Sushidokoro Mekumi NY — Restaurant in New York

I am a bit of a sushi geek, having eaten at many highly esteemed sushi restaurants in Japan such as Sushi Namba, Sushi Takamitsu, Sushi Ryujiro, Sushi Hashimoto, and many more. But I tell people the best meal I ever had in my life was the snow crab course at Sushidokoro Mekumi in Ishikawa Japan on November 26, 2024. So when I heard that the second-in-command, Chef Kuma, was opening up a satellite location of Sushidokoro Mekumi in NYC I was ecstatic. Luckily I was able to book a 5:30 PM reservation on the Tock website within the first two weeks of their opening. Since then, the restaurant has been fully booked. Chef Kuma has done an amazing job recreating the experience of dining at the restaurant in Ishikawa while adding his own signature touches.

The restaurant is located next to the Four Points Sheraton and is easy to find. When you walk inside there is another door to enter the restaurant and you walk down a short hallway to a wooden sliding door which opens up to a beautiful wooden counter with about 8 comfortable seats in a serene atmosphere.

The restaurant provided a beautiful menu card that could be taken home as a souvenir but I forgot to take it. At the Ishikawa location you can take pictures of the non-sushi appetizers but then once the nigiri starts you are not allowed to take any more pictures. I’m pretty sure when I made the reservation this rule was stated. The people next to me were taking pictures of the nigiri when nobody was looking so I’m not sure how strictly this rule will be enforced at the NYC location but it would be best to respect the rule because it is meant to encourage you to eat the sushi immediately when it is served so that it has the optimal temperature, texture, and flavor profile when eaten. Also, a lot of the nigiri is extremely delicate, so it will just fall apart if you don’t eat it immediately.

So from memory they served: Otsumami (appetizers) Boiled octopus in dashi 🐟 Hairy crab with crab miso 🐟 Wild Yellowtail wrapped in daikon 🐟 Pacific Barrelfish Hand Roll 🐟 Red Sea urchin 🐟 Grouper 🐟

Nigiri 🍣 Wild seabass 🍣 Squid 🍣 Sweet shrimp 🍣 Marinated Bluefin tuna 🍣 Hairy crab nigiri topped with purple sea urchin 🍣 Streamed Salmon Roe Gunkanmaki Black throated sea perch 🍣 Gizzard Shad 🍣 Saltwater Eel 🍣

Toward the end there was the option to order extras, which could either be anything already served or about 5 or 6 new courses. I ordered Striped Jack nigiri 🍣 Purple Sea Urchin nigiri 🍣 Wild Yellowtail nigiri 🍣

Finally the meal ended with a few finishing courses: Hairy Crab Miso Soup 🦀 Futomaki made with a rich dashi omelette 🥚 Shrimp Castella 🦐 Fig daifuku served with hot green tea. 🍵

It was a phenomenal meal. Chef Kuma is an extremely friendly and humble chef who is quite mesmerizing to watch as he transforms ingredients into masterpieces before your very eyes. The sous chef is also a certified sommelier so the restaurant has an extensive drink menu of high quality wine, beer, and sake. I’m already eager to return for my next meal which I’m under the impression will be very different as Chef Kuma rotates through seasonal...

We came here for a birthday celebration: food generally was good but shrimp and otoro was very fishy.

The service left us very disappointed. Servers started to remove our wooden trays when we were just served with the last course sweet course fig daifuku. It was a hassle trying to eat the daifuku while the server removing trays from the bottom. In addition, all other parties of two celebrating birthdays (each with only one birthday person, same as us) received two or even three complimentary desserts, while we only received one.

When I politely asked why, the server explained that those guests “ordered extra food” and the dessert was “only for the birthday person.” This reasoning felt inconsistent for a fine dining omakase experience, where service and hospitality should be uniform regardless of whether guests order additional items.

Small gestures like this make a big difference, especially when celebrating a special occasion. We will...

Authentic and traditional, with delightful atmosphere. Highlights for hairy crab dishes. Menu changes coordinates seasonal flavor, showcasing omakase experience. Chefs are not quite used to introducing each dishes yet, and servers had billing issue that need to be improved. But they all positively handled requests, and had a lot of flexibility. I do wish they can show the fish processing step in front of us instead of bringing fish slices from the back. The pace is slower than other places anyway. Overall good price for the quality, probably Michelin one...