Sushi Nakazawa*
- Kira Jabri
- 11 minutes ago
- 2 min read
We love sushi, so by sheer coincidence, this trip to New York City ended up including a significant amount of it. We certainly weren't complaining. Omakase experiences are more popular than ever, and we are completely here for it.
Sushi Nakazawa has been on our list for quite some time, and on this visit, we finally had the opportunity to experience it. There are two options the sushi counter or the dining room and of course we were at the suchi counter, no question. Sushi Nakazawa offers two omakase experiences. The Classic Menu focuses exclusively on approximately twenty pieces of nigiri, while the Chef's Menu incorporates both nigiri and prepared dishes. We opted for the Chef's Menu, wanting the opportunity to experience a little more of what Sushi Nakazawa had to offer.
Sitting at a sushi counter is about far more than theater. Of course, watching each piece being meticulously prepared directly in front of you is part of the experience, but there is also something incredibly important about immediacy. Sushi is meant to be eaten within seconds of being placed in front of you, when the temperature of the rice, texture of the fish, and balance of each ingredient are exactly as the chef intended. That alone makes the counter our preference whenever it is available.
And at Sushi Nakazawa, freshness is certainly not in question. At one point, the prawns being prepared in front of us were literally alive moments before they became part of our meal.
The preparation for the caviar enhancement was a first for us: simply caviar and sushi rice.
There is one thing we would change on our next visit, and surprisingly, it has nothing to do with the food: dress up. We arrived at Sushi Nakazawa after a full day of walking around New York City and were dressed far more casually than we typically would be for dinner. While we were certainly comfortable, once we settled into the restaurant, we immediately wished we had gone back to the hotel and changed. For us, dressing for dinner has always been part of the experience, and Sushi Nakazawa is absolutely a restaurant where we would recommend doing so.
This may go down as one of the rare occasions when we admit we were underdressed.
If you visit, our recommendation is simple: reserve the counter, opt for the Chef's Menu, add the caviar, dress for the occasion, and enjoy each piece the moment it is placed in front of you.
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