Chez Sardine

Unique, fresh dishes. Good for trying new food with small groups.
I came by with one other friend on a Tuesday around 6:30, and it was not too busy at the time but filled up by the time we left, so it seems like it gets busy later on in the evening. We split several dishes, including the pork and unagi roll, the arctic char sashimi, the breakfast pancakes, the salmon head, and the curry hot pot. My favorite dishes were the pork and unagi roll (really tasty and flavorful pork) and the arctic char sashimi (fresh fish, accompanied by interesting sides), while the salmon head was also interesting and had really good flavor to it. The curry hot pot was decent with solid noodles, although the confit-​style meat didn’t go well in as part of a ramen dish, in my opinion, while the breakfast pancakes were interesting but not necessarily something I think I’d try again.
The drinks were pretty solid as well, and the service good as well. It’s a fairly small venue, but it’s good as a trendy place that isn’t too loud and with unusual, tasty entrees.

I think this is by far the best Japanese restaurants I have been to in a long time. The fish is melt in your mouth delicious and fresh, the dishes are innovative and well thought out, and the service was impeccable. I shared the Soba Noodles, Seafood Chirashi, and the Cod. I would definitely say the raw cold fish items are the best on the menu, so skip the cooked cod and head straight for all of the items on the Cold Plates part of the menu.
Our waiter was wonderful and attentive and continuously checked up on our table to make sure we were well taken care of. My cup of water was never empty.
Come early or on a weeknight as this place is packed on weekends.
I will definitely be back here. This place is incredible.

We ventured out for brunch this morning. We decided to give the much quieter Chez Sardine a go after trying our luck at two other well-​known brunch joints in the area that were simply way too crowded.
I am SO happy that we did.
We were warmly greeted & immediately seated at a cute two-​top next to the open window. It’s a beautiful day, & I enjoy eating close to the sunshine whenever it is possible.
Noteworthy: They were playing an impressive selection of old school hip hop (at a very comfortable, considerate volume).
The service was great. You could tell the staff works well as a team & they have a good groove going on. There were three servers on the floor who were also greeting people & just generally keeping things running smoothly. They were friendly & efficient.
Above all, the food was top notch. Admittedly, the menu did not grab my immediate attention. At first glance, the brunch selection seemed limited & «meh». I was wrong. We ordered the huevos rancheros, strawberry salad, bacon, & avocado toast. Holy moly was the food good! It was also presented in a lovely way.
The avocado toast with deviled eggs was special. It doesn’t sound like it would be, but it really was. The huevos rancheros were also a stand out for me… very flavorful with a nice little kick. I truly enjoyed them. Also worth mentioning, the orange juice was delicious (I hate bad orange juice).
Though this place is not necessarily recognized as a go-​to brunch spot, it should be. However, I won’t complain that it is currently flying under the radar, as I would selfishly like to keep this little secret for myself. Highly recommended, I will definitely be back.

«The less routine, the more life.»
Someone once told me that «You will heart the West Village!». I lived here and I didn’t. I just think I’m too «street», gritty, and East Villagey to fit in here. I do heart my smoking hot girl, who lives here, so sometimes I actually let her pick the restaurants. And I was actually glad this time.
What Chez is: It’s not sushi. It’s experimental seafood, in an embrace of Japanese with a handshake with the melting pot of NYC.
The dishes I shared were:
#Pork Handroll — Not bad. I understand that they usually offer lobster which would have probably been better
# Crab hush puppies: Super dish! Good size for an app.
#East Coast Oysters — Really stellar with a perfect heat level of Korean influence
#Udon with seafood — One of favs. Complex flavour and slightly salty.
#Seafood Chirashi — Worthwhile, but a little too creamy for my taste
The vibe here is fast paced and a little trendy. I was a little loud… and my date quickly apologized to the table next to us. Guess an East Villager is still a little outta place here.
What’s cool
* Unusual food; Menu changes all of the time.
* Everything was tasty and fresh
* Complementary food — pre-​meal light daikon nosh and small dessert. (bonus! who doesn’t like free food?)
* Drinks are unusually great for a restaurant. I had the re-​fashioned Old Fashioned, and a spicy, ginger-​beer cocktail that was perfect for an opener.
* Wine list is extensive
What’s jive
* It’s a little pricey
* It’s a too West Villaging (not a good place to catch-​up with your guy dude friends)
* Portions are on the smaller side

My mom and I had dinner here on a Sunday after the place we were thinking about was closed. We sat at the bar and had one of the snacks, broccoli, and a couple of the hot plates. The broccoli was incredible. They also give you an amuse bouche and a little treat for dessert.
The food was great, but the real reason they get 5 stars is that I left my phone at the restaurant and they were really helpful in getting it back to me. They even charged it so it had battery when I picked it up the next evening!
Great food, great service!

Very small, cozy restaurant in the located in the heart of West Village restaurant-​world. I’m not super into Japanese food, so the restaurant was at a disadvantage in my assessment from the getgo. Avoiding the sushi options, I ended up ordering the foie gras grilled cheese, which was fine, but nothing spectacular especially given the price. My friend ordered sushi and enjoyed it, but again, nothing out of this world.
The restaurant is surely intimate and romantic, but in my mind, the food isn’t worth the cost.

Here’s the deal. I love gabe stulman and all of his ever-​fasting growing empires. this list includes fedora, perla and of course little owl. chez sardine is no different. but the thing is. i didn’t fall in love with CS as much as i thought i would. The first time we literally waited over an hour. I thought the menu was well crafted, interested and overall the food was really good… but i left feeling a bit salty. They were heavy handed with it with some of the dishes. The sushi was spot on… but a little on the pricier side.
The second time we went, luckily we had res. The menu was a little changed up due to seasonality, but our favorite was still on the menu. Salmon head with maple syrup. This time, it was even saltier than before… everything appeared to be saltier than before, which is a NO BUENO.
GET IT TOGETHER CHEF. Seriously. Don’t over salt your food… I like you, so don’t mess up a «good» thing… or you might lose a good customer.

I came here with a Japanese friend for brunch after seeing a gorgeous spread in one of the food mags– can’t remember if t was Food & Wine or Bön App. The first thing that stuck out was the mid-​century modern wood décor and the open windows.
I was seated at a table next to the owner, Gabe Stulman who rubbed me the wrong way by complaining about the restaurant’s maitre’d after the maitre’d stepped out of earshot.
However, I try not to judge a restaurant by the behavior of the management. The food we ordered was really excellent. I had a wonderfully filling pancake that reminded me of torrijas, Spanish bread pudding. The pancake comes with sour cream, bacon and a fruit spread. My friend ordered a spicy charashi, which was excellent as well especially since he was craving fish.
The service was pretty good and quick except for one snafu when the waiter brought us something we didn’t order.
Overall I enjoyed the relaxed vibe and the delicious food. I’ll definitely be back to try the dinner service and other items on the brunch menu.

Went here last night with my daughter and had a great meal. Tiny place with a good vibe. The manager and the staff were all very friendly, and the service was also very good.
We did not have a reservation but were seated at the counter facing the kitchen within ten minutes. Great to watch an efficient kitchen at work and check out all the choices!
This place is not cheap. We started with a 300ml bottle of a great sake. Not much in the bottle for 2 people and it costs $ 57. But it was delicious.
We ordered sushi and some small plates including the daily small plate special, which was crispy tempura shrimp and squid over grees. Nice dish.
The sushi and fresh fish is really about a fusion of different flavors and textures and they all worked well.
The food:
The spicy tuna handroll has a nice crunch in every bite
The unagi and pork belly handroll tasted great
The seared beef and uni was good but I preferred all the fish.
Hamachi and the Char sushi– both winners
Salmon sushi was the best. And it was on the house! Even better!
Was a bit disappointed in our Chirashi. The dish was presented perfect. And it tasted delicious. The problem? A big bowl of rice with great seasonings but 4 – 5 skimpy pieces os sashimi. Need more fish! The dish costs $ 14. Charge more and make it more balanced.
The free soft serve at the end was great. Perfect ending and we were stuffed.
The total bill with tip was over $ 180.

I’m loving that this place offers a 13 dollar succulent maple glazed salmon head??? That’s one hell of a find in NYC.
Things to bite: the seafood pancake is yummy. The scallop and quail egg sushi is worth the money.
I want to come back and explore the menu some more. The sake selection seemed nice but quite expensive. Loving the look and feel of this place– like every other cutesy cutting edge place in the west village but you gotta love it.

Couldn’t believe I didn’t try Chez Sardine until now. Well the main reason is I hate waiting over an hour for dinner and the only available reservations on their website is before 6pm. Luckily I was able to make it with my girlfriends for a dinner date on a weekday for 6pm. Chez Sardine is a small restaurant that feels very homey. They have a small menu, but you know the food is good when they focus on what they do well.
Food:
Beef tongue– great flavor from the ponzu & jalapeño
Pork Belly & Unagi handrolls– great taste, wish they were larger
Polenta (special) — not sure of the name, but this dish was delicious, prepared similar to the agadashi tofu with fish flakes and mushrooms
Salmon Tartare (special) — loved the citrus flavors that complimented the salmon well
breakfast pancakes– they were so pretty I had a hard time eating them
Pork Ribs– kind of fatty and overwhelming
Foie gras grilled cheese– this is a fatty dish, you can tell prior to ordering. I wanted to love this dish since I’m a huge fan of foie gras + cheese. Something is off… it’s a great idea but think they need to improve this dish.
When we finished our meal, we were looking forward to dessert until I found out they do not have a dessert menu. Shocked and upset, our waiter told us instead they give complementary ice cream! Ice cream was delicious too! Will be back to try the rest of the menu.
Tip: Make reservations online, or else you’ll be looking at over an hour wait.

For a place that has a Mr. Miyagi poster, a retro Bruce Lee poster, and 90s hip hop playing in the background… then you know you are at a good spot.
I came to check out Gabriel Stulman’s Chez Sardine.
What stood out to me was the hospitality of the restaurant. They didn’t treat you like customers but like an old friend which was a nice touch. They even charged my sisters phone without her even asking. She just mentioned it in passing and they went the extra mile for her. Unfortunately we didn’t have a bite to eat but just had drinks. I had a «Beet» Cocktail made with gin and tonic. It is exactly as it is described and the bar tenders were attentive and provided excellent service. Next time, I’ll have to try the food.

What a fantastic meal and great experience! Small but well-​curated and varied menu. My friend and I tried each of the cocktails on the list (just ordering them was fun because of the names) and shared several small plates. Outstanding sushi. The miso-​glazed salmon head and foie gras grilled cheese are rightfully becoming area culinary legends.
Small restaurant, but service was prompt and very friendly at all times.
Can’t wait to go back.

Came here specifically to try their foie gras grilled cheese. I left with a heart attack.
The restaurant is really adorable. Luckily we had a corner seat, looking out on W4 and W10 — great for people watching. The cross section perfectly captures the epitome of NYC, I felt like I was living a real-​life Friends episode. And at that moment you are grateful you live in this amazing city.
Now, back to my heart attack.
We ordered many small plates. And when they say small, they mean small.
Uni and pork hand roll — pretty good! I’d order it again. Wish the seaweed was a bit more flakey.
Breakfast pancakes — I could have probably eaten that whole thing in one bite. But yes, the caviar was a nice touch. Since the portions were so small I only had one bite — I can barely remember what it tasted like
Tofu with foie gras — skip, not that special.
Octopus — I feel like I’ve had better flavor elsewhere
Pork belly — this was the entrée. It was good
Foie gras grilled cheese — we ordered 2 orders so we can each have half a sandwich. I could barely finish it, it was oooozzzinnggg with oil and fat.
BRB, I’ll finish this review later after I get back from the gym.

Thank you for accommodating me even though I messed up on my reservation date.
Looking at its menu, I wanted to like Chez Sardine so so much. The innovative pairings of seasonings, the decadent array of fine ingredients (foie, roe, pork belly, etc), the not-​cheap-​but-​I-​guess-​I-​can-​splurge-​today prices… all made for such high expectations!
I entered the space… quite small but poppin’ with people and good music (hip hop what what!).
We did family style and got everything «appetizing» on the menu.
Breakfast Pancakes: I thought this was the best dish I had here. The ikura (roe) complemented the yogurt and mini pancakes well. As each bite was met with an explosion of saltiness. I felt that the tartar was put there to draw people in to buying the dish, but it didn’t do much for the dish. I didn’t even know it was there.
Duck Chirashi: Go to chinatown, buy some roasted duck, buy some kimchi, put it in a rice bowl with some spicy mayo and there you go. Not bad but paying $ 14 for this is not worth it.
Roasted Pork Belly: the presentation was cool. Poached egg on top of a pork belly. Egg does make any dish better. Did it make this dish better? Yes. But it still wasn’t great. It didn’t wow me. I came here to be wow-​ed!
Foie Gras & Smoked Cheddar Grilled Cheese– Legit just a grilled cheese with cucumbers. It says «pickled cucumbers» but the cucumbers had NO vinegary sensation to it. The foie was VERY VERY hidden. Foie is a diva. It deserves the spotlight! I personally don’t think cucumbers in a grilled cheese is a good combo so I really hated this.
Chopped scallop, quail egg and trout roe– I opted this for myself. YOLO. Sad I did. It was an interesting combination, but not one that wow’d me :(
I thought one of the best things was the amuse bouche: the daikon in bonito flakes. Interesting combo. I might make that soon.
All in all, don’t have high expectations. Come not starving and with a big wallet and you’ll be satisfied. I guess.

Was pretty disappointed with the food here. It’s a nice place with a good ambiance, but we had to wait awhile at 9:30 p.m. on a Tuesday!
Each got one piece of artic char and one piece of hamachi. Tasy, but very overpriced for the size. Shared the pork unagi roll, which was good. Highlight was the duck chirasi. Yum!
Ended with the Maki tempura, which I really did not like.

I am a fan of Gabriel Stulman’s Joseph Leonard and Jeffery Grocery. So when I heard he opened another fusion restaurant with a Japanese flavor in the village, I have been planning to visit. And it was no disappointing.
3.5 stars. The food was good and well prepared. But the brunch menu is too limited. I might upgrade the rating after my return for dinner.
I stopped by almost 2pm on Sunday by myself. No wait and I was seated at the bar immediately. The restaurant was small — sits 25ish, and was 90% full the time i was there.
First thing first, Bloodymary for my running nose :/​Per my request, Joe, my waiter added a dash of ginger ale in my sake bloodymary. Better cure for cold than your grandma’s chicken soup!
I was not very hungry, so I picked the smaller plate on the menu: ginger mint pineapple salad and smoked char chirasu (pic attached). The pineapple salad was very refreshing and the ginger flavor even emphasize the sweetness of pineapples. The smoked char was a recommendation from Joe. Not bad but I was not blown away. I like the flying fish roe on top of the rice and the crunchy Japanese rice cracker crumbs. Yet the mayo is so ruin the light and healthy bowl of chirasu. Next time I would request skipping the mayo.
I was pleased and satisfied. Will come back and check out the dinner items!

This was our third attempt to come to Chez Sardine. The previous two times we were thwarted by horrendous weather (thanks a lot Nemo), and with the heavy snow on Friday it wasn’t looking good. However, by evening everything had cleared up and we made it. finally :)
There’s barely any room to stand and wait, so it’s best if you come with your entire party. We were seated in the corner, which was kind of drafty.
Started off with an assortment of sushi. The nigiri pieces are super tiny, like half the size of a normal piece. These include the arctic char, oyster, and hamachi, which were pretty good. The gunkanmaki pieces were normal sized — chopped scallop with quail egg and chopped beef with uni. The scallop was soooo good! We all ordered seconds. The beef with uni was really good too, but the uni overpowered the beef.
The small plates are pretty small. The breakfast pancakes were decent, but kind of salty. The crispy chicken was rubbery and sad. I prefer the chicken nuggets from McDonalds to this. We had the menu addition of welts as well, which were decent. The miso-​maple salmon head was too heavily flavored, but the meat was nice and tender.
The large plates are a bit larger. The roasted pork belly was overcooked and a bit dry. My three dining companions shared the foie grilled cheese but were less than impressed with it, with one saying it was the worse dish of the night.
This was a bit of a let-​down, especially compared to the quality of the other Little Wisco establishments. And also expensive. we ended up forking over $ 100 each.

Wow: the food here is as interesting and delicious as it is salty.
OK, maybe that’s because I ordered the Breakfast Pancakes ($ 13), which are extremely generously overloaded with Salmon Roe, along with fish tartare and a dollop of yogurt, and the extremely overwhelming, way too rich Foie Gras & Smoked Cheddar Grilled Cheese ($ 18). These are just a few of the really cool, unique and delicious things on offer at this tiny, intimate and trendy new spot in the West Village.
I’ve been hearing and reading good things about this spot repeatedly over the last few weeks. That, combined with the fact that when I looked for reservations on the site and saw only openings between 10 PM and midnight for the next two weeks made me jump at the chance to finally go tonight since I had a rare opportunity for a nice early dinner. We got there at right about 5:30, just as they were opening. We were informed that they only keep two two-​tops for walk-​ins when we called up, and we were lucky enough to snag the last one (a couple walked in seconds after us and were seated at the bar. Keep in mind that this is 5:30 on a Friday — straight up early bird special).
Within just a few minutes, the place was nearly at capacity and jumping by 6 PM. It’s a tiny restaurant, so it starts to feel lively in there really quickly with a good hipster/​trendy vibe going on.
They start you off an overpoweringly fishy amuse of Bonito and Pickled Daikon. It was also pretty spicy and oily, and I left some of it over after taking a few bites, in anticipation of the several things we ordered.
If only I knew then though that it would take about an hour (!) to get any of our food. This felt especially unacceptable since we were the first in the entire restaurant to order, too, since I followed my usual protocol of getting my wife focused (i.e. politely telling her less talking, more ordering) and getting our order in before we start with any chit-​chat.
So we got:
— Pork and Unagi Hand Roll ($ 7)
Pretty good — I mostly tasted eel and not really any pork. This was pretty disappointing since it was a very long, skinny roll, so the dominant taste was actually the seaweed wrap.
— Spanish Mackerel Sushi ($ 7)
Decent. I know the sushi here is supposed to be great, but to me the sushi here is a huge rip-​off — the pieces are TINY (smaller than Yasuda even), and way pricier than they should be. They taste good, yes, but nothing so special.
— Sardine Sushi ($ 5)
This was a special of the night. Better than the other piece in both taste and value.
— Breakfast Pancakes ($ 13)
This was the real winner of the night. These were absolutely delicious. This was actually the only dish I thought was really reasonable priced considering the huge amount of salmon roe they give you heaped on top of the pancakes and studded throughout the three beautifully constructed layers (
). I was chugging water after I finished these, but it was well worth it.
— Crispy Chicken ($ 11)
These were OK, but also a bit of a disappointment. This dish consists of 8 little fried balls of chicken, which were not nearly hot enough. The chicken itself was also some nasty dark meat and a bit rubbery.
— Braised Beef Curry ($ 22)
One of the few Large Plates, this was excellent. The beef was nice and soft and tender and very flavorful. Rice is always good too, so that was a nice combo.
— Foie Gras & Smoked Cheddar Grilled Cheese ($ 18)
This is the dish everyone is talking about here, and I have to say that I would not recommend it. I can always appreciate some heavy, fatty stuff, but this was just way over the top. You can barely enjoy it since you can almost feel your stomach starting to hurt as you ingest the pure fattiness and oiliness of it all. My lips are still nice and slick from this sandwich. Also, check out that $ 18 price tag. I would save that money and your stomach and head to Murray’s Cheese Bar down the block for a more reasonable, less overwhelming take on grilled cheese.
Service throughout the meal was excellent. The staff is all very polite and attentive, filling water with the carafe at each table constantly.
They end the meal with a little complimentary dessert of a Maple Custard Pudding with some Rice Krispies sprinkled on top. I think they would have been better off without giving this out, as it literally and figuratively left a bad taste in my mouth (it was just kind of tasteless and not worth eating, which is never a good way to send off your guests).
Bottom line: some really tasty food, a couple of misses, way too long wait times for food, and a little bit too pricy. If the hype dies down a bit and it becomes easier to get a table, I would definitely come back in a few months once they hopefully improve on the wait times for food and try some of the other unique, good looking stuff I missed out on getting. Maybe.

The food came out very fast. We were finished in 20 – 30 minutes so between the speed and for the amount of money spent, it felt like I had just had a bad night at a blackjack table.
I do believe this place is overpriced because the food was just ok. In the same week I ate at Maze, Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant, and the expense was comparable but at Maze everything tasted amazing. I would have paid double.
That was not the case here.
I tried the butter toast with caviar, sushi rice balls and foie gras grilled cheese. It was all very forgettable and even the grilled cheese that I had read of before entering and was raved over by the waitress skimped on the foie gras, left you with greasy hands and was not as good as something similar you could order at the more casual «Earl’s Beer and Cheese» in the LES.
The staff was all very friendly. Had they not been this would be a one star review.