There’s way more than sushi to discover.
One of the best thing about New York nightlife is that it ’s constantly shift , staying dead on target to its ascendent while innovating around the next expectant matter . The same can be enunciate of the city ’s Japanese - influenced bar and restaurants : The sushi fad of the ’ 80s and ’ ninety has develop into unexampled musca volitans that approach cocktail - making with the same sense of art as train a perfectly sliced piece of sashimi . Downtown Manhattan is base to a number of bar that are honoring Greco-Roman Nipponese culture and custom and infusing it with a modern glide path to the cocktail , interior decoration , and solid food . Here , we ’ve rounded up some NYC place where you’re able to experience the best of old and fresh Japan and taste Japanese spirits like Suntory Whisky Toki ® , Roku ® Gin , and Haku ® Vodka while you ’re at it .
Studio 151/Ichi Go Ichi
Alphabet City
The upstairs speakeasy at 151 Avenue C , above the springy music clubhouse Nublu , reemerged from the pandemic in 2021 reborn as Studio 151 / Ichi Go Ichi ( Nipponese for 151 ) . The speakeasy vibes are still there — you have to ring a bell to gain first appearance to the second storey — and inside , you ’ll find a four - seat sushi counter where star sushi chef Kamui Sumida serves one of the urban center ’s good economic value omakase ( just $ 80 for 12 piece ) . Studio 151 ’s lounge standard atmosphere is modeled after Japanese listening bars , and as such , buffet car can hold either the chef ’s counter , gamy top , or a sofa . Sip on a Moonlight Mile ( vodka , blackberry preserves , lemon ) and savour the beats as a DJ spins vinyl disc from the redesign John Wilkes Booth .
Llama San
Greenwich Village
This upscale restaurant just block from Washington Square Park is one of the only places in the city where you may find reliable Nikkei ( Japanese - Peruvian ) cuisine . open up by the squad behind Brooklyn ’s Llama Inn in 2019 , here Chef Erik Ramirez , whose parent are from Lima , spotlight the specific style of cooking that developed from Nipponese emigrants to the Andean nation , marrying South American flavors with traditional Asian technique . The duck nigiri is a premier exemplar of this and a must - try ; it layer aged duck boob over cilantro rice and tops it with a banana slice and nasturtium leafage . The bar stock Japanese and Peruvian spirits , which it scald into cocktails like the Nikkei Martini made with Nipponese gin , saki vermouth , pickled kombu , and a nori pisco rinse .
Katana Kitten
West Village
Mixologist Masahiro Urushido ( formerly of Saxon & Parole and source ofThe Japanese Art of the Cocktail ) is the man behind this Japanese highball measure / dive barroom mashup , which opened in 2018 . The space is line with Nipponese versions of American movie posters and the drink menu is divided into highball , theme song cocktail , and boilermakers . This being Masa ’s place , the highballs are way more inventive than a standard gin and tonic — try the Toki Highball ( Suntory Whisky Toki ® , lemon petroleum , koume ) or the Light n ’ savoury ( Haku ® Vodka , benedictine , celery and white balsamic shrub , cucumber bitterness , umami salinity ) . For food , there ’s a menu of Japanese - influenced small bites like karaage calamari , nori fries , and a mortadella katsu sando .
Bar Moga
This 1920s Japanese cocktail bar , opened in 2017 , uses traditional Nipponese spirits in recipes exhort by America ’s Prohibition era . The name “ moga ” refers to the Nipponese modern daughter , and the interior decoration is modeled after a Taisho era jazz bar where such dame came to life . For drink , try The Moga , made with Japanese whiskey , rhum , older plum liqueur , and bitters ; or the Silk Merchant , commingle with gin rummy , lemon tree , shiso , Citrus paradisi , Calpico , cardamom , and rose . Rounding out the Taisho concept is a menu of westerly consolation food , which expand during that era , with cup of tea such as panko fried prawns , a porc tater salad , and snowfall crab croquettes .
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You ca n’t fully go through a Nipponese - style bar without drinking Japanese spirits . House of Suntorywas built in 1899 with the remarkable vision of crafting quintessentially Nipponese spirits that be the nature and spirit of the country and its hoi polloi . Choose fromSuntory Whisky Toki ® , a blended whiskey that correspond the coming together of old and new Japan;Roku ® Gin , made with six Japanese botanicals reap at the peak of the season ; andHaku ® Vodka , distil from 100 % Nipponese white Timothy Miles Bindon Rice for a clear-cut , clean , and luminous vodka . well yet , examine them all and experience the full spectrum of Nipponese craft spirits .
Nobu Downtown
Financial District
Nobu Downtown is at once an old and young patch , since it moved to FiDi in 2017 from Chef Nobu Matsuhisa ’s original 1994 Tribeca location . In that time , Nobu has expanded into a global restaurant empire , and at this localisation , you ’ll find the dishes that put Nobu on the mathematical function , like its iconic black pod with miso , rock peewee tempura , and squid “ pasta , ” as well as spinal fusion dishes . The move downtown also brought a Modern multi - even outer space design by designer David Rockwell , with a ground stratum prevention line with limestone columns and a subterranean dining room that house the 13 - seat sushi bar ( be admonish , the omakase will set you back $ 225 per somebody ) .
Hi-Collar
East Village
By mean solar day , Hi - Collar ( open in 2013 ) is a kissaten , or Japanese cafe , but at Nox , the space transforms into a barroom sling Nipponese spirit , a place where “ high collars ” are abandoned ( hence the name ) . Keep it simple by ordering one of their 28 Japanese whiskies peachy or on the rocks , or essay a cocktail like the Roku Gin Iced Tea made with Suntory Roku ® Gin with Earl Grey teatime and lavender . There ’s a night food bill of fare , too , featuring homestyle dishes like udon carbonara , shrimp shumai , and karaage ( electrocute chicken ) .
Bar Goto
Lower East Side
At this walk of life - in only patch established in 2015 , Pegu Club ex-serviceman Kenta Goto dish out up cocktails alongside a menu of Japanese - inspire bar snacks like miso wing , okonomiyaki ( savory cabbage pancakes ) , and kombu cultivated celery . But the drink are really the focusing here — Bar Goto was a semifinalist for outstanding legal profession program from the James Beard Foundation two geezerhood in a row — from its heroic list of Japanese whisky to its inventive cocktail . Order a refreshing L.E.S ( gin , jalapeno , shiso , cucumber , hydrated lime ) and settle into one of the plush green velvet booths .
Blue Ribbon Sushi Izakaya
The first Blue Ribbon Sushi open in New York in 1995 when chefs Bruce and Eric Bromberg ( of Blue Ribbon Brasserie ) teamed up with sushi skipper Toshi Ueki . That original localisation has spawn legion NYC offshoots , including this izakaya open in 2012 . Located on the 2nd floor of the SIXTY LES hotel , the Nipponese - manner tavern / traditional sushi bar prides itself on offering something for everyone on the menu , even non - sushi buff . There ’s yakitori by the piece , sushi and sashimi list that are divided by Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean , and yes , you may even order the celebrated Blue Ribbon fried wimp . Fulfilling the tavern vibration is a well - rounded swallow menu including house cocktails like a Toki Highball ( Suntory Whisky Toki ® with pop and a twist ) and a Lychee - Tini on the Rocks ( Haku ® Vodka and lichi puree ) .
BONDST
Noho
This sleek lounge and sushi measure was a famous person haunt when it first open in 1998 , and two decades subsequently it ’s still a place to see and be seen . Located inside a historic brownstone , the three - level place is divided into a footing floor lounge and sushi bar , a main floor restaurant with its own sushi bar and cocktail bar , and an upstairs dining elbow room . The menu is Japanese culinary art with European nuclear fusion jot ( the tuna crispy Sir Tim Rice is a staple ) and the two bar localisation intend you may enjoy cocktail in the informal lounge or on the 2d trading floor overlooking cobblestoned Bond Street .
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Instagram/@katanakitten_nyc
Courtesy of House of Suntory
Courtesy of Bar Goto
Courtesy of Blue Ribbon Sushi Izakaya
