This place is totally worth the price, it's not debatable. Not only is it one of my more fair…read moreomakase prices I've seen the city (for the number of courses) but it's also just such good quality sushi made from a wide variety of fish. If you've never been before and have been wanting to try, I couldn't rave about this place enough. It's amazing and totally worth every penny.

Solid spot for really affordable omakase! I did a walk in on Saturday as soon as it opened and half…read moreof the restaurant was filled. I think it's a really chill spot and the sushi quality was pretty good considering the price. I definitely felt full from the 13 piece omakase. The sushi chefs were really quick and it was fun to watch them in action and the staff was really attentive with water refills. The interior was nice because all guests surround the center of the restaurant and are facing inwards so you can see everyone. Super clean inside and enjoyed my experience

I love the hand-made soba here! The texture is perfect. I really enjoyed the age tofu soba and the…read moreten zaru. The staff are incredibly friendly, and the interior feels warm and cozy.

This place used to be my favorite dining spot when I was in college. Coming back after nearly a…read moredecade, I found it absolutely disappointing. The hot tea, once a staple for authentic Japanese food restaurant (especially many soba places in soba), now costs one dollar. It's really not much, but precisely because of this, it is a shame to make it not the default. The food is much worse. I had a cold tororo soba, the temperature is not controlled. The tororo is icy, not cold, chill, but icy. The dinning sauce is much more bland. I did give it another try one week later and ordered Chirashi, what I used to order a lot. Same problem. How come the sauce is so unflavorful? After we are done, no one asks about soba-yu, making me wonder if they take themselves seriously enough to serve good food in this town. Everything authentic and delicate is gone. The service is extremely terrible. Our waiter poured water in such a rush that water spilled in the ground. It was so loud and every waiter/waitress was hustling carelessly. It was truly a mess. I don't think I would ever come back again. For soba lovers, try elsewhere in the city. Soba-ya can't expect to be loved when they stop caring about their business.

Thirteen Water is one of my favorite omakase spots in NYC under $100. The space is intimate, the…read moreservice is attentive, and the quality of the fish really stands out for the price point. What I appreciate most is that they keep things more traditional instead of leaning into flashy combinations. My favorite by far was the salmon tomato, which I ended up ordering extra of. It is a spot I would highly recommend making the visit to.

Thirteen Water is an amazing, reasonably priced omakase in NYC. With fast and attentive service,…read morethe restaurant is efficient with their seatings (make a reservation) and they have delicious sushi! 13-courses for $85. Quaint sushi bar setting with around 15 seats and people are in and out within 1 hour. Given the time limits, some may feel rushed, but I personally did not mind it. Firstly, here are my favorite pieces and then I will go through each bite. Best: Tomato Salmon, Tuna Truffle, Toro Caviar - Madai: A basic piece, but a quality you can feel. Tender, not fishy, very smooth piece - Chutoro: A rich buttery tuna piece with a melt in your mouth texture - Hamachi: I have this tied with the chutoro. It is mild, not too fishy, and again a soft buttery texture. - Tuna truffle: Now we are getting into the heavy hitters! A melt in your mouth bite of tuna topped with a hefty amount of truffle shavings. Delicious flavor balance! Umami and rich but not too salty or "truffly". In fact I wouldn't say it tastes much like truffle since it's less of a truffle oil/concentrate and more of the shavings. - Shima Aji: This striped jack is a white fish. Buttery, slightly sweet, a mild flavor. More firm than the others (so less melt in your mouth) - Salmon Tomato: Melt in your mouth, a bundle of wonderful flavors that just melts on your tongue. It's sweet with a hint of tomato, creamy and juicy all at the same time. Oh so delicious even for people who don't like tomatoes. It even has a nice seared char flavor. - Ikura: Oh wow! A pleasant surprise for me since I expected a salty burst of flavor, but instead the ikura here was sweet. Big balls of a sweet flavor. SO good. The wrapping could have been more snappy, but nothing to complain about. - Ebi: I personally don't like shrimp like this very much, so I didn't really like this one. - Hotate: Hotate is great, a nice scallop, nothing too special compared to the others though. - Otoro toro caviar: Now this was one of my favorite bites! Melt in your mouth. While the caviar flavor did not really come through aka not a salty blast, the toro was good quality. - Unagi: standard - Toast: Hm I think I'm not an uni person because it was a bit too fishy for my taste, but it is a good bite overall. Very fish heavy, a good combination of everything - Toro hand roll: ending with a basic item. simple and done well. Overall, amazing experience!

Must Try: Lunch Special (7 Handroll Set + Yuba Udon) for $48!…read more Why: Great deal for delicious handrolls and udon! My favs were Spicy Salmon, Yellowtail, Scallop, and Crunch Spicy Tuna. The udon noodles were so soft and the broth was flavorful - perfect lunch size that pairs well with handrolls. Notes: I went at noon on a weekday and there were a few folks inside already. I sat at the bar. Service from waitress and sushi chef was top notch. Helpful, friendly, and attentive. Nice bar seating and some tables in back. Clean and spacious spot. Conveniently located near Herald Square and subways. Def coming back for more!

I had lunch with a friend here recently, pretty good deal on the Handroll Set and it was not bad…read more Service was good and our server didn't rush us as we spent quite a long lunch catching up. We opted for the 7-pieces set each and it comes with a small bowl of Udon.

Yoko Ocho is this really cute little Japanese restaurant that I randomly found on social media, and…read moreI'm so glad I ended up trying it! My server was SO friendly, which always makes such a difference, and the food was honestly really good and filling. The food itself is pretty simple, but everything we got was just really well done. Sometimes you don't need anything super crazy or unique when the food is just good!! I really enjoyed it, and it ended up being such a nice first meal back in the city. I was actually really wanting to try their clams, but unfortunately they were out of stock that day, so that's definitely what I want to come back for next time. Overall, such a cute little spot with really good food and great service!

Celebrated a very lovely and precious friend bday and wow must say me and my friend really love,…read morelove the food, vibe and service each dish we ordered was absolutely tasty and not overly salted, it's like you can really taste the freshness and quality of the dishes. As much as we loved each dish, my top favorite was the Kani Lava clay pot...each bite was tasty to the last, had a lot of fun and happiness putting the ingredients in the crab shell onto the rice and that creamy smooth orange golden yolk beautiful a bit sad they didn't have the steam clams but next time because we would absolutely come again The starter I ordered was the shoyu hamachi Kama, was a bit unsure if it'll taste fishy but I was totally wrong and it was very fresh and yummy and I also ordered the unagi tamagoyaki, that light sweetness of the egg and eel combined with the eel, excellent and throughly enjoyed it. Each dish was just the perfect amount for us ladies, it wasn't like too much so we can enjoy everything and not waste food. Soooo happy I ordered the tonkotsu ramen and added black garlic since we both love that punch of flavor. Such an authentic taste of what I love about Japanese cuisine....was not overly salty and very flavorful and unique in every taste, broth was very good and wow as well, I would have love to buy some black garlic sauce to go lol. It was just that good.

We planned to come to Ootoya few months ago and decided to visit the one in Time Square which was…read moresadly closed (But the website at that time still said it was open). This time, we finally visited the one in Chelsea. We arrived as soon as arrived (no reservation). Now I understand that it's better if you have reservation because the restaurant gets busy easily. I noticed lots of family with children visiting the restaurant as well. We ordered the tonkatsu and the summer special that comes with the appetizer and we added the dessert with additional charge. The food was delicious!!! The service was fast. The restaurant ambiance was pretty calm. I'd definitely come back again

Even smaller portions than before. Half the menu is gone…read more I go back once in a while. Now is just bad. They used to give you a lot now it's even less than before. Even the agedashi tofu was kinda sour.

All of the pieces were delicious!…read more Very classic nigiri's so nothing extraordinary. A good mixture of lean and fatty pieces. My only complaint was that they torched about 50% of the courses. Too many torched pieces for my preference. Hokkaido Uni and scallop didn't feel as fresh as when I tried it at other restaurants. I was full by the end of the 13 courses. Service is great. Overall, if you're looking for an affordable omakase experience where every piece hits, you can trust this place. Also, BYOB without corkage fee

A fantastic value for an omakase experience in the East Village! At $69 for a 13-piece omakase, you…read moreshouldn't expect top-tier, luxury sushi, but the quality is genuinely good. The chef mentioned that most of the fish is sourced directly from Japan, depending on market availability. The fish is pre-sliced and served piece-by-piece if you are seated at the bar. They run on a strict 60-minute schedule, meaning there are seatings every hour. It is a very tight timeframe, but it worked out completely fine for us. Another huge plus is their BYOB policy with no corkage fee, and they do offer some basic drinks like tea and sakes as well. Overall, it's not the absolute best omakase in the city, but considering the price and freshness, it's incredibly hard to beat.

Omakase has become a trend and a lot of players in the city are cashing in on. Presenting basic…read moresushi of moderate quality omakase style without the inventiveness or quality you expect. You get what you pay for! I even went to one where they played happy birthday for people! It happened to be my birthday and I was happy to be there but is that really what we are going for in an omakase experience? Thirteen Water is one omakase where it feels like you get more than you paid for. The quality of the fish served, the method of preparation and the service really stood out to me. This is my go to omakase in the under 200 category!

Mid-range omakase. Entry level NY-style omakase…read more My own term for the heavily garnished omakases popping up around the city, with the garnishes usually skewing towards luxury (uni, caviar, but also charcoal salt, pickles, etc) but also for visuals. A fixed printed menu is another sign of their commitment to their creative vision via bite composition as opposed to flexibility, quality, seasonality and availability. Slick, dimly lit dining room. Solid fixtures. Service is attentive enough. They're about par, all things considered. Let's use the Otoro toro caviar bite as an example. Nigiri with a slice of torched Otoro topped with chopped toro, caviar and chives with a dollop of wasabi. Luxurious and inoffensive but the individual flavors will get lost in each other. No real surprises here but you'll get some uncommon combinations that don't do much, like their salmon tomato bite. Safe and inoffensive. The rice for each bite is smaller than average but they don't skimp on the fish. No dessert included, though I'm not sure if they have any desserts at all. They're also quick to get you the bill. It's a price point play if you want different flavors and textures with your nigiri but there are (admittedly more expensive) places that do it better with more creative and coherent compositions.