Sushi Noz — Restaurant in New York

If I were able to give this sushiya 6 stars, I would. I went there on a Saturday night so it was not the famous Chef Noz. However, that didn't really affect the entire experience. Upon entering the dining area, the ambience was warm and welcoming. It was a very neat 8-seat setting. In front of you, on the table, was a welcome letter with your name on it. The server was very attentive as well as the sommelier. The sommelier clearly explained the menu and I ended up with Kirinzan Junmai Daiginjou. After I finished the first glass, I was thinking about trying a different one. The sommelier was kind enough to let me try before pouring the entire glass and I indeed didn't like it. So I just ordered the same sake. I really appreciate how the sommelier cared for each detail.

After choosing the drinks, now let's focus on the food. The Chef that day was Yudai Shibata. He was very friendly and professional (of course for a two-stat Michelin restaurant) and would answer any questions. The omakase started with the juicy oyster. It was a very refreshing appetizer and I'm glad that it also went well with the sake. The journey continued with Hokkaido uni and flounder sashimi. No special dressing so everything you tasted was from their most original flavor. This was another thing I love about this restaurant: nothing too fancy but the ingredient itself. Then there was the bonito. The skin was crisply fried but the fish was still raw. The different textures exploded in your mouth along with the nori. The next one was a show. You can see the sous chef squeezing the noodles into the boiled water. The noodles were not soba or anything traditional. Rather, they were made from fish so there was an extra layer of umami. The noodles blended well with the soup and fish. The last dish before entering the main sushi session was fried silver flounder. It was fried crisply and with the caviar on it, the taste was complex but simple at the same time. It was complex because you have the hot fried fish and cold caviar and sauce. The crispy outer skin, the soft meat, the tiny bites of caviar, all together formed an enjoyable dish. It was simple because it's just tasty.

Now it came to the protagonist (or I should say protagonists). All kans of sushis were made simple: seafood, wasabi, shoyu, and shyari (vinegar sushi rice). With the combination, you can clearly tell the difference between each fish. The sushi started with some light ones such as kinmedai and shrimps. Then you know the climax is coming when you see the tuna family: from akami to chutoro to the exquisite ootoro. When picking up the sushi, you can still feel the warmth left from the chef's hands, which I think is the main difference between those sushi that were pre-made. Each kan was made in perfect shape. After the ootoro was different styles of sushi, such as uni gunkan and anago temaki. Finally the sushi dishes ended up with tamago and miso soup.

The desserts were also well designed. The first one was corn ice cream, which I have never tasted before. It tastes like iced corn chowder. And the final one was my favorite: the Hokkaido Yubari melon. So sweet yet so easy to consume. Although you would already expect good food from a two star, the actual presentation still exceeded my expectations. Probably that's why this sushiya deserves two stars. Before leaving I also had a pleasant small chat with Chef Shibata. I'm certain that I would visit Sushi Noz again and don't be disappointed if the Chef is...

We are big sushi fans and have been to almost every top omakase restaurant in the city from Masa to Yasuda to Ginza Onadera, so this restaurant has been on our list to check out and we were excited to get a reservation to celebrate a birthday. Unfortunately, we can't recommend this restaurant to anyone...at this price point, it just doesn't provide the fantastic service and experience that you would get at other omakase establishments of this caliber. In fact, it ruined the birthday celebration. I'll explain why.

We arrived early and paid extra for the Chef Noz experience, but were seated in a corner with barely any view of the chef's station. The station is set up at one end of the sushi bar and not in the middle. When everyone’s paying a premium for this room, the experience should be equivalent for all parties.

The chef barely looked our way (or at most guests) the entire night and did not explain much about the fish he was serving when he dropped the pieces next to us. Instead he interacted only with the 2 Japanese guests he sat in front of himself in Japanese and at the end only offered them two additional dishes off the menu, in Japanese. Besides the fact that this is rude, this was the only omakase experience that costs upwards of $1500 with drinks for 2 where we left hungry and had to eat at home. So offering additional dishes would have been helpful due to that alone (though at this price point, customers should leave full).

When we brought this up to the chef in person, nothing was offered besides an opportunity to come back to spend another $1500 in the hopes that it would be a better experience. No, thank you. We followed up with an email which was ignored.

The following month, we happily took our hard-earned money to Yoshino on Bowery and enjoyed it tremendously. If you want an experience with a seasoned mature chef from Japan who understands that the experience and service are half of the value for omakase at this price point, I recommend you take your...

I have been to many Michelin star sushi restaurants in NYC and must say I was disappointed with Sushi Noz. To charge your customers full payment of the sushi the day that they make the reservation is absurd however I gladly paid as I expected Noz to live up to the Hype. I was unfortunately mistaken.

To start, our reservation was for 8:45pm and we did not get our first course until we were approaching 9:30pm. As many of you may start to think one must have patience when eating at a michelin star sushi bar, everyone must understand that there is absolutely no reason whatsoever for myself and my party to wait 45 minutes for the first bite when the menu was already set in stone by the chef over 48 hours ago.

The quality of the food was A+ as was the knowledge from the chef and the host. The host is probably the only reason I gave it a third star. After paying $175 per person a week before the dinner we were told by both the receptionist on the phone and the host that we would be able to order as many pieces of sushi as we would like after the tasting. It was extremely disappointing to have the chef tell us after our tasting that they were out of most fish and could only serve half of the bar with some extra pieces (there are only 6 seats in the entire Ash Room where we were seated). I would have ordered at least 5 or 6 more however I had to settle for 1 piece of cuddle fish and a hand roll. This I found to be unacceptable, especially when the amount that was served for $175 was not filling. You cannot limit your customers if they are willing to spend top dollar in New York City. It was not to my surprise that everyone at the bar was hungry after.

Conclusion: if you're a tourist and want to give this spot a try, odds are you will think its the best sushi of your life. If you're a local, you know there are always options in this city for top quality sushi and Sushi Noz is neither the best for quality nor...