Best Sushi Ever in New York

Expensive sushi restaurants in New York are a dollar a dozen. The atmosphere is moneyed, the service is lofty, and the hype is sky-high. Worse still are the fusion sushi restaurants, like Sushi Samba, that incorporate completely non-complementary cuisine with the celebrated art of raw fish and rice. So it's a small pleasure to happen upon a non-fussy, quiet sushi house like Gari, that doesn't try to impress with decor or snooty hostesses, but rather with high quality food.

Nevermind that the "Gari" of the restaurant's name, is the most innovative and celebrated sushi chef that the city has known—New Yorkers have more than their share of celebrity chefs whose reputations precedes and overshadows their talents. Gari actually works in his own kitchen, and even when he's not there, his sushi chefs manage fine on their own.

For a taste of Gari's masterful dishes, skip the coveted table spots and ask for a place at the sushi bar instead—you'll jump the queue, which you'll stand in whether or not you called ahead. The sushi bar is best for the omakase menu, a $150 meal that lets the sushi chef guide your culinary journey for the night. Sitting at the bar also lets the sushi chef know what items you liked or didn't like, and most of the time you can request a second round of your favorite sushi of the night.

For most diners, omakase may seem frightening, but put your trust in the sushi chef. Past excursions have come up with delicious, barely charred yellowtail on a small mound of rice, cooked on a small wooden hibachi grill after marinated in a garlic-teriyaki soy sauce, and exciting sauce combinations of the freshest seafood with chutney, mayonnaise, or crispy shallots. Gari's high prices are reflected in the quality of their fish: the seafood is so fresh, you won't even need the soy sauce or wasabi—although if you're a horse-radish fan, you won't be able to resist the mounds of fresh wasabi at your disposal.

The prix-fixe omakase menu is pricey, but it'll be worth saving up in the piggy bank. Go on a Monday night, when seafood is freshest (in New York, fresh seafood deliveries are at the beginning of the work week), and come with an empty stomach since the omakase menu is also all-you-eat style. But be careful: Once you've had Gari, you'll never want sushi from anywhere else.