Such a comforting and relaxed atmosphere. It does a great job giving off chill local Tokyo vibe. It's a small spot with amazing staff that are warm and welcoming. Co-owner Chef Fukuzaki does an amazing job putting his touch on the food. Co-owner Ryo Yamazaki handles the saki selection. He likes to select Saki that are not as common here in NYC and matches Chef Fukuzaki's menu wonderfully. read more

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A kaiseki restaurant in Brooklyn. Excellent service and cocktails. Flavors are on the subtle side. Disappointed that they didnt have the filefish but it was replaced with branzino. The goat cheese was very gamey. Overall a good meal but not great. read more

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Located near central Williamsburg, this new spot is a must try! A perfect spot to catch up with friends or your next dinner date. The tasting menu was a great value for the quality and quantity. Highly recommend adding this as your next must try spot. Order: tasting menu comment: No comment! Roger and Ryo were amazing and did a fantastic job explaining our dishes and being attentive read more

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I've been thinking to go this authentic Japanese restaurant for long time since it opened. We finally find a day to go and it's amazing. We love every dishes and the creativity of the food. We also like the cozy atmosphere and the attentive service at the counter seating. They also have many unusual sake options for you to try which are rare to see in other restaurants. We can't wait to go back and try new things from chef Yusuke. read more

Thank you very much for the best time The food was delicious and SAKE's choice was wonderful I'll definitely go again read more

TLDR: SSAW is a new kaiseki concept from Yusuke Fukuzaki. Not super stiff but more casual, the flavors are on point. Some really unique dishes that I hadn't had at other spots. I had went to the SSAW pop-up last year and was excited to finally try it for real. The menu leaves much to the imagination as it just lists the key ingredient. It's a small spot and I'd definitely recommend grabbing a counter seat. The first dish was a suppon (soft shelled turtle) chawanmushi which my wife doesn't eat. Chef on the fly, whipped together a kegani (hairy crab) version to accomodate. That is the essence of omotenashi. Everything was excellent but a few things were stand outs for me. The black scraper dish was a hybrid plate of a sashimi and a salad. An assortment of sashimi under a ponzu vinegar jelly. It was crunchy, umami-forward, cool and so many textures. The shirako tempura in white miso was also delightful. Rich, creamy but not overly heavy. The goldeneye snapper or kinmedai in béchamel was also unexpected, especially with the Sichuan peppercorn and yuzu kosho to help balance it out. The washugyu rump served gyukatsu style but with rice crackers for breading was clever and tasty. It paired beautifully with the persimmon. It was a very enjoyable experience and it's cool to see Williamsburg getting some newer things like this. Definitely will be visiting again for the hospitality, the vibes and obviously the food. read more

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Delicious new Kaiseki restaurant in Williamsburg! Chef Yusuke Fukuzak and his team (shoutout to Ryo Yamakazi) have an absolute winner with SSAW. Worth a visit from wherever you are. Cozy intimate counter with 8 seats and a 4 table seats -- try to grab counter seats for dinner with a date or close friends for a great time. Delicious and balanced courses, embraces the seasonal gems of the moment, everything I could wish for in an excellent kaiseki. Yamakazi-san was chatty and great to chat with. I will totally come back even with the long commute read more

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I am torn on whether to review and expose this new gem of a restaurant to everyone! I want to keep it to myself:) It was Saturday and I wanted treat ourselves to a nice day before the snow hit. We got a foot massage at a regular local place and then went to have an early dinner. I was watching YouTube and food vloggers and was inspired to have Kaiseki for dinner. I did a search on Yelp and found SSAW not far away in Williamsburg. I was attracted by the food photos and wanted to try. Our Lyft dropped us off half a block away and we had to walk back to the unassuming small entrance. We walked in and immediately loved the warm and welcoming vibe! It is a very small space but it was comfortable and well decorated. The host was very welcoming and friendly and immediately introduced us to some Sake! We love trying new sakes so decided to add the pairing. Each bite and each sip was surprising and delicious. In the middle of dinner, I decided to book dinner for the holidays and share this space with my brother and sister in law who was visiting for the holidays in a couple weeks. I always take them to new restaurants when they visit from Atlanta. This made our weekend! We had a memorable meal and can't wait to come again! read more

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The most standout kaiseki I have ever had. So innovative and unique. Each dish was a surprise! Service was very intimate and great!! I would hands down recommend this spot for the experience!! read more

Had an amazing meal paired with great cocktails. The co-owners are also so kind and helpful, and the space is so cute and well set up. Would highly recommend and will be back! read more

I cannot sufficiently articulate how great this place is. The vibe is intimate and friendly. It perfectly toes the line as a date spot or special meal with friends. The service is better than some michelin star restaurants I've visited. Everything felt intentional. Plus it's just fun and there is a great sake list. read more

The food, service and atmosphere was great. It is amazing little spot in Brooklyn. I read previous reviews and seems someone make a bad review campaign just because w upseat. I never seems reviews of people been so focus of what others guess w eating and quantify the amound been serve ( kind of weird ) if you like authentic Japanese food. Just go to this restaurant. read more

excellent experience. refined but also homey. I've been making sure to visit at least once a month and I live across the bridge

I've never written a Yelp review despite living and dining in NYC for 4 years. Chef Yusuke Fukuzaki is thoughtful, creative, and talented in each course. The whole team is very knowledgeable and conversational! The layout and ambiance of the place is quaint and cozy. I loved how intimate and relaxed the vibe was. Not stuffy and not like most elevated dining experiences. It's a real gem especially if you love chives because it's incorporated in many dishes. Loved every moment of my SSAW (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter) experience - ate through the year in one meal :) read more

Absolutely cannot recommend enough. Inspired, delicious food! Amazing service, incredible ambiance. Attentive, professional. After reading recent reviews claiming discrimination, I went back to review my photos and those of everyone that dined with me--3 men, 1 woman: we all received 3 pieces of wagyu. read more

SSAW Brooklyn - Japanese Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

I found out about this restaurant through my hair stylist, as the chef is her husband, and decided to come here to celebrate graduating from a nursing program. Food, service, and ambiance were all top-notch. We felt extremely taken care of by the staff. Every course was thoughtful and a delight to the palate. In particular, the taro mochi topped with uni was a revelation, and I could have inhaled 20 more. The delicious food was complemented by a fantastic sake selection, and the bartender allowed us to try numerous samples before we made our choices. Very excited to come back! read more

I went to SSAW last night. It was an amazing EXPERIENCE, not just a great meal! It's a very small restaurant (only 8 seats at the counter), so you get incredible attention. To start, we sampled a handful of different sakes. Ryo is EXTREMELY knowledgeable on this front and steered us to the ones that fit our palates best. The food was creative, fresh, seasonal, beautiful ... and absolutely delicious! I loved the rice dish with ikura sprinkled in, but the dishes change each month so you're always going to experience something new and exciting. The staff are extremely warm and competent. I was amazed to find such a top notch restaurant in this neighborhood. I believe it will ultimately earn Michelin stars once the reviewers come through!! read more

The food, service and care at this restaurant were all amazing. Each dish was unique and I felt like the sake specialist was particularly helpful and knowledgeable. Would recommend! read more

A truly wonderful experience! The food was delicious and very approachable (even for someone who is a novice when it comes to Japanese cuisine). The staff were professional and patient in explaining items on the menu and assisting with wine/sake selection. The restaurant is cozy and elegant and was lively while not being loud. Perfect for a date night or small group dinner. Highly recommend! read more

Friends and I had a wonderful time at SSAW this past weekend. We frequent alot of establishments in and around NY and this was one of the best culinary experiences I have had in some time. Unlike many typical Omakases, there was actually some high end cookery involved here rather than 12 to 18 "courses" which basically amount to a piece of nigiri with revised fish selections, sauces and or toppings. The dishes were very innovative and not the kind of cookie cutter and copycat courses you see at every Japanese restaurant. No miso glazed cod here. For example, one dish had fiddle fern, another watercress and several dishes had other interesting herbaceous notes. The vegetables seemed to be cooked in dashi broth imparting a smoky flavor that really harmonized well with the accompanying ingredient. Everything was so well balanced. Standouts were definitely the two sashimi dishes, one a sea breem that came with a jelly and the beltfish with the salmon roe. Also, suprisingly not super salty for a high end japanese experience - one of my pet peeves with japanese cuisine in general is how salty, usually to counteract the lack of fat. Here, no need as every dish was so flavorful. Besides this, we did a sake pairing which was a wonderful experience and highly recommended. Unlike many "pairings" the selections here were genuinely thoughtful and very out of the box but went so well with each course. Finally, RYO - the "host" was so engaging, friendly and a blast to have a meal with - I would categorize him more of an MC then a waiter or server. You will see what I mean. Such fantastic energy here Chef Fukuzaki, Chef IO, and Ryo made a great team, and I cannot wait to come back here in the near future. We felt like not only did we get an amazing meal and have an absolute blast which is not what you say with most dining experiences, but we also felt like we made friends at the counter and with the staff. It somewhat took the sting out of turning 50 to have a meal here with a couple of my close friends. read more