night surpassed that. Anyway, the sushi is incredibly fresh and surprisingly filling. I didn't think a few pieces of sushi will fill me up but it did. El Chapo is the star chef. The drinks at the bar are Japanese inspired and very refreshing. From the drink menu I highly recommend the Hot Honey and then the bartender special. Evan is great and some people seem to go just for him. Christine is the Captain and will make sure you are seated and served on time. They also do flower arrangements and have several pre-made ready to go. The place is also family friendly. I've seen families with their kids there have a great time and take pictures. I must say that I'm surprised at the amount of people that show up pretending to have a reservation. The staff is very nice there is no need to lie. They will do their best to accommodate but not if a person is lying and being demanding on top of it. FYI it's okay to go alone, at first I thought I needed a date but the staff will be your company if anything. Highly recommend! They have other locations I haven't been to and are opening 20...