Sushi Zo is a highly rated Sushi restaurant which originated in L.A. They opened their first location in NYC on W3rd St which was recommended to me. However, their second location on E39th St was closer to my hotel so I decided to give it a try.
All locations serve omakase only, and to say I was blown away is an understatement. The restaurant only has about 8 seats at the sushi counter. The night I went, there were only six people total.
The meal started with a chawanmushi.
Followed by a soba style noodle.
Next, some oysters with smoke for effect.
The chef proceeded to torch some corn, which was used in the following dish.
…and a final smoked tartar type dish before the start of nigiri. Now, usually, too much theatrics is a sign of trying too hard. In this case, the theatrics had a purpose. The smoke enhanced the dish and happened to be entertaining. Overall, the “theatrics” at this place added to the overall enjoyment of the meal both taste wise and entertainment wise.
…and finally, the big reveal…
….I would of been satisfied at this point, but I came for nigiri, and this is how the next part of the meal was…
….the chef then laid out 4 kinds of uni…If I am not mistaken, the more orange came from Japan and the yellow from California.
The meal continued with more pieces of nigiri. The all important blue fin tuna.
…and then they were ready to serve the uni tasting. Hands down, my preference was the orange uni.
The chef then proceeded to build this crazy ikura, uni, caviar and gold dish…and if that wasnt enough, shaved black truffle all over to finish it. At this point, we felt like it was over the top pure indulgent luxury.
The meal continued with more nigiri.
Nigiri with shaved UNI on TOP!
Wagyu nigiri with shaved black truffle on top.
…and finally, the last savory course. A tuna handroll.
For dessert, and very refreshing melon dish.
If it was possible to score something more than perfect, this would be it. Service, food, entertainment value were all completely FLAWLESS. I do not think I have ever been to a place where with each dish presented I was blown away and when I thought they could not out do the previous dish, they did! I highly recommend you try this as soon as possible. 10+/10