In the past I had some very good sushi meals at Amber; so decided to go back today for lunch. It was disappointing. It's not the same as what it used to be.
When Amber first opened on Columbus Avenue numerous years ago, I sat at the bar and had some very good sushi. The place was always packed. Then, when the building was up for sale, they moved to their West 70 St. location - a much smaller, non-atmospheric place. During the pandemic, they had outdoor dining, and, on several occasions, I ordered the Amber sashimi entree. It was very good with at least 18 small, thin sliced sashimi pieces with various kinds of fish. Remembering how good that was, I ordered the same thing today, but it wasn't anywhere near the same.
I ordered miso soup, the sashimi entree, white rice, and plum wine. The wine ($14 a glass) was rather sour and not nearly as good as i get for $7.95 one block away at Empire Szechuan. The soup was good ($4.50), but too large a bowl to have with other food. A smaller bowl at $3.50 would have been better. The rice was okay, standard white rice.
The presentation of the entree was nice, but that is where any interest in it ended. It was 8 large, thin slices of sashimi (seared red & white tuna, mackeral, & some other fish). (I don't particularly like seared sashimi. It takes away from the natural flavor.) There was some kind of unnecessary sauce spread over these fish pieces. Then there were 2 oysters with caviar, which were good. (I hesitated before I ate them due to the vibrio outbreak). There was also 2 cucumber wraps with lobster inside. I ate the lobster & left the uninteresting cucumber. Fortunately the lobster was chewable (hard to find in NYC nowadays). There was also uni in a cut out cucumber. It was watery & a little weird. I only ate part of it. The texture should have been more firm. The fish was served over loads of shredded radish and 4 nice pieces of mint.
There was also was a nice flower and some seaweed. The seaweed contained something really hard. I took it out of my mouth, thinking it must be a lost filling or cracked tooth but, upon checking my teeth that was not the case. After putting more seaweed into my mouth, more hard pieces (like metal). Luckily I didn't swallow them, and quickly took them out of my mouth, but this should not be happening. The entree was $43 - far from worth it.
The server was friendly and efficient, although I had to ask twice for the wine.
I am handicapped with bad knees; so I use my cart similar to a walker. This restaurant isn't the easiest to get in and out of. There are 3 steps going into the place and a not very efficient railing. I let my cart go down first, & then I followed. When leaving, the waiter opened the door for me, but left me at the bottom of the steps to try to figure out the rest of the ascent. Fortunately there was nothing in the cart; so I lifted it up to the top of the stairs, and then, between the railing and the sides of the stairs I managed to get up the steps; but it wasn't easy. A little more help from the waiter would have been nice. Consequently, during my visit, when I entered there was one customer at the bar, and the rest of the time I was the only patron.
It is not likely I'll return or order from this restaurant again very soon - many better options to explore. read more